Dutch Employee Gives His American Manager A 'Reality Check' After Trying To Punish Him For Leaving Work At 5 PM
MAYA LAB | Shutterstock A Dutch employee shared on Reddit that he gave his American manager a reality check after the manager tried to punish him for leaving work at 5 p.m. The post sparked a discussion about how cutthroat American work culture has become compared to Europe, and that work-life balance in other parts of the world is much more respected. The original Reddit post has since been shared on other social media accounts, sparking a discussion about job satisfaction.
When it comes to work-life balance, American work culture doesn't take kindly to employees prioritizing their personal lives. There are a plethora of horror stories of bosses refusing to grant workers their rightful PTO or forcing them to work on their days off because the hustle culture demands it. But in countries outside America, especially in Europe, the same hustle culture doesn't exist at all.
Dutch employee gives his American manager a 'reality check' after trying to punish him for leaving work at 5 p.m.
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"I work for the Dutch brand of a large U.S. tech company. We recently got a new middle-manager based in New York. He seemed like a nice guy at first, but it turns out he is totally obsessed with 'hustle culture,'" he began in his post.
He explained that during a one-on-one meeting with his New York-based boss, he was told that his boss was "concerned" about his dedication to the team. His boss listed all the grievances he had with him, including the fact that his Slack status goes offline at exactly 5:01 p.m. every single day.
"He was annoyed that I didn't reply to an email he sent on Saturday morning until Monday at 9:00 am. And he was especially frustrated that I refused to join a 'team bonding' Zoom call that was scheduled for 7 pm my time, which is 1 pm his time," he continued.
The American manager gave him the usual speech about needing to go 'the extra mile' with the company.
His boss demanded that he be a lot more engaged and available to the company than he actually is. But the Dutch employee strongly disagreed and decided to give his boss a bit of a "reality check."
"I looked him in the eye over Zoom and told him that in the Netherlands, if you can't finish your work by 5 pm, it doesn't mean you're dedicated. It means you are inefficient or understaffed. I told him I was neither. I also reminded him that contacting me outside of working hours for non-emergencies is actually frowned upon here and that my contract is for 40 hours, not '40 hours plus nights and weekends."
His boss tried to threaten him with a performance improvement plan, but he immediately forwarded the email to his local Dutch HR representative. The HR representative "immediately laughed" at his American boss's threat and told him that he should just ignore it altogether, and she would talk with him about the local labor laws. "Since then, he hasn't sent a single email after 5 pm. I honestly feel bad for you guys in the US. The fact that you have to apologize for having a life outside of work is insane to us."
American workers tend to be less happy than European workers.
According to a report from Kickresume, an online resume and cover letter builder, Americans tend to feel more stressed, while Europeans express higher satisfaction with their work-life balance. In a survey of 1,200 workers in the U.S. and Europe, 40% of Americans said they work 41-50 hours per week, as compared to 26% of Europeans.
About 33% of Americans said they often feel guilty about taking time off, as compared to 18% of Europeans. Nearly 19% of Americans said they feel pressured to avoid taking sick days as well. More than half of Europeans said they’re happy or very happy with their work-life balance, as compared to 34% of Americans.
America seems to really be the only country that has no problem overworking its employees, even when said employees are burnt out and underperforming as a result. It seems that American companies could take a page from the European way of life, especially if they want better productivity and greater overall job satisfaction and retention.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
