Boss demands employee show up 1 hour earlier unpaid, sends an AI-generated message to motivate them: 'You have the potential to do great things'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 16, 2026 11:15 AM EDT

When your boss asks you to do something unpleasant, the least they can do is write it themselves. 

The world is full of cop-outs these days. The widespread use of AI means that if you don't want to try so hard, you don't have to. This can mean that we're treating things with less respect than they might deserve. Especially in professional interactions. It makes sense that you'd want to save time, but business is really all about relationships. If you're not treating that relationship with respect, then you're not going to go far. This includes using AI to communicate with your employees for you. It's hard to feel like anyone cares about you when they're using a robot to talk to you. That's what was happening in this story, though. 

Timeliness is important. Every job has different expectations about timing, and every job requires a different level of attentiveness in terms of timeline. Some jobs are fine with you strolling in past your start time and leisurely starting your day. Other jobs will ding you for every minute that you waste. It's your job to respond to the needs of your workplace and figure out your rhythm within it. The employee in this story was getting conflicting information from their employers regarding their start time. This is a pressing issue because lateness can have grave consequences in the workplace. 

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  • A stressed out employee lays her head on her desk
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

    Model representation. 
     

    A stressed out employee lays her head on her desk

  • Boss just told me to show up an hour earlier, then sent a ChatGPT message about how much I'm capable of.

    I'm getting there at 10 wdym We start at 9am everyday The earlier you start, the more you can learn, the more you can accomplish, and the more opportunities you create for yourself. Success comes from small habits, and being on time-or even a little early-is one of them. I'm telling you this because I want to see you grow and become better. Make the decision to start your day early, stay focused, and give yourself the opportunity to improve every day. You have the potential to do great things ④R
    via RomanKnight2113
  • dragon-queen The ChatGPT thing is annoying. Is this the first time you've been told to get there at 9 though?
    via RomanKnight2113
  • mancrog So do you start at 9am or 10am?
    via RomanKnight2113

  • This boss was treating their employee with a little too much flippancy. Nobody wants to get a text that was written by artificial intelligence. It makes us feel like we're not even worth someone's time. If they're using shortcuts to correspond with us, then why do we need to treat that relationship with love and care? And we're at the point where you can sniff out a ChatGPT-generated text pretty easily. There are a few natural giveaways, and the text in this story was full of them. The employee was left wondering what they should do and sought out the opinions of other folks on the internet. Keep reading to see what happened here and let us know what you think.

  • The orignial poster clarified some information about the story.

    RomanKnight2113 OP there's two owners. one told me I can start at 10 and the other said 9. we are often out working past 6:00/6:30pm and do not get paid overtime, so I said I'm gonna show up at 10. other owner was not happy.
    via RomanKnight2113
  • LeeQuidity I once had a boss who said, "I consider ten minutes early to be on time." It took everything in my soul to prevent me from leaving at 4:50 that day.
    via RomanKnight2113
  • TurkeyTerminator7 Lmao sending "wdym" to your boss is wild
    via RomanKnight2113
  • A woman scratches her head with a pencil at her desk
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

    Image depicted solely for explanatory purposes.


    A woman scratches her head with a pencil at her desk

  • DopamineSavant I lose respect for anyone that sends me an Al created email.
    via RomanKnight2113
  • Live_Life_and_enjoy "Also the earlier you come, you choose that. So what you learn is what you earn. Only fools ask for compensation while winners will demand to work for knowledge!" P.S A personal pan pizza party awaits our top learners!
    via RomanKnight2113
  • writemcsean send him back a chatgpt message about the importance of boundaries, work life balance, and mental health
    via RomanKnight2113
  • WinterSector8317 Boss wants an hour of free labor I'm guessing? Or will he pay overtime?
    via RomanKnight2113
  • CCHTweaked Perot Solutions Group (remember Ross Perot?), was once an an IT support company with contracts for support. One such contract was with the United States Coast Guard.
    via RomanKnight2113
  • The idiots at the USCG started to demand that all support people "be logged into their PC and ready to work when the shift begins" What these idiots refused to hear, was that it took On average of 15 minutes to login.
    via RomanKnight2113
  • This was 15 minutes of unpaid illegal overtime everyday, for everyone. The class action lawsuit brought by the workers Is why the Perot Solutions Group no longer exists. Protect yourself and fight for what is yours.
    via RomanKnight2113
  • Select Pilot4197 My boss pays for Claude and she created my entire yearly review with it but didn't remove the prompts when she copied and pasted
    via RomanKnight2113
  • Forward-Tonight7079 If your contract says you start at 9, you are late. If your contract says you start at 10 am - there is a problem with what your boss is asking you. Remind him of your official hours.
    via RomanKnight2113
  • gokusdabbinball He just changed your start time to 9am. Congratulations.
    via RomanKnight2113

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boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers ai fail working toxic-boss workplace chat gpt bad bosses toxic-work-environment
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