I was at a job less than three months. I took sick enough to be hospitalized. I contacted my physician and had him send a note to my boss. I also called and tried to explain my situation. My boss called the next day and left a message “lucky you got a doctor to write a phony letter. Iwill file it when I receive it. In the mean time please make arrangements to com and clean out your desk by the end of the week. I contacted a lawyer and ended up receiving 6 months severance. I remember the judge asking my boss when he received his medical degree. I received the extra severance as the judge said his actions exacerbated my illness. It all worked out for the best as I had a new job within a month of getting out of the hospital.
Best company I worked for...I scheduled my daughter's tonsillectomy for spring break and took the week off as vacation. My director called me in to his office and informed me I was not taking vacation. It would be paid sick leave and if I needed more time to let him know. That was 30+ years ago and I'm sure he's died, but there will always be a special place in my heart for him.
When my mom was dying my boss let me start work at 5am so I could leave at 2pm to take my mom to chemotherapy. They were so super flexible because I also had kids I needed to take care of. I really loved my manager. When I was working 8-5 she'd come by everyone's desk at 4:30 pm and make sure we were ready to leave at 5 pm and get home to our families.
Was a senior sous chef when I got a call that my dad died before my shift. The Ops Director & GM were very understanding. Head Chef when informed that I needed some time off said to me "so when are you going to be back?". I had to go " I found out my dad died an hour ago, so I don't know". There's a reason he went through 30 chefs in less than a year...
I had heard that culinary careers often had monsters working in them. My second cousin, who is super nice, punched one (coked-up) head chef at one point.
Hi Ben. I love your show. I worked for a heartless boss. I was a single mom of 2 children with no help and no family around. I did what I could to make ends meet. My lunches often consisted of soup, lentils, bean tacos etc. You get the idea. I had been denied a raise 3 years in a row. One day when I was at the lunch table eating some curried lentils, tge boss says "God Mary. Beans again? Is that all you ever eat? Don't you know how to make anything else?" I was mortified. I just sat there, frozen, because if I moved, I would break out into tears. What I felt like doing is yelling in her face "Yes Lori, I do know how to make other things. The freezer is chock full of steak but I'm saving it for another time!!!" A coworker witnessed that. Without saying a word, he went to mcdonald's and got me a burger. Put it down in front of me. Smiled, patted me on the back and walked away. There are bad bosses, and there are bad bosses who are terrible human beings.
The worst one of this ever seen happened to a coworker. His mum had just passed. He lets management know he's going to the hospital to see her. They actually, truly looked him in the eyes and said "well she's passed, can't you stay another hour"? I quit the next day.
Just as an alternative, in the mid eighties I was working two jobs, which included 4 nights working bar at a disco. During this time my best friend was killed in a motorbike crash, two days after his death I went to work at the disco but, understandably I suppose, I wasn't really up for working, after a few hours the owner took me aside and asked me what was up with me, after I told him he took me to the office, went to the safe took out about 3 weeks wages and told me to come back when I was better Now it would be fair to describe him as a gangster, he was arrested at Heathrow Airport trying to skip the country with a large amount of undeclared money, but for that one action if I had been asked I would have given a character reference at his trial!
As a 19 year old, young woman, I worked as a camp kitchen helper basically serving food and doing dishes. All the staff lived and worked together about 6 of us with a head cook who was a young fellow too in his early 20s and it was his first time managing people. One day I got called into the camp directors cabin (he lived in his own cabin) and I was sat down. The camp director was a man of about 50, he proceeded to lecture me on the fact that I was doing the dishes all the time and serving food (that was my job). He went on like that for over an hour lecturing me. I can honestly say as soon as he started to lecture me about me doing my job (which I was doing correctly and it was one no one else wanted to do) I zoned out. I remember thinking that I was not going to let him see my cry. After an hour he excused me to go back and finish cleaning up dinner. I walked out of the office and the head cook later apologized. He had no clue what that was about. I walked back to the house we lived in went into my room and cried. I then called my family on a radio telephone and told them what had happened and I later found out that my incident had been brought to the camp board who hired the director. I ended up talking to one of the members of the board about what had happened and that director never talked to me again. I think the director thought he could bully me and when he didn’t get a reaction he didn’t know what to do. Many years later I found out that the director had actually hated teenagers and young adults and was fired.
He probably worked with them because he hated them and was a bully. Can't imagine living with people you work with. One of you gets sick, you all get sick. Not to mention the stress involved in tension if people do not get along.
I heard just the worst story today that a Wells Fargo employee died at her desk and it took 4 days for anyone to notice. When she didn't reply to her bosses' emails, they finally noticed. 😢
Yeah, was completely flabbergasted when I read that, do people not talk to each other in the office? I completely do not understand how this is possible
Did you hear what happened to an employee out in Colorado who went on a “charity hike” with co workers and was promptly left behind and not reported missing for several hours, even after he told them he was lost? That might be just a general people problem, but it did not make the company look good.
@julia34901 Yes, I heard that story. Those colleagues are complete A-holes imo. I would never trust them ever and probably would leave that company immediately. Ps! We also do hikes from time to time and always keep an eye out for anyone who's left behind.
I had a manager who (unfortunately for me) knew i was being treated for depression. One day, in front of customers and associates, she told me that "I should just kill myself because all the employees hate me anyway." It crushed me and made me feel... well, I thought about doing just that. Several of the employees reported it to h.r. The companies solution was to transfer me to a different location, then repeatedly shuffled me to different locations until I left. Even after i was transferred, that manager would show up at my new location to twll all the employees I was a horrible person. She still works for them years later.
@@darkjudge8786 Hey thanks, you just cured my major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, and complex PTSD by telling me to harden up. Thank you so much for curing me and slapping away the trauma of physical and sexual abuse with that simple act. How can I ever repay you? I should be ashamed of being mentally ill and have no right to be part of society... I either need to listen to you or fuck off and die, right? Thanks... I'll get right on that... be sure to tell all your pals you won and got rid of some stupid idiot who has feelings. Thanks... just what I needed to hear... have yourself a cookie.
I'm very sorry to hear that. Your ex boss sounds like a nasty person. Depression is more common than a lot of people think and you don't deserve to be treated in that way. I hope you're in a better state of mind now.
Not me, but my old boss. His father died suddenly and without any previous health issues, so it was a real shock for him. He took some time off to grieve and left myself and another manager to handle business. We contacted one of the consultants from a company we worked for. We explained the situation, and informed them that the upcoming meeting would be postponed until the boss was able to return. On the day of the funeral my boss received a text from the consultant saying "we were supposed to have a meeting today, since when does a dads funeral take priority over a contract?"
I was lucky, on my dogs last day (the day he was put down) i asked my work if i could step away from my laptop to spend as much time with him as possible and they agreed. I was 21 at the time, my family got that dog when i was 6
My 16-year-old cat suddenly took a bad turn and was dying. I texted my boss and told him she was dying and wouldn't be in. He said it was fine and family came first.
One Thursday of my relatives found her cat dead in the morning before going into work. She was crying and her boss asked her what was wrong. She told him about the cat and he sent her home to grieve and gave her Friday off as well and paid her for both days.
On a company call, our ceo proudly boasted how one of our team was working early and staying late nearly every day. He went on to say he wishes he'd see that mentality more lol he also told our company we need to step up since it's not fair how he gets pulled from time with his kids and family to deal with work related issues. He's fired half our team for outsourcing and before they reached specific benefits (5 year bonus)
That's where the "don't work so hard, you make us all look bad..."-joke comes from. Some take that stuff seriously. In the Netherlands, a good manager will tell you to stop making consistent overtime, to diminish the risk of burn-outs.
@@davinasquirrel7672 I agree, sometimes. I went in early, as did my boss and we had 75% of our work day planned and in motion before the rest straggled in and started. For him, I was happy to take his call or he took mine for a real emergency. Neither of us would abuse the privilege. Only had two or three bosses that good. We all understood the work environment and need to separate family time and work time.
