Employer Tells Employees They Should be Grateful to Have a Job After They Eliminated Employees Paid Sick Days and Reduced Insurance Coverage

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Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jun 11, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

The employees need to get out while they still can.

Once a company starts taking away major benefits, that's when you know you need to start looking for a new job. I'm not talking about little things, like getting rid of programs that allow employees to buy cheaper airline tickets. I'm talking about getting rid of health insurance and PTO like they are nothing. If a company is cutting corners so much that they can't even afford to give their employees sick days, then they're probably doing a lot worse than they are letting on. 

In this economy, everyone tells you that you should be lucky to have any job at all. They say you shouldn't quit your job if you don't have one lined up, because the chances that you're going to get a new one right away are slim to none, because everyone seems to be competing for the same couple of positions right now. While it's beneficial to your soul to be grateful for what you have, you shouldn't act as if you have no other options but to stay at your company that clearly resents the workers who keep it running every day. You can make a game plan, polish your resume, and land a new position within a couple of months if you play your cards right. That's probably what the employee in this story should do before she gets fired, because that's clearly where it's headed. 

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  • a higher-up, who just told his employees that they should be grateful to have a job after he took away benefits to help employees when they're sick.
    via Osama Madlom

    An actor representing a higher-up, who just told his employees that they should be grateful to have a job after he took away benefits to help employees when they're sick. 

  • My employer just told us "you should be grateful to have a job" after cutting our benefits. Anyone else dealt with this?

    So our company just announced they're eliminating paid sick days and reducing health insurance coverage starting next month. When a few of us pushed
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • A photo of what could be an employee's health insurance, which now doesn't cover as many procedures as it used to.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A photo of what could be an employee's health insurance, which now doesn't cover as many procedures as it used to.

  • back in the allhands meeting, the HR director literally said we should be grateful to have stable employment in this economy and that the company is making tough
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • sacrifices to keep us all on board. I've been here four years. Never called out sick unnecessarily, I stay late when needed, I genuinely try to do good work. And
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • somehow the response to legitimate concerns about losing benefits we were promised is just gratitudeshaming us into silence The worst part is some of
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • my coworkers nodded along like that was a reasonable answer. I think a lot of people have been so conditioned to feel lucky for having any job at all that they stop
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • questioning whether the job is actually treating them fairly Has anyone else gotten this kind of response when raising workplace concerns? How did you
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • handle it? Did pushing back ever actually change anything, or did you just end up updating your resume and moving on? Genuinely curious how others have navigated
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • this because right now I'm feeling pretty demoralized and unsure what the right move is
    via u/Taniyadsexy
  • A model pretending to be a stressed employee, who doesn't know whether she should stay at the job that has taken away her benefits.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A model pretending to be a stressed employee, who doesn't know whether she should stay at the job that has taken away her benefits. 

  • crit_boy The reality answer: update your resume and move on Day to day until you can find a new job: Shrug. Work your wage. Stop doing any extra duties. Leave work at scheduled time. Don't offer any suggestions to improve anything anymore.
    via u/crit_boy
  • BeMoreKnope Yeah, and if they complain politely point out that your compensation has been reduced, so of course you aren't providing the same thing you provided when getting the previously-agreed-to compensation. Be nice, but just a little patronizing. This usually breaks their brains, and as the ones who just try to claim it wasn't part of your compensation, you get to politely explain like they're the slow kid in class what "compensation" means and includes. ...There's a reason I run my own sm
    via u/BeMoreKnope
  • fomodonkey The company should be lucky to have employees. This is the first step go bankruptcy i would look for new employement ASAP.
    via u/fomodonkey
  • hamrmech Place is going down. Get out while you can.
    via u/hamrmech
  • ijustcant555 Yea, small businesses are dropping like flies. OP, line up a new gig before you bail. This is the worst economy I have ever seen. Worse than 2008, worse than 2020. Your company is clearly in panic mode, trying to ride out the storm. If it gets worse, you will see them cutting hours, or eliminating positions. Payroll costs are often the biggest expense in a company,
    via u/ijustcant555
  • Vapur9 Having a job is not an act of charity. You just got a pay cut and they're telling you to be grateful to them since you don't have other options.
    via u/Vapur9
  • Ok-Good8150 If this is what they said, it's going to get worse before they get better.
    via u/Ok-Good8150

  • What would you do if you were her? Quit right away, or try to find a new job before leaving?

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employee gratitude job sick day in this economy employer human resources health insurance
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