Imagine working for a company that is trying to meet a tight deadline. If you were told you needed to work overtime in order to meet the deadline but you wouldn’t be paid extra for the overtime, would you do it to be a “team player,” or would you refuse?

In this story, a whole department of employees was in this situation, and they did not want to comply. Keep reading to see what they do and how the manager responds.

Company tried to force everyone to work unpaid overtime, half the department called out sick the next day

My manager called a “mandatory team meeting” yesterday afternoon where he announced we all need to stay 2 hours late every day this week to meet a deadline that management knew about for months.

When someone asked about overtime pay, he actually laughed and said “This is what being a team player looks like. It’s what separates the people who grow with this company from those who don’t.”

Someone else pointed out that forcing hourly employees to work off the clock is illegal.

The manager sort of backtracked.

Manager’s response: “Nobody’s forcing you to do anything. We’re just strongly encouraging your participation in the team’s success.”

So naturally, half the department (including me) called out “sick” today.

Manager is freaking out in the group chat about “lack of commitment” while the rest of us are sharing memes in our separate chat.

No more mandatory overtime!

Amazing how a deadline that was “absolutely critical to the company’s future” suddenly became something they could “rework the timeline on” when enough people refused to be exploited.

Know your worth, folks.

This only worked because so many people didn’t show up for work. It’s great that the manager was forced to back down.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person thinks the employees handled the situation perfectly.

Another person makes a good point.

Here’s a story about Best Buy.

Always get it in writing!

This is true!

When employees band together, change can happen.

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.