@@davinasquirrel7672 That depends a bit, it can have various reasons, and showing off for the boss is one. I was hired as a team leader from outside into a company, and had to manage a team of 5 colleagues who were new to me. I quickly noticed that there was one colleague of 26 years old in my office who was always working late. From the start, I organized a weekly half an hour team meeting, just to hear what everyone was up to and how the work was going, the planning ahead etc., while I was getting acquainted with the new company and specific work myself too. I noticed that this particular colleague always stated she was busy etc, but always mentioned the same things she was working on. While she was actually very good at her job, she was so insecure about it, that she never considered anything 'finished'. So I discretely in relation to the rest of the team started helping her with that, and at the end of the working day could often be found saying "we've done enough for the day, let's go", to ensure we would both ended our working day. After a few months, it went much better. Work was not only done, but also finished, and she stopped staying late routinely. And during a performance review, she actually stated she was so much more relaxed since I became her manager, as she always felt stressed about the work. All she needed to know was when the work was 'good enough' and 'finished', while she barely needed any assistance on the work itself as she was excellent at it and a great colleague. Just to indicate, it's not always the ones who like to show off for the boss in the hope to get a promotion, it can be other causes.
In New York, employment is "At-Will", and the way it was explained to me when the same thing happened, the employer can dismiss or terminate employment for any, or No Reason at all... I came back to work after PT from knee replacement. Was told that I was "Old & Diabled and was holding the jobs up..." I never got scheduled or called again. I went to work for a competitor a month later and stayed there for 5 more years. Retired now, but never heard back from the old employer, NEVER! No legal recourse, and I did run it past my lawyer.
The third one makes me happy that I live in Bulgaria. Because here your boss has no say as to when you get a sick day. You just go to the doctor and take your note, and that's it - and taking a sick day to take care of your child is entirely valid. I was honestly surprised when I found out that Americans have a limited amount of sick days. What if you have to exceed it?
Only some Americans have paid sick days at all, most do not. It is entirely up to your employer to provide them as benefits or not. If anyone in a service industry gets sick they lose a day's pay. This is why women are disadvantaged at work, they have to take days off to care for children and do it without pay. We have no paid maternity leave either. No mandatory paid vacation, no short term disability.
Back in the 2000s the place I'd been working at for about 5 years stopped sending me rosters. I had two jobs at the time so I just asked the other job for more hours. About 6 months later the previous job sent me a roster and I just ignored it. Anyway, they call me asking me where I am and I reply, "At work." They're like, "No, you're not here," and I replied, "I don't work there anymore." They then had the gall to accuse me of quitting and not telling them.
There would be the letters "F" and "Y" scribbled in-between "Go" and "team" before the end of the first day on the sign about trying to disallow employees from staying home to care for sick kids.
Had a co worker who tore her leg open on an exposed spigot that our maintenance dept didnt cover or remove, she screamed loudly, pulled up her pant leg and nlood was gushing into her shoe, our manager took one look at her and told me to handle it because she couldn't stand the sight of blood and do instead of calling for an ambulance like she should have, I called 911 and wrapped her leg that was torn open to the tendon. The coworker told me to just slap some super glue on it. Ended up in urgent care, twenty stitches, refused to sue the company, who the same day removed the pipe and spigot and came to work a week later limping still.
In 2013, I was attacked and ended up with my right hand cut in half. Had to get surgery to fix the nerves and the thumb tendon. Also ended up with PTSD/Panic Syndrome which caused a lot of issues when needed to go to check ups and physiotherapy. I got a letter from the orthopaedic doctor saying I couldn’t go back to work until they gave me a clear from him and the psychiatrist, which lasted about 3 months. When I went back, the company was throwing me around because they didn’t know what to do with me, then ended up firing me a couple of weeks later with a report saying I wasn’t working hard in the last 4 months. They literally included my 4 months away in my review.
After my mother died, I took two weeks off. My boss thought it was not enough time and asked me if I needed more. Thank goodness I don't live and work in the USA
My mother was on home hospice dying of cancer. My full time job as an elementary school secretary was great and told me to take all the time I needed. My part time cashier job at a popular big box store where I wore khaki and red insisted I "call out" each day I was scheduled to work. This meant every day after being up nights to administer meds to my Mom, I had to call the store, ask for the supervisor on duty, wait 5-10 minutes for them to pick up the phone, and then explain to this person that my mother was dying in a city an hour away and I could not come in. This went on for 2 solid weeks! I even had to call each day after her death as we made arrangements for services. It was brutal. I cried during and after each call.
I remember the company my dad worked for when I was younger. He was in a serious car accident that the doctors said that they don't know how he survived. We lived in Northern Illinois and he was in a Hospital in Missouri. He was gone for 5 months total and when he came home he still had his job. The owner of the company would call once a week to get an update on my dad. They even had a company picnic ever year in the summer and they made sure all the children got a prize/ gift.
I wrote a novel about my 35 years as a sales rep for Fortune 100 companies. I included both good and bad managers. Of course, being an unknown author, I couldn’t get it published. Several literary agents said my stories are so outrageous no one would believe them. 😅
My sister had to put her dog down, it was an unexpected situation and she was extremely devastated. She was a store manager and she wanted to not go in that day, but her DM told her sitting at home wasn't going to accomplish anything and the best thing was just to come to work. I went to visit her at her job and her face was swollen from crying. She eventually quit and now that company has filed for bankruptcy. Good they get what they deserve.
My husband had a co worker who drove a threaded screw thru his finger a couple of weeks ago. The business wanted him to go to urgent care, in another town, when we have an ER center in our own town. Ended up having to have surgery to remove the screw which an urgent care could not have performed and they would have ended up sending him to an ER anyway. Had a lump on my thyroid that could have been cancer, since I don't drive my husband had to take me to my appointments. The company was fine with letting him off work to attend to my problem. It turned out it wasn't cancerous thank god.
my wife has been working for her employer for 26 years, she is struggling with her mental health and going thru menopause, instead of supporting her they changed her roll to one she has never done before, she made a mistake as she is struggling anyway and been put under more pressure, they are now trying to use this to get rid of her as they expect her to be a leader after 26 years, not someone who relies on others, she is off sick atm and is so scared about going back as she is expecting to be fired and feel sure that the management has been talking about her issues with other staff members and not in a supportive way as it has happened before.
@@AbigailArwenim not sure if that's a thing in the UK, she has so much on her plate and her boss just hasn't been of any help at all, if anything they have made things far far worse.
@@Amelia.A.T. thats what i was saying tbh, and as she is struggling with depression i would say possible disability discrimination, she has loved her job all this time and has been off work very very little (a hand full of times over 26 years) so for them to treat her this way hurts me to see, i cant imagine how she feels, devastated to say the least.
@@RAVAG3DH3AD It really is awful. I'm so sorry she's going through this, but I'm glad that you are so understanding. Menopause can be a real b*tch, and it just goes on and on. The symptoms can change as it goes on, but it's not very predictable. Has she tried Estroven supplements? They are pretty good, actually, though a bit pricey. I wish you both the best. I hope that you can consult south an attorney who specializes in this sort of thing.
If they suddenly remove you from the schedule and you don't know if you are fired or not, just file for unemployment. They have to defend what they did to you in order to deny your claim and it then involves managers above the heads of your local tyrants.
In one job I was slugged with three separate deaths in the family in less than a month. The boss told me to stop being so upset about it; in fact her exact words were "Just fake it, force a smile, just carry on like nothing happened." Let's just say I tore a strip off her. She's the kind of person who thinks professor Umbridge is a role model 🙄
Working for Royal Bank of Scotland in 2008. When Fred the Shred was leaving with millions of pounds, and loads of us were just booted (and it's not like it was well-paying £11,800/year) there was a statement with him "really empathising" with all the employees, and that he "knew how we felt". I think I let out a half-hysterical "ha!"
I worked at a banquet hall in high school. I overheard a manager talking to someone calling out when their grandparent died. The manager was saying " you can't come in? It's only a grandparent".
Before i was paralyzed i had a habit of being one of those workers u cant replace and everyone needs. Yet even when offered i wouldnt take time off during family situations. Needed the money at the time.. glad my bosses were understanding at least and offered
I've run businesses before and had employees. You identify the good ones and treat them well (well you treat everyone well but keep the best ones). I was always happy to give my employees a day off if they needed one, knowing that if I'll ever need them to return the favour they would. I also paid them well.
I worked for a very large Private Hospital and our Management sent out a communication telling employees that if they injured themselves at work they were not to attend our emergency department. They were advised to travel to another hospital or local GP clinic.
This reminds me of when I worked for a bank in the 1970s. We weren't allowed to cash our paychecks at this bank. This was so the tellers wouldn't know what we were making. Probably the hospital didn't want their employees becoming patients there because of privacy concerns.
