Employee gets passed for promotion despite fixing owner's mistakes for weeks, they decide to quit after getting the news: ‘I respect myself more than that’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Mar 22, 2026 12:00 PM EDT

Forget working smarter or working harder, the only thing you should do is work your wage.

At the end of the day, no one cares how devoted you are to the work or how many tasks you completed, and you are much better off not learning that the hard way. The employee in the story below, unfortunately, found out just how much no one at their workplace cares about their hard work, and they learned it after weeks of covering for upper management's mistakes…

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  • Business walking down outside stairs
    via xavierarnau

    Business walking down outside stairs.

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

  • Passed for promotion because upper management thinks I'm weak, yet they have no problem scheduling me by myself and expecting me to do managerial duties

    I work front desk at a hotel. So basically, my manager went on vacation for a few weeks.
    via mochamoc
  • He's a decent guy as far as managers go. (Low bar, yeah.) In his absence, the owner came in to do things like payroll and schedule.
    via mochamoc
  • Things went to sh within 2 days because what a surprise, the owner has no idea how to do anything.
    via mochamoc
  • Schedule? Completely f ed. She stops scheduling more than 1 person per front desk shift. Guess she wanted to save money?
    via mochamoc
  • So I'm scheduled alone on extremely busy days where we're supposed to have backup. 40+ check- ins, phone calls, market purchases, guest complaints, CC authorizations, scanning and emailing folios, all by myself.
    via mochamoc
  • It was like this EVERY DAY I was scheduled until the manager got back from vacation.
    via mochamoc
  • Okay. She scheduled the auditor on 2 days they requested off months ago. She doesn't realize this until I tell her, then asks me if I can do audit for those days.
    via mochamoc
  • I inform her that I haven't been trained for audit and I work the shift before, so that would be 2 16 hour shifts for me.
    via mochamoc
  • She acted like this was the most inconvenient thing in the world for her and told me to call around and find someone to cover the shifts because I guess she just couldn't be assed to.
    via mochamoc
  • Okay. Oh, she also didn't publish the schedule to the online timeclock, so no one could clock in using the punch.
    via mochamoc
  • She didn't make the employee spreadsheet to write down times either, so I made one in excel and emailed it when AM shift called to ask me for help.
    via mochamoc
  • Owner said thanks when she heard about it and then told me to make a new one every week until the manager gets back.
    via mochamoc
  • The next day I came in, she had me help her publish the schedule to the online timeclock.
    via mochamoc
  • Okay. One day, she just throws a booking report and a print out of the availability at me and tells me to "fix it" because it's out of balance.
    via mochamoc
  • I tell her that I have no idea how to fix it, seeing as I've never been trained on any of those functions in our system.
    via mochamoc
  • Because balancing the books is the revenue department's job. Not front desk. She told me to "just do it" and email her when it's fixed.
    via mochamoc
  • Front Desk Receptionist in Modern Hotel
    via Aflo Images

    Front Desk Receptionist in Modern Hotel

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

  • Okay. At this point I'm reaching the end of my rope. (Ended up calling revenue to walk me through doing whatever the f.... she wanted me to do.
    via mochamoc
  • Even he said he didn't understand why she would ask me to do that.) She ignores everything we go to her for that requires management.
    via mochamoc
  • A guest asks to speak with a manager about anything, a complaint, an issue with the amount they were charged, literally anything.
    via mochamoc
  • She leaves at like 4pm every day so nope, the "acting- manager" isn't here right now, sorry.
    via mochamoc
  • I get their info and pass it along to her. She ignores it. Every time. No matter what it is.
    via mochamoc
  • Guest wants to dispute the amount charged? Sorry sir, yes it's been 5 days since we last spoke but the owner still hasn't said sh about it.
    via mochamoc
  • Housekeeping hasn't done your room in 2 weeks and you want to talk to someone about it?
    via mochamoc
  • Unfortunately sir, after the 3rd time of telling her, the owner still doesn't care. Housekeeping ignored your request for a feather free room when you have a feather allergy and you want a refund since you almost suffocated to death in your room?
    via mochamoc
  • Owner couldn't care less, sorry. The manager finally comes back from vacation. Thank god I never have to see this owner ever again.
    via mochamoc
  • 2 days later, he calls me into his office. Mind you, before he left, he kept glazing me about how I was his best employee and he wanted to make me supervisor.
    via mochamoc

  • When your workplace's owners ask you for something, it is almost impossible to say no. It's not even just about proving your worth or moving up in the corporate ladder. Saying no to the owner may very well lead to losing your job, so you have to do whatever it is they ask of you.

