Retail Worker Closes Store Because Co-Worker Was Late & She Refuses To Stay 10 Minutes Extra
She does her job. Nothing more.
TikTok "Work-life balance" might sound like a couple of professional buzzwords to you, but 72% of workers say it is a very important factor when it comes to choosing where to work — 57% of workers consider a lack of balance an absolute dealbreaker.
Many employees are standing up for themselves when they are asked to do anything that is outside of the scope of their work.
They are letting employers know that they will adhere to their assigned work schedule and duties, nothing more, nothing less.
One woman named Gabi took to TikTok to share her frustration about being asked to stay after her shift and cover for a late co-worker.
After Gabi refused to cover for her late co-worker, she was reprimanded.
The video started with her sharing her irritation with what she had experienced on the job just before filming.
Gabi explained that she worked as a store lead for a food retailer in Los Angeles.
She said that as an experienced worker in the industry, she will only work the hours scheduled unless something else was agreed upon prior to her shift.
Like many, she explained that was working at the establishment for strictly financial purposes.
According to her, she had no intentions of going above and beyond and would simply meet the requirements of her role.
The 29-year-old was scheduled to work until 2:00 pm that day and expected a co-worker to show up at 1:45 pm, early enough to allow a smooth transition of duties.
The colleague that Gabi was waiting for was not there on time.
She tried calling the woman repeatedly and got no response time and time again.
Her annoyance was compounded by the fact that another co-worker had shown up late earlier in the week, causing her to stay later than intended.
She asserted that it was clear the company had a tardiness problem.
After being unable to reach the employee who was supposed to relieve her, Gabi called the manager to let her know that the co-worker hadn’t shown up.
Gabi said she had an appointment to make and could not stay after her shift.
At 2:00 pm, the late colleague finally contacted Gabi to let her know she was on the way and to apologize for making her stay later than expected.
Having already decided she was leaving on time, Gabi had closed out her cash drawer, locked the door and left the establishment, leaving it closed until her co-worker came to work.
She let the woman know that she had left the building.
This prompted the co-worker to notify their manager, who contacted Gabi immediately, instructing her to stay until someone else arrived.
When she refused, according to her, the manager got upset.
Despite the pushback, Gabi told her manager she would not be staying behind to cover for another person’s tardiness.
The manager told her that she would be reporting what happened to the operations manager so they could have a talk later.
Upset over being made responsible for her colleague’s actions, the young lady explained that her manager’s response, along with other "shady" things that were happening at work made her want to quit her job.
Commenters agreed with her and criticized management for blaming Gabi.
One person posted, “I never understand why the person who caused this problem is never the PROBLEM!”
Another woman could not understand why the issue was Gabi leaving on time instead of her co-worker being late.
She commented, “So, the manager has an issue with you leaving on time? Does she have an issue with your coworker being late?”
However, one woman was alone in thinking that Gabi should have stayed.
She said, “Each to their own but I'd have no issues staying as long as they paying. You will get nowhere in life acting like this. Will never move up!” Others were quick to take her to task.
Gabi provided a couple of updates regarding her work situation.
In one, she shared that a meeting had been scheduled for the upcoming Saturday, promising to tell viewers what happened afterward.
Later, she posted another part where she told everyone that the situation had not been addressed in the meeting.
She also advised that the manager had never addressed the issue of tardiness and found that problematic.
In the end, it seemed that Gabi was simply sick of her employer and needed a fresh start elsewhere.
Not long after, she posted an update to her followers letting them know she had found a new job.
According to the happy woman, her new place of work would provide benefits and a salary high enough for her to afford to live in L.A.
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.