@@rslitman - we were welcome to be treated there as long as it wasn't a workplace injury. I had several procedures along the way and we actually got $500 a year towards costs from the company. I never understood the difference.
Also really stupid from a financial standpoint. If it’s something serious enough that the clinic can’t handle it, they will refer you to a hospital, and possibly have you transported by ambulance. So then the insurance has to cover more care. Also a huge liability risk.
@@Boomette53 My brother is a roofer and he fell from a roof couple of years ago breaking several bones. The boss told him to walk it off😤 Not to mention they didn't have any safety gear to stop you from falling. The company did dirty business by not paying taxes, that's why they didn't want to involve doctors or officials to investigate the matter.
@@EikePiltI hope he sued them! Also, isn’t a contractor required by law to carry Worker’s Compensation insurance? If he didn’t have his crew covered, he should lose his license. So sorry your brother worked for such a jerk.
@@Boomette53 No, suing in our country isn't really a thing. You may end up paying more by suing than you would receive in return. Plus, companies like these often hire shady people. My brother has a really "colorful" history.
I had a 10in × 3in slab of skin cancer removed from my back. They cut down to the tissues and stitched me up. I was forced to do a physical fitness test 2 days later. I was off by 22 secs. They wouldn't accept it, I busted a few stitches and was bleeding so badly I had to remove my shirt and rebandage. Same company still has me on their site as an employee even after 10 years being let go.
One time, probably close to 20 years ago, a woman who regularly rode the same train to work with me told a group of us that one day when she called in sick, she got a phone call at home from her boss telling her she had to come in anyway because too many other employees had called in sick that day.
I've worked in IT for almost 20 years, most of it as a contractor. When I worked for the State, a co-worker's (also a contractor) son was in a car crash. They ended up taking the kid off life support on his 21st birthday. As a contractor, you only get two (unpaid) berevement days, and no paid sick time. He was gone a month, and they were trying to find a new contractor for his spot when he finally did come back.
Ben, you thinking the second boss's advice made no sense - that is you coming at it as an emotionally intelligent human being. I bet that boss really thought he was being helpful. I imagine this is how he himself dealt with his partner or another loved one experiencing a huge health event or another life challenge that was difficult. Just avoid, bury your head in the sand, pretend you're busy at work and do everything you can to avoid facing reality and giving that person emotional support. Sadly, this behavior is all too common. My heart breaks for that boss's partner.
Years ago, I had a miscarriage and severe complications. Because of limited sick leave, I dragged myself to work and did my best. My direct supervisor came into my office, plopped herself down and inquired "why are you sick all the time?" Within the week, a secretary saw me in the restroom a lot and told me if I came in the next day she was getting me an ambulance as I was getting severely anemic from hemorrhaging. Limited sick leave and crappy healthcare suck.
Before Obamacare I worked IT for a bank (that's been in the news lately for something along the same lines) most of our IT call center were contractors; no insurance, no sick leave, wages so low I was on food stamps working 40 hrs/week. One of the guys I worked with got sick. He couldn't afford time off, and he REALLY couldn't afford to go to the doctor. He died.
New York is very strict about letting people have time for taking care of sick relatives - that employer is certainly going to be paying a large settlement if sued. I know, I am an employer in NY - the rules changed in 2023 to the benefit of employees. It makes sense for the state; unemployment payments and loss of tax revenue cost Albany a lot of money.
When my dad fell over and broke his hip. My boss said, "Can you do anything at the moment? " I finished the list, and then drove straight down to see the old man. It was a great distraction.
I was a key holder at a retail store in my 20's. I had decided to go back to school and made arrangements with my boss to move from full-time to part-time status. About a month before school started our store had its manager reassigned and a new manager took over, when I told him about my arrangement with the previous manager he acted totally blindsided and appalled by the situation. He hired a new member of staff to take over as the keyholder, as this was a full-time position, and asked me to train them up. Unfortunately I contracted the flu at about that time and was unable to work, so I had my Mum bring the key around for the new guy. I later called the store to get my next week's schedule and ask how the new guy was getting on and was told that while my name was on the rota I hadn't been given any hours. I asked to speak to the manager, who wasn't currently in. I called 3 more times over the course of the week with the same results and the next weeks rota no longer included my name. I was never contacted by the manager or any company rep, never given any notice of termination, nothing. Just silently let go.
0:34 I worked for a security subcontractor at a hospital and we had that policy. We had to speak to the subcontractor’s workers comp NP before we were allowed to seek medical care at the hospital we worked at.
😢 Had a coworker whose mom was in hospital dying. They called her about 1 p.m. saying it wouldn't be long and she should come immediately. It was a Wednesday. Mom died, funeral was Saturday. Even though bereavement was 3 days, HR said Wednesday didn't "count" because she passed at 3:30 and coworkers shift ended at 3. A 20 year employee and they wouldn't pay her for the 2 freaking hours. 😢😮
On that final one - I do have to wonder if OP informed her employer that they are now available for shifts? Or did they think that the job would just know.? We really don't have enough information.
I was thinking the same, why didn't she call them? Maybe the employer was being respectful and is just waiting for a call when she's ready to come back. It sounds idiotic I know, but at least I would've called.
7:18 My last boss did this EXACT same thing to me. I stopped getting emailed schedules, when I came in and texted him about it he said I "am not required to clock in and I need to leave". Next week I ask if I'm working that week and he doesn't. Same thing the following week. He basically fired me without firing me
I learned how to play the wfh game. I was grandfathered in as far as wfh on Fridays, but would occasionally want/need to take another wfh day during the week. So I did it in one of two ways: First, ask to wfh because "I was feeling sick" then if told no, _"Oh, okay, guess I'll just take a sickday today, kbye."_ Second, say up front I needed a sickday, get grexed at because of all the work that needed doing, then "compromise' by doing a wfh day instead.
As someone who works in childcare - PLEASE keep your children home when they are sick. They don’t want to be there feeling awful, just like you don’t want to be at work feeling awful. Also it will spread very quickly to other children, causing an outbreak. It’s just more messy and hassle than it’s worth
Also you forgot to mention by law in the uk you are absolutely allowed to leave or miss work if a dependent is sick. It’s literally illegal to punish employees for missing work to look after your child 🤷🏾♀️
3:19 regarding the boss who suggested burying one’s self in work during a crisis. Though not good advice, it is possible they came from a sincerely concerned place. Maybe the boss’s coping mechanism is doing exactly as they suggested. Could be they were assuring the employee they could rely on work to be a distraction for as long as needed. That’s the only reasoning I could come up with suggesting the employee isn’t being taken advantage of. Something that is still entirely on the proverbial table.
It was my thought as well, but either way, you shouldn't leave your dying spouse alone. You can shut yourself down by working mindlessly later when she has passed. The idea might have come from a good place, but it's still inconsiderate.
@@EikePilt no lies detected. Just because a method of coping works for thee? Don’t mean it’s good for me. Like, “if you need to bury yourself in work, take time off, eat twenty stress pizzas? We got you” woulda been grand.
@@michaelpapp5518 Yeah, I went through the grieving process for my granny even before she actually passed. It was tough when she didn't recognize me during one of my visits. We were super close, and she pretty much raised me. It was heartbreaking.
I got a new Boss the first of the year, on the 2nd of January my father passed away of a heart attract on the golf course, one week later my 8 year old daughter was hit by a car while I was at the hospital wife my pregnant wife trying to stop a premature baby delivery. (that all worked out) On the 15th of January my mother passed away of a stroke in her sleep. In less than a week after I got back from my mother's funeral my new boss called me into the office and said, I know you have had a rough month but your work quality has been down, and I am thinking you are not a good fit with my team. Not fired, but asked to leave ASAP. Just 3 months earlier I got a great review, and the max raise my old boss could give me. Best revenge, get a job that my new boss would have killed to have :)
There was a new (female) manager appointed at a resthome/retirement village complex I worked at some years ago. She wanted the senior nursing staff gone but couldn't legally fire them. So she told the nurse manager and deputy nurse manager that they were useless and detrimental to the village. These women had between them worked at the village 40 years. She harassed them (and the rest of us) in ways too numerous to mention here until we were all so stressed that we resigned. I found out later that that manager had a history of destroying every workplace she'd ever been at, then blackmailing the board of directors (or whoever) into writing her a glowing reference to get rid of her. She's now a senior manager at the local hospital, and no doubt tormenting the staff there as she has everywhere else she's worked. I truly don't know how she has gotten away with it for so long, in a relatively small city. Oh well. 😟
My cousin’s work (NHS!) gave her a warning because she had been taking too much time off after her child had a heart transplant! She was a single mother.
