Boss Tells His Employees To Keep Working Through An Actual Fire Drill Because They Are ‘So Far Off’ From Their Monthly Goals
His top priority was his team meeting their monthly goals.
Nuroon Jampaklai / Shutterstock Bosses have been known to make some pretty outrageous requests.
Most bosses wouldn’t suggest actually breaking the law to get work done, though. But that’s exactly what one named Harry did.
A boss demanded his employees work through a fire drill to meet their monthly goals.
TikTok content creator Ben Askins dedicates his time to exposing bad bosses and workplace practices. As part of his “Worst Bosses” series on the app, he shared the story of a man named Harry.
Harry asked that his employees continue working through a fire drill so they would meet their goals for the month.
Askins read a message from Harry that was sent to him. “At 10:59 this morning, there is going to be a fire drill,” Harry wrote to his employees. “Ordinarily, we would go out with the rest of the company and run the usual drill.”
Despite fire drills being routine for any office, Harry had something different in mind for his team.
“However, because we are so far off this month’s target, I expect you all to ignore this and keep working,” he said. “We are at the point of the month where every call matters, and the half hour we save could be the difference between victory and defeat. Therefore, when the alarm goes, please ignore it and press on with your calls.”
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After the first message, Harry sent a follow-up message to his employees.
“Just to follow on, I have just been told by upper management that this is not allowed, and so what I want to ask is, who ratted me out?” he questioned.
Harry used some very strong wording to encourage the person who “ratted him out” to come forward.
“I will give you by the end of the day to tell me who betrayed us,” he said. “Otherwise, there will be consequences for the whole team. I hope that come the end of the month [when] we haven’t hit target, the person in question understands what he has done.”
The laws surrounding fire drills aren’t as cut and dry as some people think.
Askins was confused about how an employer could possibly ask team members to skip a fire drill when that is supposedly illegal. According to Askins, “You have to. By law, you have to.”
While it’s important to note that Askins is located in the U.K., this is not necessarily true in the U.S.
J.J. Keller Compliance Network pointed out that “OSHA does not require fire drills.” However, in some special situations, they are required.
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“If an employer’s emergency action plan (EAP) and/or emergency response plan (ERP) … contain provisions for conducting any type of drills, OSHA would require the employer to implement and conduct those drills.”
So, while there is no overarching law stating fire drills must be held in the U.S., it’s also clear that if an employer chooses to make them a part of their emergency plans, they must be followed and participated in — something that was likely true for this company.
Even if the team could stay inside during a fire drill, how would they get any work done?
Askins was incredulous, asking how this boss thought his team could possibly get anything done with a fire alarm going off in the background.
“The idea that you could just have calls, though, it’s not like [a] white noise machine. Fire alarms, by nature, are quite loud and quite disruptive,” he stated. “I just, I cannot comprehend.”
As Harry advised his team to continue making calls during the fire drill, it can be assumed that the majority of their time is spent on the phone. Working on a phone through a fire drill sounds nearly impossible.
Besides, fire drills are important safety measures. Harry needs to sort out his priorities.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.