Retail Employee Closed Store After Her Co-Worker ‘No-Showed,’ Despite Management Telling Her She Had 'No Choice But To Stay'
"I DO have a choice and it’s 'no.'"
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A | Shutterstock After working an hour past her scheduled shift, a retail employee admitted to closing her 24-hour store after her co-worker failed to show up for their shift.
"Customers were pulling on the doors while I was still inside gathering my things to leave,” she admitted in a recent Reddit post, “and I just shook my head at them and mouthed 'closed.'"
The retail employee closed her store after a co-worker ‘no-showed,’ despite management telling her ‘she had no choice but to stay.’
The employee explained that her co-worker, who usually works the third shift, has a long history of being late. "We play a game called 'Who's staying late tonight,' she shared, "literally taking turns on the gamble that he'll be 10 minutes late, 2-3 hours late, or a no-show."
MilanMarkovic78 | Shutterstock
“I drew the short straw yesterday,” she added, “and after 2 hours of nobody responding in the group chat, third shift not answering the phone, and [my manager] not answering the phone, I assumed he’d be a no-show and left."
"I’ve been conned into working doubles because of him too many times," she added. "Not today."
Despite accommodating the exact same situation in the past, this worker admitted that she hit her breaking point of compassion at work. Instead, she opted to prioritize her time in the only way she knew would catch corporate’s attention: closing the store.
“First rule when dealing with management,” one person wrote under the post, “it isn’t a problem until it’s THEIR problem. Keep making it THEIR problem.”
For an unknown reason, management seems to love the employee who is constantly tardy.
"Management loves him," she wrote. "He steals, allows women ... to steal, drinks (and does [drugs]) on shift in front of customers, and brags about it to everyone. Multiple complaints filed on him to our [manager], but she turns a blind eye."
Despite being a problematic co-worker with a penchant for tardiness, leadership has never taken any initiative to fix the problem or hire additional workers. Rather, they simply expect their other employees to cover the gaps when he inevitably doesn’t show up.
This has left the Reddit poster and her colleagues feeling disrespected and unsupported by management, who consistently take advantage of their time and refuse to address the issue.
Retail management is responsible for looking after the well-being of their team and stores.
They don’t have the power to keep workers past their shift end times, force them to do additional work, or make them compensate for gaps in productivity exacerbated by management's failures.
They do, however, have the power to look out for their employees, advocating for them to leave work on time and prioritize their safety and comfort. And you would think they that want to. According to the HR services company, When I Work, data from 2020 indicates each absent hourly employee without excuse, and coverage costs approximately $3600 in lost revenue.
"I can't get out of my head how good it felt to just leave and call management on their bluff that I have no choice but to stay until he rolls out of bed,” the worker admitted. “I do have a choice, and it's 'no.'"
Perhaps this employee's assertion of her boundaries will be the catalyst for management to start taking the problem more seriously because it is not her responsibility to cover for a co-worker, even if she is compensated for it.
Often burdened by her boss’ lack of leadership, the employee chose to prioritize her own time and well-being.
“They lost an entire night’s revenue because they refuse to keep this [co-worker] in check,” she wrote.
Management is responsible for mediating between staff members. While it seems issues with this specific “no-show” employee have been repeatedly voiced by his co-workers, leadership has clearly not made any changes to protect the rest of their employees. In fact, it seems like they’re burdening them even further, forcing them to “pick up the slack” and waste their own time.
“We’re all planning on taking the same course of action I did when he’s an hour late,” the worker added, alluding to their manager’s incompetence in handling the situation. “Assume it’s a no-show, lock up, and go home … When corporate asks questions, they’ll have to admit they have a problem with [the] third shift showing up on time.”
If you’re a leader, prioritize your employees' time — whether it’s breaks, a set schedule, or scheduling PTO — they deserve the respect of stability, just as much as you do. If you’re an employee who resonates with this Reddit poster's experience, don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself (or spend some of that time looking for another position).
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.