I had a boss who refused to send me to the ER after a severe dog bite. I went after I got off work and they called him to inform him of the violation and told him I needed IV antibiotics 2 doses and I had developed a red streak running up my arm towards my heart already. I left there shortly after the incident.
Dear Ben, I worked for a company that wouldn't allow an employee compassionate leave when her mother was dying of a brain tumor. Her mother lived overseas. She came to work every day and cried loudly at her desk almost all day long until her mother died. They did allow her the standard time off for the funeral. Months later when my father died abroad, I was off work for 2 weeks. They forced me to book it as a holiday because: 1 my dad had been ill for a long time, so it was for the best 2. I wasn't as upset as my colleague had been. I left as soon as I could.
We had our three year old hospitalised for almost a week with doctors running test after test as they suspected he might have epilepsy. On the second day they asked my husband to take the company's computer with him so that he could work from the hospital. Unfortunately that person was retiring at the end of the same year so he could care less about the employees 😮
That first one was probably meant to mean any non-emergency injuries. But they definitely worded it very incorrectly. If someone feels they are in need of emergency care, they should always go to the emergency room and/or call 911.
Yeah my mom dealt with cancer at the end if her life. I had to adjust my work schedule to accommodate her care. Job was completely understanding. I had two weeks off and worked from home for a month.
One thing I don't understand is why employees tell their work anything about their or their loved one's health or WHY they can't make it in. It's not the employers business.
When I worked in retail my district manager told me that I had to work 6 days a week and was expected to put the store as my main priority and since I have a husband if my kid (autistic)gets sick or needs a hospital he can take care of it and not an excuse for me to miss work
When my mum committed suicide, I got a disciplinary for having time off. Was told I was taking the piss. I was signed off by my gp due to stress & grief but they couldn't have cared less. I also got constantly told off for not smiling when I did return to work after the funeral.
The "bury yourself and work" guy. Christ on a unicycle. What's his tactic there? "The best way to deal with grief is not to let it cause issues for those most important to you, like your boss for instance, but rather to distance yourself from non-employees, and look to winding your relationship with your dependent up so that in the event of her death you won't be seeking time off for the funeral either."
A couple of years ago my partner had to go to the ER and I ended up going to bed at 5 in the morning stressed out of my wits because we didn't know if he was gonna go blind. I texted my boss before going to bed explaining what happened and telling him that I would be taking the day off the next day because I couldn't possibly work decently. It was not really a question but the day after he texted me that of course it was ok. The day I was back was a Friday and he called me as soon as I got online. He asked me how my partner was and then how I was and then told me to go back to bed and try to enjoy the long weekend cause he'd be covering for me. He has fucked up several times after that but I have *never* ever doubted that he always had good intentions.
I had one where I was put in at risk of redundancy for my job over a 30 seconds phone call which means you might be made redundant or job might be saved over a 30 day period. I was asked the next day to share how I do my role with others which basically confirmed my redundancy without legally saying it. Great management skills 😂
Hehe "we don't employ your kids". That would've been a valid argument decades ago. My dad never missed a day of work for this reason. *BUT* his income was enough to support the family. Double the workforce -> lower wages. Then disregard your employees when they occasionally have to skip a day because of their kids.
I don’t think #2 is necessarily heartless. It is tone deaf definitely. I think that he might have had something similar happen to him and responded by just burying himself in work or heard other people doing it. Some of these scenarios are heartless but this isn’t necessarily
My Cat died couple of years ago. Just found it stiff as a rock when I came home late at night. Vet said it should be sent to examined because she had a rare disease (FIV). Well, I had a lot to do next morning so I decided to be effective and instead going to TNT or some other courier service I'd sent it from my company. I was then board chairman and co-owner. After the parcel was picked up and I had left from work my asshole part owner had cancelled that single shipment for wasting company money. My dead cat was in some warehouse for 3 days until I found out. They couldn's send it anywhere because the ID was now invalid. All this for effing ~15 euros
I've never really had a bad boss I remember once cutting my finger quite badly and needed medical attention the supervisor drove me to the nearest hospital I was paid for the whole day and given a paid two days off now that's how it should be
Not only is that legally allowed here @ 3:36, you get full pay to stay home with a sick child. There are rules, I think the child must be under 10yo or something but basically yes, paid sick leave
For the second one I can kinda see what he’s trying to do since I know some people burn themselves in work to deal with shit like that the fact that was his first response makes me think it’s his way of coping and he’s assuming it’s how most people deal with it when it’s really not
I feel that first one may be missing some context, my money is that they have had issue with hospitals over charging or insurance not wanting to cover it, so to avoid issue they want the staff to not go to hospitals.. but still seek medical attention
True, but I was not fired, nor was I terminated. I was a Regular Hourly Technician. They just stopped assigning me any work. 5 montgs after this, HR called me and asked if I still worked for them. My reply was to ask them to tell me, seeing that the Field Office hadn't called me for 5 months. I got all of my vacation days, PTO and sick days in a check, but I am still "employed", or not. That was 10 years ago. No biggie...
See, my response to #3 would be "In light of recent changes, I will no longer be supporting your child's Boy Scout fundraiser/ballet recital/insert applicable extracurricular function here. I am not employed by your children, and as such, they don't define my happiness or self-worth. Teamwork, amirite?" Just throw it back in their faces, see how they like it. #4 I would've gone the malicious compliance route and come in, and just be such a Debbie Downer and make the day as uncomfortable for everyone around me as I could. And if anyone else tried to shoo me out of the office, I'd just be a hardass and say "No, I'm required to be here because my manager said." Teach them as if they know my emotions better than I do.
I was at a job less than three months. I took sick enough to be hospitalized. I contacted my physician and had him send a note to my boss. I also called and tried to explain my situation. My boss called the next day and left a message “lucky you got a doctor to write a phony letter. Iwill file it when I receive it. In the mean time please make arrangements to com and clean out your desk by the end of the week. I contacted a lawyer and ended up receiving 6 months severance. I remember the judge asking my boss when he received his medical degree. I received the extra severance as the judge said his actions exacerbated my illness. It all worked out for the best as I had a new job within a month of getting out of the hospital.
At least you didn't waste years working there before he showed his true colours.
Best company I worked for...I scheduled my daughter's tonsillectomy for spring break and took the week off as vacation. My director called me in to his office and informed me I was not taking vacation. It would be paid sick leave and if I needed more time to let him know.
That was 30+ years ago and I'm sure he's died, but there will always be a special place in my heart for him.
On the waste container i suppose
When my mom was dying my boss let me start work at 5am so I could leave at 2pm to take my mom to chemotherapy. They were so super flexible because I also had kids I needed to take care of. I really loved my manager. When I was working 8-5 she'd come by everyone's desk at 4:30 pm and make sure we were ready to leave at 5 pm and get home to our families.
What stars - allowing you to start work at 5am 😢
@@gillchatfield3231Sometimes you need the hours.
My office would never allow me to shift my hours like that.
What about taking the day off?
@@Entertainment-is6ex Chemo is more than just once.
@@gillchatfield3231 If OP was okay with it, then it's fine
Was a senior sous chef when I got a call that my dad died before my shift. The Ops Director & GM were very understanding. Head Chef when informed that I needed some time off said to me "so when are you going to be back?". I had to go " I found out my dad died an hour ago, so I don't know". There's a reason he went through 30 chefs in less than a year...
I am so sorry
Sorry for your loss and I hope life got better for you.❤
I had heard that culinary careers often had monsters working in them. My second cousin, who is super nice, punched one (coked-up) head chef at one point.
Hi Ben. I love your show. I worked for a heartless boss. I was a single mom of 2 children with no help and no family around. I did what I could to make ends meet. My lunches often consisted of soup, lentils, bean tacos etc. You get the idea. I had been denied a raise 3 years in a row. One day when I was at the lunch table eating some curried lentils, tge boss says "God Mary. Beans again? Is that all you ever eat? Don't you know how to make anything else?" I was mortified. I just sat there, frozen, because if I moved, I would break out into tears. What I felt like doing is yelling in her face "Yes Lori, I do know how to make other things. The freezer is chock full of steak but I'm saving it for another time!!!" A coworker witnessed that. Without saying a word, he went to mcdonald's and got me a burger. Put it down in front of me. Smiled, patted me on the back and walked away. There are bad bosses, and there are bad bosses who are terrible human beings.
