this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2026
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Before going that far, workers should consider explaining less. If you tell people why you can't work overtime, they will trivialize your outside commitments. If you "have another commitment" then they can't argue with the substance.
Of course your boss could still threaten to fire you, if it's the US with shitty labor law. But be smart, and stop providing the argumentative material to them.
Similarly, just don't answer the phone or text messages on your day off. Don't friend your boss on social media... If that's your baseline, again, they have less information to use against you, and all of the pointless arguments simply stop happening.
This is all surprisingly easy to do if you plan it out in advance. The key point is that your boss is not your friend and the company is not your family.
Ya, I just leave the office whenever I need to. I think if asked I might bullshit something about fresh air breaks being in the safety training, but nobody asks.
Best thing my job ever did for me was give me a phone stiped to get a dedicated work phone. I work in government and it allows me to log into work systems without mixing with my personal stuff, allows me to work remote more easily, and keeps my main personal phone from being subject to Open Records requests.
But what it also means is I can leave the phone at the house and forget work when I'm off the clock. With previous jobs I couldn't help myself and I'd read emails and shit I got over the weekend. Now I just turn off the work phone and enjoy my time off.
And if there's a legit emergency that needs my attention, they do have my personal cell number, but simply having it as a separate number keeps them from sending bullshit to it.
Also, it's handy for my boss to be able to send me a short Teams message or something they want me to take care of first thing Monday knowing that they're not interrupting my weekend.
I would never allow any business, private, public, governmental or otherwise to dictate how I use my personal phone. If they're not providing a company device, I'm not interacting with, messaging, logging in, synching, answering emails, etc. with my personal device. It's simply a hard no.
They give me the money for the second phone which I have on a separate account and carrier from my personal phone.
Or better yet, don't have social media that's connected to real world people. If nobody knows where you are based on photos nobody can call you out on "being sick" and cashing in a couple of sick days for a quick break.
One of the best parts of a job with a strong union culture.
If I'm not going to be able to get to work, that's literally all I am required to tell them. At this point, management doesn't even want to know why.