Some workplace policies are so absurd they practically beg you to defy them.

When one chronically ill employee was scolded for calling in sick the morning of instead of the night before, her boss accidentally created a rule she’d happily enforce right back at them.

The boss was about to regret ever crossing her.

Keep reading for the full story!

“You’re Sick? Why Didn’t You Call in the Night Before?”

So, I’m chronically ill & because of that, my bar for what constitutes as “sick” is sometimes higher than the average person.

Usually, I don’t notice these early warning signals that other people do because I’m always feeling a lil sick, so unless my roommate points it out or I’m at the point where I’m stuck in bed for a few days, I don’t notice I’m sick.

Regardless, she tries to take as little time off from work as possible.

I also rarely ever use sick PTO, and a lot of my regular PTO is only used bc I know it doesn’t roll over.

Anywho, about a year ago, I woke up like two hours before work in the morning feeling just awful.

Part of me really wanted to power through it, but I tried getting out of the bed and I just couldn’t.

She decided to let her boss know she couldn’t come in, but the boss didn’t take it well at all.

So, I contacted my boss, who I knew was opening, that I wouldn’t be able to come in that day.

They got upset with me & basically said, “Why didn’t you call me the night before if you knew you were going to be sick?”

Immediately, she isn’t a fan of her boss’ tone.

Like okay, first of all, wtf does “if you knew you were going to be sick” even mean?

I wasn’t planning to be sick, I got sick.

She also tried her best to do her due diligence and her boss didn’t seem to care.

And second of all, I called as soon as I knew I wasn’t going to make it in, which is what I was supposed to do, and hours in advance so they could have time to find coverage.

So now, every time they call off the morning of, I just respond with, “Oh? Why didn’t you call in the night before. After all, it’s your policy.”

And at first they would get really defensive and fight back, but now when I say it, they just sigh and move on.

What an awful boss.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter suggests a way to use the boss’ bad attitude against them.

This commenter shares what their workplace’s policy is.

Some illnesses are too serious (and contagious) to mess around with.

This user shares a similar story.

Advance notice works both ways, boss!

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who was told to shut up when he warned of upcoming backlogs, so he sat back and let laptops pile up on the floor.