People rally around a man accused of ‘quiet quitting’ despite working 40 hours a week

Corporate companies always focus on how much time an employee is putting into their work, they do not care about the person's mental health or personal life. They are more bothered about the number of hours a person is working instead of the quality of work the employee is giving. Reddit user u/Sol-Blackguy was blamed for "quiet quitting" by his boss despite him working for 40 hours a week and giving his best at work.

The employee began the post by talking about his work ethic. He wrote, "Just about everywhere I've worked, you could consider me as the 'anchor employee.' I show up during my scheduled shift, on time and unless it's an actual emergency or death in the family, I always show up. I'm more reliable than death and taxes. On the other side of the coin, I don't usually take extra shifts. I do my 40 hours reliably so I don't have to." Then the person went on to share what happened at his workplace. "My company has been pretty short-handed lately because they bit off more than they could chew with a contract. They tried supplementing it with temps (instead of hiring more people) and obviously, that bit them in the a** in the long run. Now they've resorted to reducing the number of required workers in departments and taking volunteers for double shifts, extra days, and weekends," shared the employee.

So while this was what was spiraling at his company, his boss wanted to talk about something similar. "The other day I'm coming back from my lunch hour and my boss waves me over to his desk. He's also accompanied by the regional site manager who goes to different locations. They tell me to have a seat and the boss goes on about the personnel issues. So I finally address the elephant in the room. 'So, you're going to hire more people, right?'" The boss and the regional site manager mentioned the "referral bonus" he would get if he brought in someone and they stayed for six months. "Anyway, the boss starts going on about 'quiet quitting,'" wrote the person. "I know what it is and it's absolute bullshit, but I decided to humor him and let him continue his explanation. I waited for an opening and decided to get to the point."

After a while, the employee asked directly what it had to do with him. His boss brought in his schedule and lamented about the fact that he only works for "40 hours every week." Then he pulled out the volunteer overtime sign-up sheet. "'Okay, then do you want me to work more days or something?'" the person asked. To which, his boss went on the defensive. "That's when I remembered that my union contract says all overtime is exclusively voluntary. The boss continues going in circles trying to weasel in that he wants me to take more shifts by reiterating that I'm only working 40 hours," the employee wrote.

So, he cut straight to the point and said that if he wants him to work more shifts he needs to tell him. "The boss looks over to the regional who kind of shrugs in a 'f*** it, we tried' type of way. Then he takes his glasses off and starts massaging his temples in a frustrated manner. I start to get up," said the person. He again emphasized that "'if you want me to take more shifts because you're short-handed, all you have to do is tell me.'" "Then I leave and go back to working my job within my scheduled hours." He later explained in the post that the management isn't allowed to "ask or request" anyone to work overtime. It is because earlier the management used to "play favorites with people" on who got to overtime so the union stepped in and made overtime voluntary only with a sign-up sheet so "everyone gets a fair chance."

People on the social media platform supported the person for doing the right thing. u/sold_myfortune commented, "This is why we need much greater union membership. It's so people can do their jobs well without management f***ing with them and demanding more just because they're greedy." u/waffleznstuff30 wrote, "Why is showing up doing what you need to do and going home such a bad thing? Lol. I don't get this quiet quitting thing. You have a staff member working in the assigned position doing what they need. It's just about employers wanting to violate your boundaries." u/agent_smith_3012 shared, "Hero in action. It kinda reminds me of anyone in a position of power's reaction when they realize you know your rights and have reasonable boundaries."