The worst one of this ever seen happened to a coworker. His mum had just passed. He lets management know he's going to the hospital to see her.
They actually, truly looked him in the eyes and said "well she's passed, can't you stay another hour"?
I quit the next day.
Just as an alternative, in the mid eighties I was working two jobs, which included 4 nights working bar at a disco. During this time my best friend was killed in a motorbike crash, two days after his death I went to work at the disco but, understandably I suppose, I wasn't really up for working, after a few hours the owner took me aside and asked me what was up with me, after I told him he took me to the office, went to the safe took out about 3 weeks wages and told me to come back when I was better
Now it would be fair to describe him as a gangster, he was arrested at Heathrow Airport trying to skip the country with a large amount of undeclared money, but for that one action if I had been asked I would have given a character reference at his trial!
He may have been a bit of lad, but at least he was a human being..
"I've got a deadline to meet!"
"That's not my problem, I quit."
An eye for an eye, beeyotch.
As a 19 year old, young woman, I worked as a camp kitchen helper basically serving food and doing dishes. All the staff lived and worked together about 6 of us with a head cook who was a young fellow too in his early 20s and it was his first time managing people. One day I got called into the camp directors cabin (he lived in his own cabin) and I was sat down. The camp director was a man of about 50, he proceeded to lecture me on the fact that I was doing the dishes all the time and serving food (that was my job). He went on like that for over an hour lecturing me. I can honestly say as soon as he started to lecture me about me doing my job (which I was doing correctly and it was one no one else wanted to do) I zoned out. I remember thinking that I was not going to let him see my cry. After an hour he excused me to go back and finish cleaning up dinner. I walked out of the office and the head cook later apologized. He had no clue what that was about. I walked back to the house we lived in went into my room and cried. I then called my family on a radio telephone and told them what had happened and I later found out that my incident had been brought to the camp board who hired the director. I ended up talking to one of the members of the board about what had happened and that director never talked to me again. I think the director thought he could bully me and when he didn’t get a reaction he didn’t know what to do. Many years later I found out that the director had actually hated teenagers and young adults and was fired.
He probably worked with them because he hated them and was a bully. Can't imagine living with people you work with. One of you gets sick, you all get sick. Not to mention the stress involved in tension if people do not get along.
They call what happened to the director, “Justice!” Too bad it took yrs for you to find out.
Treating your staff like this is truly the worst thing you can do for your business
It just makes no sense at all.
You have a bunch of employees at best will do the absolute minimum or at worst activily try to fuck you over.
I heard just the worst story today that a Wells Fargo employee died at her desk and it took 4 days for anyone to notice. When she didn't reply to her bosses' emails, they finally noticed. 😢
You’d think at least the cleaning crew would notice.
What did they do, just vacuum around her?
Yeah, was completely flabbergasted when I read that, do people not talk to each other in the office? I completely do not understand how this is possible
@@abbofun9022 Yeah, but the most sad part is that none of family members noticed either 😬
Did you hear what happened to an employee out in Colorado who went on a “charity hike” with co workers and was promptly left behind and not reported missing for several hours, even after he told them he was lost? That might be just a general people problem, but it did not make the company look good.
@julia34901 Yes, I heard that story. Those colleagues are complete A-holes imo. I would never trust them ever and probably would leave that company immediately.
Ps! We also do hikes from time to time and always keep an eye out for anyone who's left behind.
I had a manager who (unfortunately for me) knew i was being treated for depression. One day, in front of customers and associates, she told me that "I should just kill myself because all the employees hate me anyway." It crushed me and made me feel... well, I thought about doing just that. Several of the employees reported it to h.r. The companies solution was to transfer me to a different location, then repeatedly shuffled me to different locations until I left. Even after i was transferred, that manager would show up at my new location to twll all the employees I was a horrible person. She still works for them years later.
I might be wrong but that sounds like a court case right there, defamation?
Yeah....she sucks but you need to harden up
That company deserves to be dissolved or sued into bankruptcy. That manager sounds like the worst person ever.
@@darkjudge8786 Hey thanks, you just cured my major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, and complex PTSD by telling me to harden up. Thank you so much for curing me and slapping away the trauma of physical and sexual abuse with that simple act. How can I ever repay you? I should be ashamed of being mentally ill and have no right to be part of society... I either need to listen to you or fuck off and die, right? Thanks... I'll get right on that... be sure to tell all your pals you won and got rid of some stupid idiot who has feelings. Thanks... just what I needed to hear... have yourself a cookie.
I'm very sorry to hear that. Your ex boss sounds like a nasty person. Depression is more common than a lot of people think and you don't deserve to be treated in that way. I hope you're in a better state of mind now.
Not me, but my old boss. His father died suddenly and without any previous health issues, so it was a real shock for him. He took some time off to grieve and left myself and another manager to handle business. We contacted one of the consultants from a company we worked for. We explained the situation, and informed them that the upcoming meeting would be postponed until the boss was able to return. On the day of the funeral my boss received a text from the consultant saying "we were supposed to have a meeting today, since when does a dads funeral take priority over a contract?"
I was lucky, on my dogs last day (the day he was put down) i asked my work if i could step away from my laptop to spend as much time with him as possible and they agreed. I was 21 at the time, my family got that dog when i was 6
Sorry to hear about your dog but I'm glad you had a supportive boss as the time.
My 16-year-old cat suddenly took a bad turn and was dying. I texted my boss and told him she was dying and wouldn't be in. He said it was fine and family came first.
One Thursday of my relatives found her cat dead in the morning before going into work. She was crying and her boss asked her what was wrong. She told him about the cat and he sent her home to grieve and gave her Friday off as well and paid her for both days.
On a company call, our ceo proudly boasted how one of our team was working early and staying late nearly every day. He went on to say he wishes he'd see that mentality more lol he also told our company we need to step up since it's not fair how he gets pulled from time with his kids and family to deal with work related issues. He's fired half our team for outsourcing and before they reached specific benefits (5 year bonus)
That's where the "don't work so hard, you make us all look bad..."-joke comes from. Some take that stuff seriously. In the Netherlands, a good manager will tell you to stop making consistent overtime, to diminish the risk of burn-outs.
Sounds like more people need to step up or people are not pulling their weight at work.
A lot of the 'in early, out late' workers that I have seen do not do much extra in the way of work. It's all for show.
@@davinasquirrel7672 I agree, sometimes. I went in early, as did my boss and we had 75% of our work day planned and in motion before the rest straggled in and started.
For him, I was happy to take his call or he took mine for a real emergency. Neither of us would abuse the privilege. Only had two or three bosses that good. We all understood the work environment and need to separate family time and work time.
@@davinasquirrel7672 That depends a bit, it can have various reasons, and showing off for the boss is one.
I was hired as a team leader from outside into a company, and had to manage a team of 5 colleagues who were new to me. I quickly noticed that there was one colleague of 26 years old in my office who was always working late. From the start, I organized a weekly half an hour team meeting, just to hear what everyone was up to and how the work was going, the planning ahead etc., while I was getting acquainted with the new company and specific work myself too. I noticed that this particular colleague always stated she was busy etc, but always mentioned the same things she was working on. While she was actually very good at her job, she was so insecure about it, that she never considered anything 'finished'. So I discretely in relation to the rest of the team started helping her with that, and at the end of the working day could often be found saying "we've done enough for the day, let's go", to ensure we would both ended our working day. After a few months, it went much better. Work was not only done, but also finished, and she stopped staying late routinely. And during a performance review, she actually stated she was so much more relaxed since I became her manager, as she always felt stressed about the work. All she needed to know was when the work was 'good enough' and 'finished', while she barely needed any assistance on the work itself as she was excellent at it and a great colleague. Just to indicate, it's not always the ones who like to show off for the boss in the hope to get a promotion, it can be other causes.
In New York, employment is "At-Will", and the way it was explained to me when the same thing happened, the employer can dismiss or terminate employment for any, or No Reason at all... I came back to work after PT from knee replacement. Was told that I was "Old & Diabled and was holding the jobs up..." I never got scheduled or called again. I went to work for a competitor a month later and stayed there for 5 more years. Retired now, but never heard back from the old employer, NEVER! No legal recourse, and I did run it past my lawyer.
