One man read an employee’s excuse for not coming to work, prompting concerns for how he manages his workers.
In a viral video that has amassed over 1.7 million views and 99,600 likes, user @thecflife shared the worker’s detailed message explaining why he had to take a day off.
“On today’s reason why somebody doesn’t make it to work,” the manager, Matt, began in the clip.
Then he read the excuse he received aloud.
“Hey Matt, I’ve had some diarrhea issues since yesterday,” the message began.
Matt spared no details.
“And if I have to fart, it comes out as water,” he disclosed. “I’ve gone through a couple of pairs of underwear from yesterday and even last night, so I’m trying to get this taking care of before I come back.”
The manager later read a follow-up message from his worker, which chronicled his illness over days.
“Day one, sorry bud, I still won’t be in today,” Matt read from the message. “This is a really bad bug and my doc said it’s a nasty virus that’s going on.”
By day number two, the worker reported feeling better but still suffering with symptoms from the virus.”I haven’t had a fever since yesterday afternoon but I still have a head ache and horrible diarrhea that no medicine is helping,” the message explained.
Other men in the video who listened to the story as it was read aloud, chuckled at the worker’s excuse.
@thecflife Reasons why an employee cant make it to work. #employeeofthemonth #employee #brightequipment #pbap #lol ♬ original sound – thecflife
However, TikTok users in the comments section did not believe the detailed excuse for missing work was a laughing matter. Some blamed the employee’s deep dive into the details of being ill on bad management who make workers feel guilty for taking sick leave.
“Sounds like the employee has to explain in detail due to bad management,” user @didicamarena9194 commented.
Others shared similar opinions. “Sounds like this is a trauma response to his time off being denied in the past,” user @bennettbabe89 said.
“Some of us feel as though we need to fully explain ourselves so we don’t look like we are lying,” another user added.
Other commenters believed the man’s choice to read the employee’s email aloud was wrong.
“He shouldn’t be telling other employees that,” TikToker Amanda Parry said.
Over half of workers surveyed by Bamboo HR for a study said they feel “stress, anxiety, guilt or fear” when requesting time off due to an illness. Some managers don’t make it any easier for them; the study found that most managers have been skeptical of a sick day request in the past. This leads to many workers continuing to work even when they feel unwell.
The Daily Dot reached out to @thecflife via TikTok comment for more information.
