Annoyed by boss' late-night email obsession, employee invents a 'policy' to turn the tables on him

For most employees, work is part of their lives, not their entire lives. Everyone prefers boundaries, but one employee realized their manager wasn’t aware of the concept of work boundaries. He often left them juggling the obligation to fulfill an “unspoken expectation” by sending emails outside working hours, sometimes at midnight. Miffed by the infringing behavior, the employee hit back with a boomerang and came up with an email-replying policy of their own. They shared the story on Reddit under the username u/McCoy818 on March 19 and have gained 13k upvotes so far.

“My manager kept emailing me past 10 pm, expecting quick replies. So I started replying to every single one of his emails exactly 24 hours later,” they wrote in the post. The emails weren’t regarding something urgent or emergencies, just casual stuff and things that could "absolutely wait until morning." However, they left the employee grappling with the dissonance and expectation that they were obliged to reply by the time the standup rolled around. Tussling in a tight spot, the employee needed to develop a strategy to protect themselves from a work boundary violation without disrespecting their manager. “I never said anything, just started quietly implementing a policy of my own,” they wrote.

They set a reminder and started replying to each email received outside working hours exactly 24 hours later. For instance, an email about Q3 projections received at 11:47 pm was replied to exactly at 11:47 pm the following night. An email received at 6 am on Saturday was replied to exactly at 6 am on Monday next week. The reply to each email, they said, was drafted immediately, so they don’t forget the details. Then they just sat on it and sent it the following day at whatever time the email was originally received. 

The policy worked. The manager started sending emails earlier and earlier. He must have grasped what was being communicated, for “he never said anything directly. How could he?” Besides, the employee's responses were thorough, and nothing was ever delayed.

Such experiences resonate with countless professionals who find themselves struggling to draw a clear line between their personal time and professional responsibilities. According to the American Psychological Association’s 2023 Work in America Survey, workplace pressures continue to blur these boundaries. The report found that 77% of employees experienced work-related stress, while 57% reported negative impacts such as emotional exhaustion and burnout linked to their jobs. 

The employee's brilliant reconciliation strategy caught the attention of many Reddit users, who jumped in with supportive comments. "Why are you reading work emails at 10 or 11 pm to begin with? The easiest solution seems to be to ignore work emails outside normal working hours. Who cares what time the boss sends emails if you won’t read them outside normal working hours anyway?" advised u/not_czarbob. u/___Art_Vandelay___ said, "Make it even easier than that: Turn off work-related notifications outside of working hours and stop looking at work messages during that time." “Seems like the boss just works late and sends his email as he goes...no revenge, just petty, petty dumb,” elucidated u/SandIntelligent247.

More on Scoop Upworthy

Boss asks employee to come 5 minutes early to work — his straightforward response is getting applauded

Employee starts leaving work at 5 pm after boss denies them a raise: 'I am packing up at 4:58'

Micromanaging boss who made employees’ lives difficult ends up regretting it