Employee takes an hour-long nap every day before shift starts until boss finds out, who demands they clock in early and work instead: ‘I'm thinking about calling it quits’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jun 20, 2026 2:30 PM EDT

What would you do if you found yourself with an extra hour at work, before your shift actually starts?

We often find ourselves forced to be as flexible as possible, ready for every twist and turn that life throws our way. Sometimes this flexibility is rewarded by happy events, like freeing up your afternoon to visit a friend who just had a baby, and other times we have to clear our schedule because there's a crisis at work and everyone has to stay late to get it fixed.

There are curveballs every way you turn, and we humans have to go with the flow and let life lead the way.

These profound thoughts came from the story below, which, all in all, describes a situation in which an employee tried to make the best of the situation they found themselves in, and was told that they needed to readjust to a different reality once the boss found it. It started when work switched them from 2nd shift to 1st, which meant that shifts now start at 7 AM, which is not the most comfortable time in the world.

Choosing to be flexible, the employee managed to make this challenging time work and even arranged to get a ride to work every day with their mom. However, riding with Mom meant that this employee was dropped off at work at 6 AM every day, giving them an hour before their shift actually starts.

This employee wanted to make the most of the time they had at work while off the clock, so they decided to find a quiet room and catch up on sleep. They would nap for an hour, then feel much more refreshed to start the shift. 

That worked well until the boss found out and claimed that sleeping on workplace grounds is not an option. Instead, she demanded that this employee clock in as soon as they get to work, which meant that they would work an extra hour every single day.

That was where the employee's flexibility finally hit a stretch.

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  • An employee napping on top of his laptop, presented by a model.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    An employee napping on top of his laptop, presented by a model.

  • My boss said I can't come early and sleep at my work place until it's time to clock in

    I've been working at a nursing home for 4 years now as a Floor Technician. I used to be on 2nd shift but through some b now been exclusively working first shift. The problem is that I it, I
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • don't drive and it's hard to find someone willing in the morning. to drive me so I have to carpool with my mom cause her job's going towards the same way, but she has to clock in at 6 AM while I
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • clock in at 7. So I have to get up at 5, get dressed by 5:30, and then I usually get dropped off around 5:40. Otherwise, I have to walk across town to get to work
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • I have few qualms about working mornings but I still arrive on time, even if I walk to work I can still be on time. However, I'm still tired and I wanna catch some sleep before I clock in. So I usually go
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • into the computer learning room and take a nap for the last few months now, nobody cared. When i first started here, I worked mornings so I had another spot I slept in before clock in until they
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • closed it off from employees, nobody cared then. Its not that I'm sleep-deprived, it's more of a "might as well!" thing. And if I may add, I always usually show up to work a hour or a half-hour before I clock in anyways and I
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • don't even sleep. It's something I been doing way before even I started this job
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • Close-up of a watch clock
    via Curated Lifestyle

    Close-up of a watch clock

  • I clocked in this morning and my department head starts chewing me out first thing for using my off time to sleep in a empty public room at a hour where it's not being used and most of the
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • morning staff isn't here, including my bosses. She's telling me that since I'm here early, which is something I have no say in, I should clock in over a hour and half early and begin working. Like
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • it's not my choice to be here this early so why should I have to work before everyone else in my department for no reason
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • I tried suggesting moving to another room like the employee break room or putting me back on 2nd shift but my department head is adamant on keeping me on first so that she can have me
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • right under her wrinkly old thumb and the worst part is that there's another fully capable person on first that could be handling 1st
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • shift on his own yet we both are constantly stepping on each other's toes finding stuff to keep busy on an eight hour shift.
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • I was going to have a discussion with the big boss later today but I'm beyond not having the energy to be patronized and dismissed so I thinking about calling it quits. Thoughts?
    via AlwaysTheStraightMan
  • green_calculator Get her to say via email that she wants you to clock in early, then when they complain about your overtime, forward the email. If you're in the US.
    via green_calculator
  • HollzStars Ask if clocking in early means you get to leave early? Or if it's overtime? Both those options sound better than a nap imo.
    via HollzStars
  • Ok-Word2092 How about a bicycle?
    via Ok-Word2092
  • Throw AwayalldayXiii So they are offering you another 90 minutes of pay each day?
    via ThrowAwayalldayXiii
  • laMtHel00phole My job would fire you for that. They fired a woman for being homeless and sleeping in her car on company property. She showed up clean. Did the job right.
    via laMtHel00phole

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boss shift employee manager nap job tales-from-the-workplace napping morning workplace overtime company
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