Boss messages employee at 8 PM, laughs when employee says their contract says 9-5: 'You disregarded your own boundaries by replying to him'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Feb 20, 2026 10:00 AM EST

Would you answer a work text outside of your regular working hours?

This probably depends on what your job is and how much you're invested in it. If you have an insane job that requires a lot out of you, you might be used to dropping what you're doing and attending to your job. But it's also important to have boundaries with your personal life. You have to know when not to answer the phone. It's not always your responsibility to be available all the time. Unless it's a life-threatening situation, which it rarely is, you should be able to clock out when you need to clock out. 

Part of this boundary-setting is on your employer. They should know not to expect a response when their employees are off the clock. It's an overreaching of power and an invasion of privacy, but not all bosses understand that. A key part of protecting your peace is realizing that you cannot control the actions of others. You can only control your response to it. But this is much easier said than done. Sometimes you wish you could just make someone do what you'd like them to do. But this is not how the world works, and we're obviously better off that way. So what we're left with is just to manage our own expectations and the expectations of those around us. That's what this employee failed to do, and he paid the price for it. It's not an easy thing to do in the workplace, and he wasn't totally up to the challenge.

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  • An employee checks his phone outside his office building
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • When someone pings you outside of work hours, you get to choose whether or not you respond. There is no written contract stating that you must answer all correspondence immediately… unless there is for your job. As far as the boss is concerned, you disappear when you're not there. What you do with your time is your own prerogative, and you should treat it as such. If you're interested in seeing what happens in this story and want to decide what you think about it, all the details are just a scroll away.

  • Boss messaged me at 8pm expecting a reply... said my contract says 9-5 and he laughed??

    so my manager hit me up on team chat at 8pm tonight asking for a status update like it's no big deal. i replied ngl, told him my contract clearly says 9-5 and i don't work after hours, and literally he just sent a laughing emoji like it's a joke?? bro, i'm all for being a team player but this feels kinda nuts. i stick to my hours, don't ghost work, but suddenly i'm the 'toxic' one for not being on call?
    via u/MichaelWForbes
  • is this just how jobs are now or am i actually in the wrong here? like, should i start low-key applying elsewhere? i'm 23 and down to put in work but not get clown-laughed at for having boundaries.
    via u/MichaelWForbes

  • Commenters gave their takes on the situation.

    GoodGoodGoody You were wrong to reply at all.
    via u/GoodGoodGoody
  • starry_nite99 You disregarded your own boundaries by replying to him outside of 9-5. Boundaries are things within our control, actions we take- not something to be used to control others actions.
    via u/starry_nite99
  • Big_Celery2725 You should have simply replied the next morning. Your response was the worst possible one.
    via u/Big_Celery2725
  • Virtual-Ducks You should have just responded in the morning. Or did he say it was urgent and needed it right away?
    via u/Virtual-Ducks
  • Cheezburger Image 10607451648
    via Cătălin Dumitrașcu

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • CSPN Major Dork move replying. Just ghost the message. Why do you even have team chat visible on your personal device
    via u/CSPN
  • markjay6 Either don't reply or answer the question. To take the time and effort to reply in order to tell him that you don't work past 9-5 is simply passive-aggressive.
    via u/markjay6
  • Contemplating_P... First step is to remove team chat from your phone
    via u/Contemplating_Prison
  • Elegant_Elk_ You got clowned for responding the way you did. Why take the time to respond to a work chat if you're off the clock? Like others said, just dont respond until you're back at work next time.
    via u/Elegant_Elk_
  • itsmelorinyc You should just silence your notifications after hours or only answer if it's an actual emergency. If you're non- exempt and entitled to overtime, claim the hours.
    via u/itsmelorinyc
  • If you don't need a job to survive and want to take a hard line like some of these people suggest, do you. If you want a peaceful work life and to keep your job it's a fairly minimal thing for people to mutually learn the cadence and norms of communication in the
    via u/itsmelorinyc
  • workplace. When you don't respond, you observe how your boss reacts. It's highly likely they won't even care because they'll know you weren't on the clock and looking at your messages. If they do care, and continue to habitually message you after hours and expect a response, then yes-decide if that's a culture you want to work in.
    via u/itsmelorinyc
  • But quitting over receiving one message after hours and insisting it's a crossed boundary when you weren't even required to be looking at your messages to begin with is a choice to preemptively escalate a situation that doesn't have to be a big deal.
    via u/itsmelorinyc
  • TheBestHawksFan Nah, you f ed up hard. You can set boundaries about work hours, but doing that during off hours by replying to a work email is silly. He was probably just working late, wanted an update, and didn't expect you to respond right away.
    via u/TheBestHawksFan
  • If you're American, it would be highly unusual to have a contract at all, especially for a job where you report to someone else, unless you're a pro athlete. You're not a pro athlete, presumably. I'd be shocked if you have a contract at all, and if you do
    via u/TheBestHawksFan
  • I'd be shocked if it doesn't have a clause for working outside of the contract terms as needed. Almost every low level employment contract/job description has this clause. Two things to learn from
    via u/TheBestHawksFan
  • this. First thing is if you set a boundary, stick to it. You failed that here, regardless of whether you've previously communicated that boundary. The second thing is to not reply off hours unless it's urgent. Urgent issues should never be taken care of over email, it
    via u/TheBestHawksFan
  • will almost always be with a phone call or visit in person. Email is slow and people aren't usually paying attention outside of work hours. You escalated a situation you didn't need to. You probably didn't need to reply at all. Learn from this.
    via u/TheBestHawksFan
  • Few-Painting-8096 Replying that you work 9-5 isn't the flex you think it is. That was you being cocky and you should have just not replied at all. When I'm done for the day, I'm done for the day. If it's an absolute emergency they have my personal phone number.
    via u/Few-Painting-8096
  • AmazingSpider-Fan Messages come in after 5, just reply to them in the morning. No need to explain your hours.
    via u/AmazingSpider-Fan
  • mandarina2020 Start sending updates at the end of your day. While I agree that your job is 9-5, your responsibility is also to update your manager or project leaders. Updates should include what you have achieved, roadblocks in your work, and next steps. Do this as a routine.
    via u/mandarina2020
  • Agreeable_Packa... This is why I don't have teams on my personal phone. I said this once at a staff meeting and my boss. laughed. It's called boundaries and acting my wage.
    via u/Agreeable_Package880
  • Big_Paper5873 This was incorrect reply and your manager would probably never forget it. You unnecessarily damaged your reputation. Never leave behind trail of your emotions however right you are. You could have just replied at 9 next day saying I am working on it.
    via u/Big_Paper5873

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boss antiwork workplace-stories job bosses coworkers working workplace bad bosses toxic-work-environment
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