This Boss Demands Sick Leave For 8-Minute Washroom Break, We Read That Right

In every organisation, rules are there to safeguard both employers and employees yet sometimes these protocols are disregarded, leaving room for unnecessary pressure. Recently, a woman shared her distressing experience when her boss demanded to use sick leave, PTO or immediately return to work after an 8 minute washroom break. This request came despite the woman sacrificing her lunch time and sat beyond working hours just to complete pending workloads. Outraged by the situation, she shared this experience on Reddit and garnered numerous comments. Many came out in support with her and criticised the boss for placing unreasonable demands.

She recalled, “I worked from home and stepped away from my workstation to use the bathroom this morning. Halfway through my 8 minute bathroom break I got a voicemail from my boss telling me that I either needed to call in sick, take PTO or get back online right now. I reiterate, I was offline for 8 god damn minutes and they wanted me to use a sick day. I frequently skip breaks and work past when my shift is set to end. I got this job my second year in college because I was sick of working retail.”

The woman further expressed her dissatisfaction, comparing the job to retail work. She highlighted issues like bad customer behaviour, verbal abuse from supervisors, sudden schedule changes, assigning tasks without proper qualifications and lower pay compared to working at McDonald’s. She felt the company’s environment deteriorated significantly since she first joined.

Soon after the redditor shared the post, it went viral and garnered over 7000 upvotes. Social media users united and condemned the boss’s response, while few users shared various suggestions and advice.

A user wrote, “It’s time to leave and make more at McDonald’s, but on your way out, report them for every illegal action, wage theft and dirty laundry you can. Everything. If you’re lucky, they’ll retaliate and you can get a nice severance.”

Another shared, “In a couple days after asking, the supervisor is gonna send out a bathroom policy.”

“With work from home employees, managers have a lot more work to do because they have to justify their position when their team is as productive or more productive without their micromanaging. It sounds like the manager is trying to justify his position by saying he caught an employee abusing breaks,” a comment read.

An individual suggested, “First off, always take your law mandated breaks. Second, if they are messaging you on a personal phone, block the number.”

A user asserted, “Over the last 10 years or so every job I’ve had seems to slowly get worse. Sad reality of working conditions today.”

The woman at the end of her post added that she initially planned to tolerate the current job but she’s currently looking out for a role more relevant to her degree.