That’s how it works, folks!

When the number of hours you work decreases, less work gets done.

Sounds simple, right?

But not everyone can grasp that concept…

Take a look at this story from Reddit and see what you think!

Boss tells me not to work overtime anymore… until the work stops getting done.

“I’m an analyst in a very specific field, working off “submissions” from various clients — meaning, my workload can fluctuate between a few weeks of minimal work, and a few months of having three times the workload one person can reasonably accomplish in a day.

We work relatively independently, with our boss assigning us various clients, and occasionally pulling us off our desks to work on his projects.

My boss also has selective workload blindness, wherein he mysteriously forgets about all your existing clients as soon as he needs you to do his project work, which contributes to the bad work weeks being very bad.

This guy sounds like a pain in the ***.

Consequently, sometimes I work 40 hours a week, sometimes I work 50+.

Our boss’ answer to our insane workload is to suggest we “sometimes come in an hour early” or “maybe stay an hour extra”, or “work through lunch”.

So, for a few weeks I did.

After a week or two of submitting my accurate time sheets where I came in early, took no lunch, and stayed as long as I could after normal working hours, he came into my office and angrily told me that I needed to keep it under 43 hours a week, because anything over that requires special approval from HIS boss, and he didn’t think my “current workload justified those hours”.

In other words, he had to explain to his boss why our department is working 50 hour work weeks just to stay on top of everything.

You got it!

So, I started coming into work exactly on time, taking my time through a luxurious hour lunch break, and leaving promptly at 6 PM.

During that time he also pulled me into several projects of his, on top of my other clients.

Every night when I let him know I was leaving, he would look at me with disbelief and remind me of all the outstanding work left on his projects.

I cheerfully told him I was approaching my overtime limit, and would be happy to continue working on it the next day.

After a few weeks of angry client emails, he quietly told me not to worry about my overtime approvals, and to just get the work done.

I can’t wait to quit this hellscape of a job.”

Now let’s see what Reddit users had to say.

This person shared their own story.

Another individual shared their thoughts.

This individual spoke up.

This person gave the Belgian point of view.

And one Reddit user talked about what happened at their job.

I think it’s safe to say that he saw the error of his ways.

At least, one can hope.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.