That's grounds for a lawsuit. They are not allowed to fire folks for a disability
Anyone over 40 is a protected class. Calling you old and disabled was two no-nos
The third one makes me happy that I live in Bulgaria. Because here your boss has no say as to when you get a sick day. You just go to the doctor and take your note, and that's it - and taking a sick day to take care of your child is entirely valid.
I was honestly surprised when I found out that Americans have a limited amount of sick days. What if you have to exceed it?
First they take out of your personal time (vacation days).
If you use that up, they deduct the hours from your check.
Or possibly even fire you.
Only some Americans have paid sick days at all, most do not. It is entirely up to your employer to provide them as benefits or not. If anyone in a service industry gets sick they lose a day's pay. This is why women are disadvantaged at work, they have to take days off to care for children and do it without pay. We have no paid maternity leave either. No mandatory paid vacation, no short term disability.
Back in the 2000s the place I'd been working at for about 5 years stopped sending me rosters. I had two jobs at the time so I just asked the other job for more hours. About 6 months later the previous job sent me a roster and I just ignored it. Anyway, they call me asking me where I am and I reply, "At work." They're like, "No, you're not here," and I replied, "I don't work there anymore." They then had the gall to accuse me of quitting and not telling them.
There would be the letters "F" and "Y" scribbled in-between "Go" and "team" before the end of the first day on the sign about trying to disallow employees from staying home to care for sick kids.
Had a co worker who tore her leg open on an exposed spigot that our maintenance dept didnt cover or remove, she screamed loudly, pulled up her pant leg and nlood was gushing into her shoe, our manager took one look at her and told me to handle it because she couldn't stand the sight of blood and do instead of calling for an ambulance like she should have, I called 911 and wrapped her leg that was torn open to the tendon. The coworker told me to just slap some super glue on it. Ended up in urgent care, twenty stitches, refused to sue the company, who the same day removed the pipe and spigot and came to work a week later limping still.
THEY DESERVE A LAWSUIT!
In 2013, I was attacked and ended up with my right hand cut in half. Had to get surgery to fix the nerves and the thumb tendon. Also ended up with PTSD/Panic Syndrome which caused a lot of issues when needed to go to check ups and physiotherapy. I got a letter from the orthopaedic doctor saying I couldn’t go back to work until they gave me a clear from him and the psychiatrist, which lasted about 3 months. When I went back, the company was throwing me around because they didn’t know what to do with me, then ended up firing me a couple of weeks later with a report saying I wasn’t working hard in the last 4 months. They literally included my 4 months away in my review.
That is absolutely disgusting. Im sorry that happened to you and hope your doing okay.
After my mother died, I took two weeks off. My boss thought it was not enough time and asked me if I needed more. Thank goodness I don't live and work in the USA
My mother was on home hospice dying of cancer. My full time job as an elementary school secretary was great and told me to take all the time I needed. My part time cashier job at a popular big box store where I wore khaki and red insisted I "call out" each day I was scheduled to work. This meant every day after being up nights to administer meds to my Mom, I had to call the store, ask for the supervisor on duty, wait 5-10 minutes for them to pick up the phone, and then explain to this person that my mother was dying in a city an hour away and I could not come in. This went on for 2 solid weeks! I even had to call each day after her death as we made arrangements for services. It was brutal. I cried during and after each call.
Is it an orange theme hardware store?
I remember the company my dad worked for when I was younger. He was in a serious car accident that the doctors said that they don't know how he survived. We lived in Northern Illinois and he was in a Hospital in Missouri. He was gone for 5 months total and when he came home he still had his job. The owner of the company would call once a week to get an update on my dad. They even had a company picnic ever year in the summer and they made sure all the children got a prize/ gift.
I wrote a novel about my 35 years as a sales rep for Fortune 100 companies. I included both good and bad managers. Of course, being an unknown author, I couldn’t get it published. Several literary agents said my stories are so outrageous no one would believe them. 😅
My sister had to put her dog down, it was an unexpected situation and she was extremely devastated. She was a store manager and she wanted to not go in that day, but her DM told her sitting at home wasn't going to accomplish anything and the best thing was just to come to work. I went to visit her at her job and her face was swollen from crying. She eventually quit and now that company has filed for bankruptcy. Good they get what they deserve.
Sociopaths get promoted because they seem focused and 'businesslike'- and so they promote those just like them.
My husband had a co worker who drove a threaded screw thru his finger a couple of weeks ago. The business wanted him to go to urgent care, in another town, when we have an ER center in our own town. Ended up having to have surgery to remove the screw which an urgent care could not have performed and they would have ended up sending him to an ER anyway. Had a lump on my thyroid that could have been cancer, since I don't drive my husband had to take me to my appointments. The company was fine with letting him off work to attend to my problem. It turned out it wasn't cancerous thank god.
I think in the US that's more insurance related than company related.
my wife has been working for her employer for 26 years, she is struggling with her mental health and going thru menopause, instead of supporting her they changed her roll to one she has never done before, she made a mistake as she is struggling anyway and been put under more pressure, they are now trying to use this to get rid of her as they expect her to be a leader after 26 years, not someone who relies on others, she is off sick atm and is so scared about going back as she is expecting to be fired and feel sure that the management has been talking about her issues with other staff members and not in a supportive way as it has happened before.
I am so sorry. Menopause is such a difficult phase. Is your wife perhaps able to ask for acommodations under ADA?
Clear age and gender discrimination.
@@AbigailArwenim not sure if that's a thing in the UK, she has so much on her plate and her boss just hasn't been of any help at all, if anything they have made things far far worse.
@@Amelia.A.T. thats what i was saying tbh, and as she is struggling with depression i would say possible disability discrimination, she has loved her job all this time and has been off work very very little (a hand full of times over 26 years) so for them to treat her this way hurts me to see, i cant imagine how she feels, devastated to say the least.
@@RAVAG3DH3AD It really is awful. I'm so sorry she's going through this, but I'm glad that you are so understanding. Menopause can be a real b*tch, and it just goes on and on. The symptoms can change as it goes on, but it's not very predictable.
Has she tried Estroven supplements? They are pretty good, actually, though a bit pricey.
I wish you both the best. I hope that you can consult south an attorney who specializes in this sort of thing.
The absolute worst - the woman who died in a Wells Fargo office and no one noticed for 4 days. Like WTF?
If they suddenly remove you from the schedule and you don't know if you are fired or not, just file for unemployment. They have to defend what they did to you in order to deny your claim and it then involves managers above the heads of your local tyrants.
In one job I was slugged with three separate deaths in the family in less than a month. The boss told me to stop being so upset about it; in fact her exact words were "Just fake it, force a smile, just carry on like nothing happened." Let's just say I tore a strip off her. She's the kind of person who thinks professor Umbridge is a role model 🙄
Working for Royal Bank of Scotland in 2008. When Fred the Shred was leaving with millions of pounds, and loads of us were just booted (and it's not like it was well-paying £11,800/year) there was a statement with him "really empathising" with all the employees, and that he "knew how we felt". I think I let out a half-hysterical "ha!"
I worked at a banquet hall in high school. I overheard a manager talking to someone calling out when their grandparent died. The manager was saying " you can't come in? It's only a grandparent".
Before i was paralyzed i had a habit of being one of those workers u cant replace and everyone needs. Yet even when offered i wouldnt take time off during family situations. Needed the money at the time.. glad my bosses were understanding at least and offered
I've run businesses before and had employees. You identify the good ones and treat them well (well you treat everyone well but keep the best ones). I was always happy to give my employees a day off if they needed one, knowing that if I'll ever need them to return the favour they would. I also paid them well.
I worked for a very large Private Hospital and our Management sent out a communication telling employees that if they injured themselves at work they were not to attend our emergency department. They were advised to travel to another hospital or local GP clinic.
That only makes sense in cray-cray world.
@@davinasquirrel7672 Logic was that if it wasn't a hospital employees would have to go somewhere else anyhow.
This reminds me of when I worked for a bank in the 1970s. We weren't allowed to cash our paychecks at this bank. This was so the tellers wouldn't know what we were making. Probably the hospital didn't want their employees becoming patients there because of privacy concerns.
