'She lied to me multiple times': Employee lies about 'family emergency' when needing coverage, coworker refuses to cover them

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jun 27, 2026 9:00 PM EDT

Is it right to lie about your reasons for needing a shift covered?

It's never a good idea to lie about what's going on in your life, even at work. It doesn't engender trust, and trust is a hard thing to lose. It happens, though. Sometimes you just need to call out of work, and you need an excuse. Maybe you had something come up that day, a plan that you didn't want to say no to, or something outside of your control came to pass. You need your shift covered, and you know who you need to ask for it. But you're worried that they might say no, so you exaggerate your story. This isn't a great idea, because it's never right to deceive someone. You wouldn't want someone to deceive you, so you shouldn't deceive them. But sometimes it happens, and that's exactly what happened in this story, where a coworker found out that their colleague was lying to them. When you work closely with someone, you probably hope that you're on the same team. That you're in it together. But maybe you learn something that you feel betrayed by, and there is no going back. That's what happened to the worker in this story, who found out that their coworker had been keeping the truth from them for quite some time. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10642415872
    via Unsplash+ (A. C.)

    A woman sits in front of a computer

  • Sometimes you find out that the nature of your relationship with someone is not what you thought it was, or should be. Sometimes you can never go back from this kind of truth uncovering. That's what happened here, in a story between two coworkers. One of them thought they were helping the other out in a time of need, but it turned out that couldn't be farther from the truth. When they stumbled upon them outside of work, everything started to change. Keep reading to see what happened between these two workers and decide what you think about it. Then read what commenters had to say to the person who shared the story.

  • Am I in the wrong for telling my coworker I won't cover her shifts anymore after finding out why she always needs them covered?

    for the past 4 months I've been picking up my coworker's shifts pretty regularly. she'd text me saying she had a family emergency or felt sick and I always said yes because I felt bad for her. we work at a fairly busy cafe and I figured she was just going through a rough patch. I even used some of the extra money I made to build up some savings which felt good for once.
    via ExplorerExpress257
  • last week she texted me asking to cover but I already had plans so I said no for the first time. later that day I was at the mall and ran into her with a group of friends, totally fine, laughing, shopping. the same morning she told me she had a "family situation" and couldn't make it in.
    via ExplorerExpress257
  • I didn't say anything when I saw her, just kind of processed it. but when she texted me again the following week asking if I could cover I told her I'm not able to anymore and that she should sort out her schedule with the actual manager.
    via ExplorerExpress257
  • she got pretty cold with me after that and told a couple coworkers that I "let her down". now two of them think I'm being petty and that whatever she does on her day off is her business. but like she lied to me? multiple times? I was rearranging my whole week thinking she was dealing with something serious
    via ExplorerExpress257
  • AITJ for just quietly cutting off covering for her without explaining why?
    via ExplorerExpress257

  • Commenters agreed that it wasn't wrong to be upset.

    Frequent-Local-4788 NTJ - if she was using her actual days off for leisure activities, your co-workers would be right. But she didn't. She used YOUR days off and lied to you to make it happen!
    via Frequent-Local-4788
  • Cheezburger Image 10642415616
    via Unsplash+ (A. C.)

    A woman explains something to a coworker

  • Evening Delay_1856 To the people who tell you that whatever she does on her day off is her business, you need to tell them that it wasn't her day off. It was yours. Tell them they can work for her from now on.
    via Evening_Delay_1856
  • Existing_Purpose5049 They're absolutely right, what she does on a day off is her business! This isn't a day off, she's supposed to be working.
    via Existing_Purpose5049
  • Imaginary_Fox_6846 I used to have a co worker that pulled the same thing on me. Once I said no and my boss called me into his office to let me know that I shouldn't have said no. I explained how every week he took one of my day offs
    via Imaginary_Fox_6846
  • and needed them to visit my parents in 2 different nursing homes. He had no idea how many times the coworker did that to me. My boss apologized to me and had a talking to my coworker. It never happened again
    via Imaginary_Fox_6846
  • QuirkySyrup55947 Yeah, have never heard this one before...
    via QuirkySyrup55947
  • SalaryStraight3363 NTJ you said no why should that be a problem? She could ask someone else and you don't owe her any explanation She asked a question and you answered Tell the coworkers that are giving you a hard time to pick up her shifts They need to mind their own business
    via SalaryStraight3363
  • PeriwinkleParadise95 Yes whatever she does on her day off is not your business, but this wasn't her day off. It was a day she took off by manipulating someone else into working for her. If your coworkers feel so bad for her when she has a mall walking
    via PeriwinkleParadise95
  • emergency, they can cover for her. It's a pity because if she ever does have a true emergency, she'll be left out with her sheep for the wolf to eat. But that's on her, not on you.
    via PeriwinkleParadise95
  • ritlingit YNTJ - what she does over days off is her business and your decision to not cover shifts is your business.
    via ritlingit
  • gdognoseit NTJ Your coworkers that are giving you a hard time can volunteer to cover for her.
    via gdognoseit
  • JLS660 No explanation needed. You set your boundaries, stick with them. She took advantage of your kindness and then bad mouthed you to your colleagues. Boo to her.
    via JLS660
  • Not-a-Cranky-Panda Well why don't the two coworkers do it then, why does it always have to be you time after time?
    via Not--Cranky-Panda
  • fauxweevil7 But it wasn't her day off! It was YOUR time off! She took advantage of your good nature. You are NTJ. She's TJ!
    via fauxweevil7
  • A_little_more_left NTJ tell the coworkers that are icing you out to take her shifts if they think her shopping time is so important. When they give their reasons for not "being able to" ask them why their time is important but they're treating yours like it's not.
    via A_little_more_left
  • That you were lied to and used and are now being treated unfairly for prioritizing yourself after your kindness was taken advantage of. Ask them how they'd feel if they found out they were covering for someone's mall crawl/shopping spree when they were told it was an emergency. They wouldn't be happy being lied to either and anyone who says different is a lying sack of cr p.
    via A_little_more_left

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