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By NyRee Ausler — Written on Feb 19, 2023
Just before the pandemic hit, the Great Resignation began and turned into a mass exodus from the workplace with over 47 million people quitting their jobs.
Then came the Great Reshuffle where people decided to switch careers altogether.
But there were some who were uncomfortable dropping that notice on their bosses at work.
Instead, they began to take the back-alley route called ‘Quiet Quitting.’
Quiet Quitting is when a person is no longer passionate about their work and begins to give the least effort possible to meet the minimum requirements of the job — you're just there for the check.
One woman recently took to the subreddit, "r/antiwork," to share an incident with her boss that left her speechless.
Her boss accused her of 'Quiet Quitting' for only working 40 hours a week.
She started by giving readers a little insight about herself, using the term, "anchor worker" to describe her work ethic.
The Redditor said she shows up for her shift like clockwork and does what is required of her.
She also added, “On the other side of the coin, I don't usually take extra shifts. I do my 40 hours reliably, so I don't have to.”
Lately, the company has been understaffed due to “biting off more than they can chew with a contract,” said the woman.
At first, they tried filling the gaps with temporary employees, but that didn’t work out.
She claimed they then reduced the number of workers required for the project and leaned on other employees to pick up extra shifts and work on weekends in order to get the job done.
The boss wanted to talk to her about her commitment to the company.
The Redditor said that as she was returning from her lunch break, her boss called her over to his desk. She noticed that the Regional Site Manager was present, making her curious about what was going on.
He started to talk about the staffing issues he was having and the curious employee asked if he intended to bring on more staff to address it.
He and the site manager both responded that they were working on it.
The woman’s boss then reminded her that she would receive and referral bonus of $250 if she brought on candidates and they lasted six months.
She told readers that she had recommended people, but that they were not interested due to the work schedule.
Suddenly, her boss switched subjects and started to talk about how much he despised ‘quiet quitting.’
She let him go on about his disdain for the practice then asked, “What does this have to do with me?”
In response, he told her that according to her schedule, she was only working 40 hours a week.
He then proceeded to present the sign-up sheet for overtime, pointing out that her name was not on it.
The woman asked if he wanted her to work more days. Instead of being direct, he started beating around the bush and complaining about her 40-hour work weeks.
"If you want me to take more shifts, then tell me you want me to take more shifts," she said to him.
Instead of making a specific request of his employee, the boss became visibly frustrated, removing his glasses and massaging his temples.
Again, the woman asked him for specifics on what he needed from her and when he didn’t respond, she got up and left, intending to continue working her scheduled shift.
Redditors took issue with him wrongly accusing her in such a passive-aggressive manner.
The first commenter posted, "I hate when things have dumb misnomers. Doing your actual job (no more, no less) should've never been labeled as 'quiet quitting.'"
"If anything, constantly calling out, being late, and barely doing your tasks should be because it's like you're daring them to fire you."
Others agreed and added terms that could be used to express how the original poster was doing her job.
Phrases like “acting your wage” and “working to rule” were thrown around as better descriptions.
One commonality among readers was that the woman was doing nothing wrong by working her scheduled hours and had no obligation to compensate for the company’s bad decisions and lack of planning.
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NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.