A TikTok video depicted a conversation between a boss expecting an employee to come in 15 minutes early without getting paid and an employee who wasn’t having it — but the video brought up serious concerns for viewers who reported similar unreasonable expectations from their employers.
The video comes courtesy of creator Christian Maldonado (@christianjmaldonado), who plays both boss and worker in the depiction that’s gotten 6.2 million views as of Saturday. It’s one in a series of videos on his TikTok channel showing the workplace disconnects between higher-ups and underlings.
It starts with the boss character saying, “Hey, from now on, I need you to be here 15 minutes early.”
“OK,” says the worker agreeably. “So start clocking in at 7:45?”
“No, don’t clock in,” the boss responds. “Just be here 15 minutes early.”
“But if I’m not clocked in, how am I getting paid?” the worker asks.
The boss replies, “You won’t be.”
@christianjmaldonado No thank you 😂 #workhumor #managersbelike ♬ original sound – Christian Maldonado
“So why would I be here 15 minutes early?” the worker asks.
“So you can already be at your desk and ready to work,” the boss says.
The worker informs him he won’t be doing that, the boss says that it’s the company’s new policy, to which the worker retorts, “That I will not be participating in.”
The boss then asks, “Just because you won’t be getting paid?”
The worker responds, “Yeah, that’s literally the only reason I come to work. That’s the only reason we’re talking right now. I’m getting paid for this conversation. What else do you want to talk about?”
While the creator hashtagged the video #workhumor, some took it very seriously — including those who shared similar encounters from their jobs.
“Had a call center try this and got mad as hell when we all clocked in early in order to do as they asked,” one said.
The creator responded, “I’m glad y’all clocked in. About to get this overtime with that coming in early nonsense.”
“My job wanted me to show up 30 minutes before my shift to take my break,” another shared. “Lmao. No I didn’t do that.”
The creator observed, “Some employers are wild with what they want their employees to do.”
Yet another commenter shared, “I used to get in trouble for clocking in right at my time lol & i was like that’s the point.”
“I tell my manager when he tries to talk to me off the clock, ‘Hold up, I’m not getting paid to have this convo yet,’” adding, “His reactions [are] always great.”
Though some commenters were laughing about the encounters, at least one approached the scenario that the creator depicted with some gravitas.
“For anyone wondering, this is illegal,” that person claimed. “If your boss ever does that and threatens termination, you should look for a lawyer.”
And at least one person noted, “I wish I knew this at my previous job. They made us be there 10 minutes before our shift and clock in at our shift time.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment.
