It’s not uncommon for workers to try and collect a paycheck without actually doing any work at their jobs. Some people take this concept further than the typical case of time theft and don’t even bother showing up for years, hoping they’ll fade away in a larger system while still receiving that biweekly direct deposit.
Then there are workers like this cook who @chocolatemilkbrothers says he managed when he worked at a restaurant. The cook, according to the TikTok user, thought he could up and leave his job for three months at a time and receive “personal leave pay” for it.
The TikToker says the employee didn’t inform anyone that he was leaving for an extended vacation after only working for a week. @chocolatemilkbrothers states that he just assumed the employee decided to quit after he didn’t answer his phone calls and stopped showing up to his shifts.
Then, to his surprise, the cook showed up at work trying to punch in, and that’s when the TikToker says he decided to approach him and find out what was going on.
@chocolatemilkbrothers A few days and 90 days are basically the same thing #greenscreen #wisconsin #wisco #onwisconsin #wisconsincheck #wisconsinlife #wisconsinite #comedy #humor #humour #funny #funnystory #funnystories #funnystorytime #story #stories #storytime #storytimes #truestory #storyteller #storytelling #manager #bartender #restaurant #bar #employee #why #how #serviceindustry #cook #cooks #vacation #holiday #food #chicken #fired #oh #dead #ha #haha #hahaha #fyp #fypシ #fypage #fypシ゚viral #foryou #viral #trending #lolz #lol #lmao #nope #fail #fails #failed #working #job #work #💀 ♬ Spongebob Tomfoolery – Dante9k Remix – David Snell
The TikTok user starts his storytime by introducing a cook he once managed named Kyle. When Kyle stopped showing up for work after one week, he says he assumed the worker wouldn’t return.
“Three months later, I happen to notice Kyle standing at the POS trying to clock in,” the manager says in the clip. “I walk up to him like, ‘Kyle what’re you doing?’ He’s like, ‘oh, I’m back from my vacation.’”
The manager, perplexed, says he asked Kyle what vacation, only for him to respond that he “forgot to mention” he was taking a “few personal days.”
“I’m like, ‘A few? You were gone for three months. We figured you quit,’” the TikToker user says he told him. “He’s like, ‘oh no, I was just taking personal days but that does explain why I wasn’t getting my personal leave pay.’”
At this point, the manager says he was even more confused.
“We don’t offer that, we offer sick days and we offer paid vacation but you were only here for a week before you stopped showing up,” the TikToker recounts. “He’s like, ‘oh, so do I still have a job?’ I’m like, ‘unfortunately, no.’”
He concludes, “He’s like, ‘oh, OK’ and then he just casually left like nothing happened.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @chocolatemilkbrothers via TikTok comment.
Viewers speculated why the cook was gone for so long only to walk back into work without contact. Many said the 90-day time frame seemed consistent with a drug rehab program.
“90 days sounds like rehab… oof,” one wrote.
Another remarked, “90 days is rehab to avoid jail.”
However, others thought he tried out another job during this period, but it didn’t pan out so he simply attempted to get back to work at his old position.
“He got another job, but it’s didn’t work so he returned,” one user suggested.
Other TikTokers thought he may have gone to jail for a short period of time but just didn’t want to divulge that information to management. Some even seemed to admire Kyle, stating that he was living the dream.