Employee Goes AWOL And Doesn’t Even Open A Store, Calls Boss Sexist For Demoting Her Cause She Was Taking A Mental Health Day Off

We know very well that keeping up with our responsibilities at work is really the bare minimum to maintain the position. Often, we have to do much extra and prove ourselves time and again to climb up that career ladder. But while everything looks relatively easy on paper, in reality, things get way more complicated.

So this time, we’re diving into a work drama that started when one employee failed to show up to work after recently being promoted to manager. “I really thought she could handle the responsibility,” wrote the author of the post on the r/AITA subreddit, a small business owner who owns a vape shop.

When the owner finally managed to get hold of the missing employee referred to as Peggy and asked if she was okay, she said she needed to “take a mental health day and do some self-care.” Meanwhile, the rest of the employees and confused customers were left on ice, standing outside, unsure what to do with the shop closed past its opening time.

So let’s see how the incident evolved and what came out of it. Make sure to read our interview with the owner and author of the post below to get his take on the whole story!

The recently promoted employee fails to show up to work and open the store without warning anyone, says she’s had to take a mental health day later

Image credits: fizkes (not the actual photo)

So the owner told her to choose between demotion and termination, and shared the whole incident in this post on r/AITA

Bored Panda reached out to the vape store owner whose employee Peggy took a day off without warning anyone to find out his take on this whole incident. “I’m very happy with the way things worked out. I got what I wanted, and so did Peggy. I call this one a win/win,” the owner said referring to the incident.

In an update post, the author wrote that he and Peggy met for lunch, talked everything through, and apologized to each other. “I accepted her apology, and offered one of my own. Both for giving her too much responsibility too quickly, and also for reacting out of emotion,” the owner wrote.

“She explained to me that she had a major issue on Monday, and without getting into too much detail, I’ll just say that it was the anniversary of a bad thing,” he commented on the reason why Peggy didn’t show up. Now, she’s taking all of her accumulated PTO, and the two agreed “that going forward, I’m not going to put her on the schedule on that day ever again.”

According to the update, Peggy also admitted that she’s not up to the role of manager. “When she returns, she will be in the role of lead cashier, a role I created specifically for her,” the owner said and added: “This way she can keep her raise, and not feel like she got a ‘demotion,’ but rather a lateral transfer. I’ve also let her know that if she ever feels like she’s up to more responsibility, she can let me know, and I’ll put her right back on track for the manager spot.”

When asked whether they’d had incidents like this in the past, the owner said that there have been a few problems with employees. “One guy nodded out from doing heroin in the bathroom. We also had to fire a girl for stealing once,” he recounted. “Overall, I don’t think that ALL issues with employees can be avoided, but I do believe that with competent leadership, they can be minimized, and the company can recover quickly,” the owner told us.

And for those employees who don’t feel comfortable stepping up and telling their bosses and managers they’re struggling with mental health, the author of the post said that he’d tell them that “they know their boss better than I do. Some bosses are approachable, and unfortunately some are not. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your boss, then you might want to look for a better boss. The job market is heavily favoring employees at the moment.”

The business owner concluded on a positive note: “The power is in the hands of the people more than it has been in decades. The time for change is upon us. The time for workers to stand up for their rights has come!”