@@rslitman - we were welcome to be treated there as long as it wasn't a workplace injury. I had several procedures along the way and we actually got $500 a year towards costs from the company. I never understood the difference.
The first one seems to me that they either are doing something criminal or some serious OSHA rules are violated.
I couldn't believe it!
Also really stupid from a financial standpoint.
If it’s something serious enough that the clinic can’t handle it, they will refer you to a hospital, and possibly have you transported by ambulance.
So then the insurance has to cover more care.
Also a huge liability risk.
@@Boomette53 My brother is a roofer and he fell from a roof couple of years ago breaking several bones. The boss told him to walk it off😤
Not to mention they didn't have any safety gear to stop you from falling. The company did dirty business by not paying taxes, that's why they didn't want to involve doctors or officials to investigate the matter.
@@EikePiltI hope he sued them!
Also, isn’t a contractor required by law to carry Worker’s Compensation insurance?
If he didn’t have his crew covered, he should lose his license.
So sorry your brother worked for such a jerk.
@@Boomette53 No, suing in our country isn't really a thing. You may end up paying more by suing than you would receive in return. Plus, companies like these often hire shady people. My brother has a really "colorful" history.
Stealth/silent firing is something that came over from America recently and is usually related to 0 hour contracts
I had a 10in × 3in slab of skin cancer removed from my back. They cut down to the tissues and stitched me up. I was forced to do a physical fitness test 2 days later. I was off by 22 secs. They wouldn't accept it, I busted a few stitches and was bleeding so badly I had to remove my shirt and rebandage. Same company still has me on their site as an employee even after 10 years being let go.
One time, probably close to 20 years ago, a woman who regularly rode the same train to work with me told a group of us that one day when she called in sick, she got a phone call at home from her boss telling her she had to come in anyway because too many other employees had called in sick that day.
I've worked in IT for almost 20 years, most of it as a contractor. When I worked for the State, a co-worker's (also a contractor) son was in a car crash. They ended up taking the kid off life support on his 21st birthday.
As a contractor, you only get two (unpaid) berevement days, and no paid sick time. He was gone a month, and they were trying to find a new contractor for his spot when he finally did come back.
Ben, you thinking the second boss's advice made no sense - that is you coming at it as an emotionally intelligent human being. I bet that boss really thought he was being helpful. I imagine this is how he himself dealt with his partner or another loved one experiencing a huge health event or another life challenge that was difficult. Just avoid, bury your head in the sand, pretend you're busy at work and do everything you can to avoid facing reality and giving that person emotional support. Sadly, this behavior is all too common. My heart breaks for that boss's partner.
The story about the dog was so infuriating, how are these managers real?
Crazy!
Years ago, I had a miscarriage and severe complications. Because of limited sick leave, I dragged myself to work and did my best. My direct supervisor came into my office, plopped herself down and inquired "why are you sick all the time?" Within the week, a secretary saw me in the restroom a lot and told me if I came in the next day she was getting me an ambulance as I was getting severely anemic from hemorrhaging. Limited sick leave and crappy healthcare suck.
Before Obamacare I worked IT for a bank (that's been in the news lately for something along the same lines) most of our IT call center were contractors; no insurance, no sick leave, wages so low I was on food stamps working 40 hrs/week.
One of the guys I worked with got sick. He couldn't afford time off, and he REALLY couldn't afford to go to the doctor. He died.
New York is very strict about letting people have time for taking care of sick relatives - that employer is certainly going to be paying a large settlement if sued. I know, I am an employer in NY - the rules changed in 2023 to the benefit of employees. It makes sense for the state; unemployment payments and loss of tax revenue cost Albany a lot of money.
When my dad fell over and broke his hip. My boss said, "Can you do anything at the moment? " I finished the list, and then drove straight down to see the old man. It was a great distraction.
I was a key holder at a retail store in my 20's. I had decided to go back to school and made arrangements with my boss to move from full-time to part-time status. About a month before school started our store had its manager reassigned and a new manager took over, when I told him about my arrangement with the previous manager he acted totally blindsided and appalled by the situation. He hired a new member of staff to take over as the keyholder, as this was a full-time position, and asked me to train them up. Unfortunately I contracted the flu at about that time and was unable to work, so I had my Mum bring the key around for the new guy. I later called the store to get my next week's schedule and ask how the new guy was getting on and was told that while my name was on the rota I hadn't been given any hours. I asked to speak to the manager, who wasn't currently in. I called 3 more times over the course of the week with the same results and the next weeks rota no longer included my name. I was never contacted by the manager or any company rep, never given any notice of termination, nothing. Just silently let go.
Probably due to the company insurance ONLY paying for visits to that particular clinic but NOT the emergency department.
0:34 I worked for a security subcontractor at a hospital and we had that policy. We had to speak to the subcontractor’s workers comp NP before we were allowed to seek medical care at the hospital we worked at.
😢 Had a coworker whose mom was in hospital dying. They called her about 1 p.m. saying it wouldn't be long and she should come immediately. It was a Wednesday. Mom died, funeral was Saturday. Even though bereavement was 3 days, HR said Wednesday didn't "count" because she passed at 3:30 and coworkers shift ended at 3. A 20 year employee and they wouldn't pay her for the 2 freaking hours. 😢😮
On that final one - I do have to wonder if OP informed her employer that they are now available for shifts? Or did they think that the job would just know.?
We really don't have enough information.
I was thinking the same, why didn't she call them? Maybe the employer was being respectful and is just waiting for a call when she's ready to come back. It sounds idiotic I know, but at least I would've called.
@@EikePilt Exactly my thoughts - the company was not scheduling her for shifts when her baby was in the hospital.
Ok. I won't tell you I'm calling out because my child is sick. I'll tell you that I'M sick.
Does it make you happier being lied to?
I've had a boss tell me to kick my child out of home.
Scratch that, I've had two bosses tell me to kick my child out of home.
I read of a woman who gave one of her kidneys for the boss & he later fired her because she wasn't recovering fast enough from the operation
7:18 My last boss did this EXACT same thing to me. I stopped getting emailed schedules, when I came in and texted him about it he said I "am not required to clock in and I need to leave". Next week I ask if I'm working that week and he doesn't. Same thing the following week. He basically fired me without firing me
I learned how to play the wfh game. I was grandfathered in as far as wfh on Fridays, but would occasionally want/need to take another wfh day during the week. So I did it in one of two ways: First, ask to wfh because "I was feeling sick" then if told no, _"Oh, okay, guess I'll just take a sickday today, kbye."_ Second, say up front I needed a sickday, get grexed at because of all the work that needed doing, then "compromise' by doing a wfh day instead.
As someone who works in childcare - PLEASE keep your children home when they are sick. They don’t want to be there feeling awful, just like you don’t want to be at work feeling awful. Also it will spread very quickly to other children, causing an outbreak. It’s just more messy and hassle than it’s worth
Also you forgot to mention by law in the uk you are absolutely allowed to leave or miss work if a dependent is sick. It’s literally illegal to punish employees for missing work to look after your child 🤷🏾♀️
"Go Team". So basically with this edict, they're telling you to go. And the team will go.
That first notice was clearly in the US. It’s seriously dystopian here.
3:19 regarding the boss who suggested burying one’s self in work during a crisis. Though not good advice, it is possible they came from a sincerely concerned place.
Maybe the boss’s coping mechanism is doing exactly as they suggested. Could be they were assuring the employee they could rely on work to be a distraction for as long as needed.
That’s the only reasoning I could come up with suggesting the employee isn’t being taken advantage of. Something that is still entirely on the proverbial table.
It was my thought as well, but either way, you shouldn't leave your dying spouse alone. You can shut yourself down by working mindlessly later when she has passed. The idea might have come from a good place, but it's still inconsiderate.
@@EikePilt no lies detected. Just because a method of coping works for thee? Don’t mean it’s good for me.
Like, “if you need to bury yourself in work, take time off, eat twenty stress pizzas? We got you” woulda been grand.
@@michaelpapp5518 Everyone copes with grief differently, maybe the boss would've coped with it by working, but it doesn't work for all of us.
@@EikePilt facts. Grief is as subjective and personal as anything a person feels.
@@michaelpapp5518 Yeah, I went through the grieving process for my granny even before she actually passed. It was tough when she didn't recognize me during one of my visits. We were super close, and she pretty much raised me. It was heartbreaking.
