Some managers treat flexibility as a one-way street, expecting their employees to be endlessly available while ignoring basic boundaries.

What would you do if your boss complained about you taking a day off after working 18 days straight, simply because you had not formally written it on the schedule? Would you avoid asking for time off in the future? Or would you show them just how many days you can formally request off?

In the following story, one employee finds themselves in this exact situation. Here’s how it played out.

If I only get a day off when I formally schedule “time off” on the company calendar, then I guess I’ll mark “time off” for every weekend for the foreseeable future.

I work a service industry adjacent position that requires a flexible schedule. I’ve been fine with this, and take a day or two off when possible.

I worked 18 days straight over Christmas, with my first “day off” being New Year’s Eve. I didn’t schedule time off, I just didn’t get scheduled.

The day before NYE, my boss asked me to cover a shift.

Now, the boss is being passive-aggressive, and he’s fed up.

I told him I was going out of town. He allowed it, but when we talked next, he said, “I was upset when you said you couldn’t work, because you hadn’t scheduled time off on the schedule. I thought I was going to get a day off finally, so I was disappointed when you told me you weren’t able to help.”

I explained that since it was both the holiday and my first day off in over 2 weeks, I didn’t think I had to officially schedule it as “time off,” but I will in the future.

Guess who suddenly has scheduled “time off” for every Saturday and Sunday for the foreseeable future?

I’m so done.

Yikes! This sounds like it could be a toxic workplace.

Let’s take a look at what Reddit readers have to say about it.

This is so true!

It does sound like that.

This person didn’t play when a boss tried the same thing with them.

Here’s how this person would’ve handled it.

He should find a new job. The boss sounds like he makes it a terrible place to work, so it shouldn’t be hard to find something better.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.