Imagine working at a grocery store, and the policy is that they don’t pay overtime. Would you be willing to work overtime anyway in exchange for getting time off later?

In this story, one grocery store employee was in this situation, and he wanted to get paid if he was going to work overtime. His manager wanted to give him time off instead.

But the employee tricked the manager into paying him anyway.

Keep reading to find out how.

Don’t want pay overtime? Don’t call me in.

This happened years ago. I was working for a grocery store as lead of the frozen department, which meant it was usually just me with a part timer to cover my nights off.

One night, the delivery didn’t arrive until after my shift was over.

I got a call asking if I was planning to come in to finish it.

I had already worked overnight, I needed sleep and had other plans, so I told them I couldn’t.

Saying “no” actually matters.

It’s important to note that company policy does not allow the changing of a schedule unless both employee and manager agree to it.

I was called into the office on my next shift and told that I needed to be more available as a department lead.

OK, no problem. So the next time they call me to come in on my night off, I oblige.

He said “no” once again.

Upon arriving the manager assured me that they’d get me another night off that week.

I just looked at him and said “No you won’t.”

If I’m going to be expected to come in on my days off, then I’m going to get paid overtime. He couldn’t change my schedule without my approval, so they were stuck.

For the rest of my time there, I never got another call to come in on my day off.

That was a good way of dealing with it and getting the manager to stop asking him to work overtime.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person has a theory.

Another person shares their thoughts.

Here’s some praise.

A grocery store employee weighs in.

This person doesn’t think OP worked there much longer.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tech support worker who told a manager a computer needed replaced, only to be told no thanks.

Another person guesses where OP worked.

I can completely understand wanting to get paid for working overtime. Extra time off isn’t the same thing.

He handled that really well and definitely made his point. That was a great way to avoid working overtime in the future.