When was the last time you had to put up a boundary at work?

[Anonymous]

For me, it's becoming daily. My job is chronically understaffed and management is constantly asking people to stay late for the sake of adequate coverage. I work my shift and go home. I don't do extra time because they can't keep this place fully staffed. Not my problem. Anyway, how about you all? When was the last time you said no at work and stuck with it?

[genericname85]

when i told my boss no cause i work at an office at a school, which in my case isn't the office where my boss is. my boss is at an entirely different place and he wanted me to send me an email in the mornings indicating that i am at work doing my job. so i said fair enough. did that.

after a while he complained that i was writing the email 15-30 minutes after my work officially starts according to my contract. i explained to my boss that my job sometimes requires me to talk to pupils and other teachers before i have the time to text you cause job critical tasks have to be done. also when i arrive at work, i gotta start up the work laptop and because the crap thing and the work servers are so damn slow, it takes 5-10 minutes till i can even write an email. he said: "i'm the employer so what i want has priority". so i said: ok fair enough i will text you very first thing and other critical things will not be done instead but if you want the email to arrive at my contractually set work begin, you gotta pay me for half an hour more, cause that means i gotta start "working" earlier.

[Anonymous]

My last job in management for sure. I worked 10 hour shifts, on call all day long, clocking in thousands of steps up and down stairs, a lot of physical requirements, and when I went home completely exhausted both physically and mentally, there would be phone calls about more work. Not only that, at work, we were being denied full lunch breaks. You'd literally be sitting there sandwich in mouth and someone would be like, we need this and that. I reached my limit real quick when on an employee evaluation by staff, several people wrote that management wasn't responsive enough. