“If you are sick, you must come and prove it to us. If your dog is dead, you need to bring him here and prove it to us. If it’s a “family emergency” and you can’t tell, too bad. Go work somewhere else”. These harsh words cost the job not of the subordinates to whom they were addressed, but of the manager who, in a very aggressive way, had decided to put a stop to absences and delays in an Olive restaurant Garden in Kansas.
It all began when the manager sent his co-workers a stark warning after, he says, members of his Overland Park restaurant staff were off work at “an astonishing rate”: “We will no longer tolerate ANY EXCUSES for be absent” reads the text in which the manager himself explains that he also went to work when ill or when his car was destroyed in an accident.
“I hope you choose to continue working here, and I think we in management make things as easy as possible for all of you,” the message read, concluding with gratitude for the employees who arrived “on time for work,” adding: “I wish there were more like you.”
But all this message ended up online, quickly going viral and unleashing the anger of all those who saw in that text the behavior of many managers capable of abusing their power more than making it work and motivating staff. Criticisms that have also reached the ears of managers from the restaurant chain who have decided to fire the manager because that message “was not in line with the company’s values”, reads a note where it is added: “We strive to provide a caring and respectful working environment for our team members. We can confirm that we have parted ways with this manager.”
