Imagine working for a company where there’s a no overtime policy. What would you do if you knew there was an emergency situation and a problem desperately needed to be solved before you went home? Would you work until it was done, or would you go home when your shift was over?

In this story, one maintenance technician is in that situation. He knows a pipe in the boiler room is going to explode, but the boss tells him to go home. To make matters worse, this happened on a Friday, and he wouldn’t be back at work until Monday.

Keep reading to find out what happens over the weekend.

Pipe Exploded on the Weekend — But Hey, At Least We Saved on Overtime!”

In 2006, I worked as a maintenance technician in a small office building.

My job was to make sure everything works properly air conditioning, plumbing, electricity, all that stuff.

Then we got a new boss from some big corporate office, and he was obsessed with cutting costs.

First week he tells us all, in a very serious voice: “From now on, absolutely no overtime. No matter what. No exceptions.”

Everyone except the boss knew this was a bad idea.

We all kind of looked at each other like, “Is he serious?”

So, Friday afternoon, around 4:30 PM, I get an alert from the boiler room. Pressure is in one of the water pipes is very high.

I check it and pipe is vibrating like crazy. I know if we don’t release the pressure or fix it, it’s going to explode.

I go to the boss and tell him, “This pipe is dangerous. I need maybe 1-2 hours overtime to fix it tonight.”

The boss made the wrong decision.

He looks at the clock, and says, “It’s past 5 soon. No overtime. We’ll handle it Monday.”

Okay, boss. No problem.

So I go home.

Saturday morning, I get a call from the security guy who works weekends. He’s freaking out. “Water is pouring out of the boiler room! It’s flooded the hallway! What do I do?!”

There was nothing to do at this point.

I laugh. I say, “Too late. Nothing we can do now, perhaps swim?”

On Monday, the boss walks in and smells wet carpet and disaster. Half the ground floor is underwater. Documents ruined. IT equipment drowned. Rest in peace.

He comes to me angry: “Why didn’t you stop this?!”

I just say, “You told me no overtime. Pipe didn’t want to wait till Monday.”

At least the boss learned his lesson.

Cleanup cost thousands. And guess what? From that day, boss never said no to overtime again.

In fact, from then on when we reported just an inkling of a suspicion that something might be wrong, he simply said, “Do what you have to do. Just don’t tell me the hours.”

Sometimes, pipe is the best teacher.

Yikes! What an awful disaster!

I’m glad the boss learned his lesson.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

Here’s one person’s perspective.

Another person shares a similar story.

This is a good point.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a delivery driver who tried warning his boss the truck needed new brakes and tires, only to find his truck sidelined during their busiest season.

Another person shares a line from the story that stood out.

The boss really should’ve listened. That was a very expensive disaster that could’ve been avoided if he had let OP work a couple hours of overtime.

He definitely learned the hard way, but at least he learned.