‘Isn’t a great look’: Boss makes wild demand after worker breaks leg

A leaked text message exchange has revealed the wild request a boss made to an employee after they’d suffered a serious injury.

A leaked text message exchange has revealed the wild request a boss made to an employee after they’d suffered a serious injury.

UK workplace expert Ben Askins has found his sweet spot online by sharing anonymous text message exchanges between workers and their managers and then offering advice.

It started out innocently enough: a boss texted a worker to find out why they couldn’t attend their shift the next day.

“I broke my leg coming off my bike. I am in hospital at the moment,” the worker said.

The boss replied, “S**t, I’m really sorry to hear that!”

This was a solid start ... but things quickly took a turn.

“When do you think you will be back?” The boss asked.

The text exchange is quite the wild read. Picture:

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The worker replied and said they weren’t sure when they’d be back because they needed to be on bed rest for a few days before trying out walking on crutches.

“Ideally I need you in for the Friday shift. Do you think you can make it? I can get you a chair,” the boss texted back.

“If the doctor says it is all good. Then yep no worries,” the worker replied.

“They are always overly cautious. I kind of just need you to commit too it,” the boss pressured.

“Like I said if the doctor is happy I will do it. But if they say no, I can’t,” the worker wrote back.

The boss then doubled down and claimed it “isn’t a great look” for the worker to take time off because they’d only started working at the company two weeks ago.

“Then let me make it even easier for you. I quit,” the worker replied.

He said the worker remained reasonable. Picture: TikTok/BenAskins

The work expert was stunned by the text exchange. Picture: TikTok/BenAskins

Mr Askins said that the worker’s actions were “fair enough” considering how unreasonable the boss was being.

He argued that no one ever plans to break their leg and how long ago the worker started at the job is irrelevant.

He also was in disbelief that the boss asked a worker to ignore their doctor’s orders and come to work.

“You’re putting in writing to go against medical advice? In what possible scenario does that end well for you?” He asked.

“It is the stupidity that gets me sometimes.”

Mr Askins praised the worker and said they couldn’t have been more “reasonable” in the exchange, then slammed the boss.

“He hasn’t done it on purpose, he hasn’t gone, and ‘do you know what? That Friday shift is looking a bit rough for me I’m going to come off my bike and break my leg,” Mr Askins argued.

“What this boss was playing at? I have absolutely no idea!”

The worker quit after he was told to come in after he broke his leg. Picture: Itsock

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Online, people shared their own horror stories of when they’d gotten sick, and their managers still demanded they work.

“My former employer said I couldn’t have picked a worse time to have a miscarriage,” one shared.

“My boss didn’t believe I’d broken my arm. I sent him six Dr letters (which he claimed he didn’t receive), photocopies of my x-rays, and a photo of me in a sling, and I also came in to show him. Took them to small claims court and won when they fired me,” someone said.

“I completely lost my voice and was told to stay off work and not speak for over a month. I work in a primary school, and my head said, “Could I not just sit at the back of the class?” another student said.

“I was a nurse. I collapsed at work and was found to have had a bleed on my brain. My manager came to the ward I was on after I’d just had a lumbar puncture and was asking when I’d be back at work because I was scheduled for night duty the day after and I ‘should know how hard it is to get cover,” someone else said

Originally published as ‘Isn’t a great look’: Boss makes wild demand after worker breaks leg