Boss Expects An Injured Worker To Wait Until The End Of The Day To Go To The Hospital Because He Can’t Do A Meeting Without Him
The boss was adamant that the injury could've been handled once work hours were over, despite his employee being in a lot of pain.
fizkes / Shutterstock A boss has come under fire for his response after finding out that one of his employees had been hurt at work and needed medical attention.
In a TikTok video, a career content creator named Ben Askins read an anonymous message exchange between the unnamed boss and another employee who had witnessed their co-worker's injury and allowed him to leave.
The boss told an injured employee to wait until the end of the day to go to the hospital.
At the start of the messaging exchange, the boss questioned where his employee, Dan, had gone because he was meant to have a meeting with him but wasn't receiving a response after reaching out. In response, another unnamed employee explained that Dan had slipped in the kitchen while making coffee and hurt his leg badly.
One of their other co-workers, Katie, had taken him to the emergency room to get the injury checked out since he was in immense pain. Unfortunately, the boss was none too pleased to learn that his employee had just up and left to go to the hospital. He demanded to know whose decision it had been, and the employee responded and said that it had been his after seeing the scale of the injury.
"The fall looked really bad, and he was in a lot of pain," the employee informed their boss. "He really hurt his ankle, so I put them both in an Uber."
The boss was upset not only at his employee leaving for the hospital but also at the fact that the cost of the Uber was going to be deducted from the company's expenses. The boss, clearly frustrated even over text, claimed that he would now have to start the meeting without Dan due to a decision made without his knowledge.
He questioned if the injured employee could've tended to his wounds after work was done so that it wouldn't have been such a huge inconvenience for him, especially since it was "only his leg." Askins pointed out that it is an incredibly rude thing to tell an employee who has just been hurt and that it's presumptuous of him to believe that just because he said so, the employee doesn't need medical attention at all.
"Firstly, you're not a doctor. What are you playing at?" Askins insisted. "Secondly, you weren't even there, so how could you possibly be advising on what the situation is? And thirdly, he's in a lot of pain. How is he going to work?"
The boss was told that the employee could not have waited until the end of the day to seek medical attention.
"He was in a lot of pain, plus it happened at the office, so we need to do the right thing here," the employee rebutted. However, the boss was adamant that it could've been avoided and informed the employee that they should have been "more strategic" about sending Dan to the hospital.
Photo: Djordje Krstic / Canva Pro
Askins pointed out that there are two issues with how this boss handled the employee emergency. The first is a lack of empathy. Dan hurt his leg at work and definitely wasn't trying to get sent home early to the emergency room. As the boss of his team, his only job was to provide care to an employee in need, which he failed to do.
"And secondly, strategically, he's absolutely done the right thing," Askins said of the employee who helped Dan be taken to the hospital right away. "You've been injured on the work premises. That's possibly a really dangerous scenario for you. Of course, you need to do the right thing."
This boss's lack of understanding or respect for his employee's well-being comes at a time when many employees are actively searching for a boss that cares.
According to a 2022 Gartner survey, just over 1 in 4 employees, 29%, said their supervisors are effective at human leadership. In an interview with CNBC, Caitlin Duffy, director of research at Gartner, a consulting firm, explained that this has happened because of the pandemic's emotional toll on the workforce.
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"Employees now expect leaders at work to address all of their personal needs that have become more complex and sensitive over the last few years," Duffy said.
However, the outcome has been that employees aren't afraid to quit and move on if their boss isn't showing empathy or care toward who they are as human beings. Workplaces must adopt more human leadership; the more employees are engaged in their work and happy, the more productive they will be.
Ultimately, this boss's reaction only reflects negatively on their leadership style, and it won't be surprising if his employees start to feel that they are not valued or supported in the workplace and decide to go elsewhere.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.