Boss forces part-time employee to start working full-time or quit, ends up regretting it immediately

A part-time employee (u/aznm1912) was forced to work full-time, so he decided to quit, making his boss regret every bit of his action. His story, which has received 23K upvotes, was shared on Reddit in August 2023. 

The employee had a full-time job, but he always preferred working an additional part-time job a few days every week, and his latest part-time gig was at a small computer recycling company. He hated working there but didn't complain since it was near his house, and he could literally walk back to where he lived. "Last week, my boss told me to start coming in full-time next week because he can’t find any other help," the man wrote in his post. The employee reminded his boss that he, in fact, had a full-time job, so he wouldn't be able to accept his offer. "He blew up at me, saying that 'nobody wants to work,' and said I could just quit if I couldn’t help more. I laughed, thinking he was kidding, but he wasn’t," he recalled. The employee asked his boss if he was serious, and he, once again, emphasized full-time commitment. "I asked, 'So, you can’t find help, but you’d rather have me quit than work part-time?' He said yes," the man recalled. 

The employee who had reached his threshold asked how early he should quit, and when his boss said he could leave immediately, he left. "He’s texted me three times, and I haven’t even looked at the messages. I might as well enjoy my nights and weekends for a while. His logic just doesn’t make sense to me," the employee concluded. Forcing employees, whether they're full-time or part-time, to work overtime has, unfortunately, become the 'new normal.' Some part-time workers in America confessed that they sometimes end up working full-time hours, i.e., more than 35 hours a week. In fact, the Economy Policy Institute report, citing a survey (May 1997 CPS Work Schedules Supplement on Work Schedule), also suggested that some of this extra work was likely involuntary and that the workers had been overemployed. Now, the employee in the Reddit story could quit since he already had another full-time job. But students who take up part-time jobs to support themselves may be exploited by employers who might force them to work overtime. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the man's post, u/tyquestions commented, "'Nobody wants to work anymore.' That’s literally just a default thing people say to try to manipulate desperate workers into doing what the boss wants. Whether it’s taking less pay, getting a sh*tty schedule, or agreeing to a bad work environment overall, it’s like, well, yaaa, nobody wants to work for you! I wonder why. However, they know they can’t afford or do not want to offer fair treatment. So they wait for the next desperate person."

u/acadianviking recalled, "I literally just got fired a few days ago because, and I quote, 'We feel you just don't care about this company and this job.' I asked what they meant, if my job performance had issues, and if I was doing anything wrong, and they were just like, 'No, your work is fine. You do what you are told, but that's all you do. It's like you don't care.' Like, no sh*t. I only do what I'm told. I show up, get assigned a project to complete, and spend the day working on it. I'm not paid to do anything else. That company and boss/supervisor can both go eat a d**k." u/keenedge422 shared, "I had this happen when I was in college. I was working for a valet parking gig. I was only working it because I was out of hours at my normal job working at the college (we were limited to 1500 a year as part-time), but the manager at the valet wanted me to work a full-time schedule, and I explained that I couldn't because of college classes. He said, 'Well, maybe it's time for you to choose between going to school and having a real job.' I just started laughing. Finished out the shift and never went back."

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