    That being said, if you have successfully achieved every single task they laid on you, the least they can do is show their appreciation or acknowledge that you are a good employee. But the owner here did nothing of that sort. Even though it was clear she wouldn't have lasted a day with this employee fixing every single one of her mistakes while the manager was away, she still refused to authorize a promotion to this hardworking worker. Keep reading to find out why.

  • Now, he tells me that he had a meeting with the owner... and she thinks that I'm weak and "have no motivation" to be a leader.
    via mochamoc
  • Corpo talk for "You're not getting that promotion or that raise, buddy." So... I'm weak, but you have no problem scheduling me completely by myself on our busiest days, expecting me to do the revenue team's job, fix your f ups with scheduling...
    via mochamoc
  • Got it. I explained my side of the story to the manager and he was empathetic and didn't like what happened with the schedule, but he said I'm being passed up on the promotion for now.
    via mochamoc
  • I get that he can't go against the owner because that's his boss, but wow. I'm honestly ped and so insulted.
    via mochamoc
  • I bust my a and this is what I get in return? 13$ an hour, no benefits at all, work every weekend and holiday, basically run the place while management is out of town, but I don't deserve a raise or promotion...
    via mochamoc
  • Okay! Unfortunately I respect myself more than that, so I'll be quitting as soon as I find something else.
    via mochamoc

  • Anyone who has ever been passed over for promotion has faced the decision of whether or not they should stay working for a place they know has no appreciation for them. They have evaluated your worth and made it clear to you exactly what it is. The question is: do you agree with their decision, or do you think you have a chance to find a greater evaluation somewhere else?

    How do you think this employee should answer this question?

  • In the meanwhile, I'm done putting in extra effort and being the one to step in and help out or fix sh..
    via mochamoc
  • Not my problem. Bare minimum from here on out.
    via mochamoc
  • Tri4Realz Absolutely STOP saving their a You got the first part right by saying you don't know how and weren't trained, but then shut your mouth and let them fail. Sorry if it affects the other workers and payroll and schedule but LET THEM fail.
    via Tri4Realz
  • mochamoc Original Poster's Reply Yeah, learned this the hard way. If I'm still there the next time he's out of town, I'm just doing the bare minimum and ignoring all texts and calls as soon as I clock out
    via mochamoc
  • Ok-Fee293 You gotta work juuuuust fast enough to get some of it done, but not fast enough to get all of it done. Just tell them that there is so much to do you cant get it all done, so what do they want you to prioritize? Then get some of that done, but not all of it. Continue until either they fire you or they schedule another person.
    via Ok-Fee293
  • mochamoc Original Poster's Reply Funny thing is that now that the manager is back, he's scheduling 2 or 3 people per shift again. Soooo he knows what the owner did was unfair and wrong but is just trying to move past it like it's no big deal.
    via mochamoc
  • parkesc Looks like the manager is the weak one, and owner is just another delusional rich b Please update us later!
    via parkesc
  • mochamoc Original Poster's Reply Applying to other places as we speak! We have our busiest week of the year coming up next month due to a local event, it would be nice if I could f them over by quitting right before that, but sadly I'm definitely not leaving until I have another job lined up.
    via mochamoc
  • Nevermind04 Work your wage. Stop bailing them out. Work just enough to not get fired and start applying for management positions at other hotels. Even if it takes a year to find and get the job you want, that's far better than continuing to work at a place where you aren't appreciated. When it comes time to quit, give them the same notice period they would give you.
    via Nevermind04
  • mochamoc Original Poster's Reply >give them the same notice period they would give you Honestly can't decide if I should give advance notice and listen to him beg me to stay and give the "we're family" manager spiel or if I should just slide a note under his door on a day he's out of the office.
    via mochamoc
  • TheDkone stick to your job only, dont do one thing outside of your lane.
    via TheDkone
  • jfsindel Literally hardest part for me to learn. You have to let these people fail so they fully understand how they need to change or just go under. Had she failed the first time, she would have called it quits and gotten someone else in.
    via jfsindel

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promotion boss workplace-stories employee hotel manager job owner hotel employee overworked-employees workplace company quitting
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