January 14, 2026 at 10:35 pm

Employee Has Been Doing Supervisor Duties Without The Title Or The Pay, So When His Application For Supervisor Is Rejected, He Focuses On His Actual Job

by Jayne Elliott

male and female coworkers in hard hats

Shutterstock/Reddit

Imagine being more capable than the job you were hired to do. Would you gladly take on supervisor duties even if you weren’t paid as much as a supervisor?

In this story, one employee did just that, but eventually, he decided to focus on his actual job instead.

Management didn’t like that!

Let’s see how the story plays out.

Sorry, you won’t be getting the supervisor position. Why arnt you doing the supervisor work?

So I worked for a company for a few years, got turned down for every promotion but was still expected to do the extra work because they stopped scheduling anyone to do it and I thought it would make me look better if I just did it, covering breaks, checking logs, safety walks etc.

We had 3 Department managers who only work during the day and a supervisor for the mid shift but no management at night.

A position opened up for the job and I put in for it but then was closed because of “labor and budget issues” and “lack of applications”

He decided to focus on his actual job.

A few weeks later they complained I wasn’t doing enough production and needed to focus more on my work, so eventually I just stopped doing the extra work and let the department fall apart.

We got pinged from the regional manager for missing too many safety walks, we got pinged by health and safety for not having properly filled logs, customers complained about lack of service due to employees being on breaks.

Management flipped out and said this would probably prevent me from getting a promotion in the future.

When I asked why they told me that these were part of my job duties.

Sometimes it’s necessary to state the obvious.

Me-“But you told me to focus on productivity not any extra duties, these are part of a Supervisor role not mine”

Mgmt-“You have been doing them for months now, why did you just stop?”

Me-“You told me to focus on production”

OP was not going to give in.

Mgmt- “Well until we find someone to work at night they have to be covered”

Me- “Wow so one of the managers will have to close every night, that’s rough”

Mgmt- “Come on were all a team, you can help us out right”

Me- “Sorry, I’m not comfortable doing extra duties beyond my role without proper training and compensation”

If they want OP to do supervisor duties, they need to promote OP to supervisor. Easy.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

If they want the work done, they need to pay.

Screenshot 2025 11 19 at 3.45.24 PM Employee Has Been Doing Supervisor Duties Without The Title Or The Pay, So When His Application For Supervisor Is Rejected, He Focuses On His Actual Job

This person is in the same situation.

Screenshot 2025 11 19 at 3.45.49 PM Employee Has Been Doing Supervisor Duties Without The Title Or The Pay, So When His Application For Supervisor Is Rejected, He Focuses On His Actual Job

Another person thinks OP is “too nice.”

Screenshot 2025 11 19 at 3.45.59 PM Employee Has Been Doing Supervisor Duties Without The Title Or The Pay, So When His Application For Supervisor Is Rejected, He Focuses On His Actual Job

Another person shares what they’ve learned after working for awhile.

Screenshot 2025 11 19 at 3.46.27 PM Employee Has Been Doing Supervisor Duties Without The Title Or The Pay, So When His Application For Supervisor Is Rejected, He Focuses On His Actual Job

Going above and beyond doesn’t always get you the promotion.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.