‘Not a team player’: Manager guilt-trips woman for refusing to cover shift on day off

In what many are calling a classic case of toxic workplace expectations, a 22-year-old woman took to Reddit to share a troubling incident involving her manager. The post, made by user ‘AliceWillxo’, has sparked a debate on workplace boundaries and has garnered over 22,000 upvotes in just four days.

(Also read: Manager and HR ‘publicly reprimand’ hotel coordinator for resigning after promotion: ‘Unprofessional, disloyal’)

Laid-off team, mounting pressure

According to the post, the woman works at a small clothing store in a shopping mall. Recently, the corporate office laid off three out of the six staff members without warning, leaving just the manager, the Redditor, and one other part-timer to manage operations. With this reduced team, pressure on the remaining staff has naturally increased.

“I was scheduled off Thursday. First one in over a week,” the post reads. “I had errands, a doctor appointment, and planned to finally sleep in.”

However, the manager texted her at 8 am on her day off, requesting that she come in due to being “slammed” with work. She declined, citing prior commitments and the fact that she was not on the schedule. The manager left her on read.

Later that evening, the employee noticed the manager had posted a passive-aggressive story on Instagram that read, “some people only care about themselves,” which she suspected was aimed at her.

The next day, during her shift, the manager confronted her, saying she was “reconsidering [her] reliability” and insisted that “real team players step up when it's hard.”

In response, the woman wrote, “Sorry, but I'm paid $15/hr. I don't get benefits, I don't get PTO, and you fired half the team. You don't get to guilt me into unpaid loyalty. And now she's giving me the silent treatment.”

Check out the post here:

Internet reacts

Commenters on Reddit wasted no time voicing their opinions, largely siding with the woman. One user remarked, “The silent treatment from a boss like that sounds like a perk, not a punishment.” Another added, “Wait until she finds out how much of a team player you are when you get a better job and quit.”

(Also read: Gen Z manager stuns workers with unexpected reason for denying time-off requests)

Others chimed in to call out the manager’s behaviour, with one saying, “She’s weaponising guilt. You’re right to stand firm.” Some users shared their own experiences of manipulative bosses, while a few joked that “a real team player wouldn’t cut the team in half.”