I got a new Boss the first of the year, on the 2nd of January my father passed away of a heart attract on the golf course, one week later my 8 year old daughter was hit by a car while I was at the hospital wife my pregnant wife trying to stop a premature baby delivery. (that all worked out) On the 15th of January my mother passed away of a stroke in her sleep. In less than a week after I got back from my mother's funeral my new boss called me into the office and said, I know you have had a rough month but your work quality has been down, and I am thinking you are not a good fit with my team. Not fired, but asked to leave ASAP. Just 3 months earlier I got a great review, and the max raise my old boss could give me. Best revenge, get a job that my new boss would have killed to have :)
Ignore every single one of those.
This is why peopke call in sick. Because being honest isnt in your best interest.
There was a new (female) manager appointed at a resthome/retirement village complex I worked at some years ago. She wanted the senior nursing staff gone but couldn't legally fire them. So she told the nurse manager and deputy nurse manager that they were useless and detrimental to the village. These women had between them worked at the village 40 years. She harassed them (and the rest of us) in ways too numerous to mention here until we were all so stressed that we resigned. I found out later that that manager had a history of destroying every workplace she'd ever been at, then blackmailing the board of directors (or whoever) into writing her a glowing reference to get rid of her. She's now a senior manager at the local hospital, and no doubt tormenting the staff there as she has everywhere else she's worked. I truly don't know how she has gotten away with it for so long, in a relatively small city. Oh well. 😟
My cousin’s work (NHS!) gave her a warning because she had been taking too much time off after her child had a heart transplant! She was a single mother.
I had a boss who refused to send me to the ER after a severe dog bite. I went after I got off work and they called him to inform him of the violation and told him I needed IV antibiotics 2 doses and I had developed a red streak running up my arm towards my heart already. I left there shortly after the incident.
Dear Ben,
I worked for a company that wouldn't allow an employee compassionate leave when her mother was dying of a brain tumor. Her mother lived overseas. She came to work every day and cried loudly at her desk almost all day long until her mother died. They did allow her the standard time off for the funeral.
Months later when my father died abroad, I was off work for 2 weeks. They forced me to book it as a holiday because:
1 my dad had been ill for a long time, so it was for the best
2. I wasn't as upset as my colleague had been.
I left as soon as I could.
@BEN-p3f To be clear, both my colleague and I were working abroad when our lived ones passed on.
We had our three year old hospitalised for almost a week with doctors running test after test as they suspected he might have epilepsy. On the second day they asked my husband to take the company's computer with him so that he could work from the hospital. Unfortunately that person was retiring at the end of the same year so he could care less about the employees 😮
I love the go team bit lol brilliant
That first one was probably meant to mean any non-emergency injuries. But they definitely worded it very incorrectly. If someone feels they are in need of emergency care, they should always go to the emergency room and/or call 911.
Yeah my mom dealt with cancer at the end if her life. I had to adjust my work schedule to accommodate her care. Job was completely understanding. I had two weeks off and worked from home for a month.
Every time I hear such stories I am really glad to live and work in Germany where many of these situations would simply be illegal.
One thing I don't understand is why employees tell their work anything about their or their loved one's health or WHY they can't make it in. It's not the employers business.
I have two words that could replace the “go team” telling them what I really think of their policy.
I'd ask them where the nursery will be set up for the Sick children and I'd a registered nurse will be on hand to care for them.
When I worked in retail my district manager told me that I had to work 6 days a week and was expected to put the store as my main priority and since I have a husband if my kid (autistic)gets sick or needs a hospital he can take care of it and not an excuse for me to miss work
I'd love to hear the top five bosses with heart after this
#3.
Fortunately 'Go Team' is so vomit inducing the person is now sick themselves and can legit have time off. Winner
_"Hey Mr BossMan... I'm not going to be in today because __-my kid-__ I'm sick as a dog today. Kbye."_
When my mum committed suicide, I got a disciplinary for having time off. Was told I was taking the piss. I was signed off by my gp due to stress & grief but they couldn't have cared less. I also got constantly told off for not smiling when I did return to work after the funeral.
The "bury yourself and work" guy. Christ on a unicycle. What's his tactic there?
"The best way to deal with grief is not to let it cause issues for those most important to you, like your boss for instance, but rather to distance yourself from non-employees, and look to winding your relationship with your dependent up so that in the event of her death you won't be seeking time off for the funeral either."
A couple of years ago my partner had to go to the ER and I ended up going to bed at 5 in the morning stressed out of my wits because we didn't know if he was gonna go blind. I texted my boss before going to bed explaining what happened and telling him that I would be taking the day off the next day because I couldn't possibly work decently. It was not really a question but the day after he texted me that of course it was ok. The day I was back was a Friday and he called me as soon as I got online. He asked me how my partner was and then how I was and then told me to go back to bed and try to enjoy the long weekend cause he'd be covering for me. He has fucked up several times after that but I have *never* ever doubted that he always had good intentions.
I had one where I was put in at risk of redundancy for my job over a 30 seconds phone call which means you might be made redundant or job might be saved over a 30 day period. I was asked the next day to share how I do my role with others which basically confirmed my redundancy without legally saying it. Great management skills 😂
My next words out of my mouth after -Im told thats unaccettable is 'I quit"
Hehe "we don't employ your kids". That would've been a valid argument decades ago. My dad never missed a day of work for this reason. *BUT* his income was enough to support the family. Double the workforce -> lower wages. Then disregard your employees when they occasionally have to skip a day because of their kids.
I don’t think #2 is necessarily heartless. It is tone deaf definitely. I think that he might have had something similar happen to him and responded by just burying himself in work or heard other people doing it. Some of these scenarios are heartless but this isn’t necessarily
My Cat died couple of years ago. Just found it stiff as a rock when I came home late at night. Vet said it should be sent to examined because she had a rare disease (FIV). Well, I had a lot to do next morning so I decided to be effective and instead going to TNT or some other courier service I'd sent it from my company. I was then board chairman and co-owner. After the parcel was picked up and I had left from work my asshole part owner had cancelled that single shipment for wasting company money. My dead cat was in some warehouse for 3 days until I found out. They couldn's send it anywhere because the ID was now invalid. All this for effing ~15 euros
The boss from nr. 2 is a guy they warn wifes about (due to them divorcing their sick spouse) when they receive a cancer diagnosis 😢
I've never really had a bad boss I remember once cutting my finger quite badly and needed medical attention the supervisor drove me to the nearest hospital I was paid for the whole day and given a paid two days off now that's how it should be
Not only is that legally allowed here @ 3:36, you get full pay to stay home with a sick child. There are rules, I think the child must be under 10yo or something but basically yes, paid sick leave
For the second one I can kinda see what he’s trying to do since I know some people burn themselves in work to deal with shit like that the fact that was his first response makes me think it’s his way of coping and he’s assuming it’s how most people deal with it when it’s really not
I feel that first one may be missing some context, my money is that they have had issue with hospitals over charging or insurance not wanting to cover it, so to avoid issue they want the staff to not go to hospitals.. but still seek medical attention
Advertising your job nationally without telling you must rate up there.
True, but I was not fired, nor was I terminated. I was a Regular Hourly Technician. They just stopped assigning me any work. 5 montgs after this, HR called me and asked if I still worked for them. My reply was to ask them to tell me, seeing that the Field Office hadn't called me for 5 months. I got all of my vacation days, PTO and sick days in a check, but I am still "employed", or not. That was 10 years ago. No biggie...
@BEN-p3f Telegram? Not an app I have. Other possibilities?
See, my response to #3 would be "In light of recent changes, I will no longer be supporting your child's Boy Scout fundraiser/ballet recital/insert applicable extracurricular function here. I am not employed by your children, and as such, they don't define my happiness or self-worth. Teamwork, amirite?" Just throw it back in their faces, see how they like it.
#4 I would've gone the malicious compliance route and come in, and just be such a Debbie Downer and make the day as uncomfortable for everyone around me as I could. And if anyone else tried to shoo me out of the office, I'd just be a hardass and say "No, I'm required to be here because my manager said." Teach them as if they know my emotions better than I do.
I don't see a problem with the kids one if it is a frequent occurance.
I'm with my employer almost 10 years, and that's because they stood with me through the illness and death of my spouse and mother
And these are the reasons I am now self-employed.
The heartless things wrt employees' family members starkly reveal the managers' home life.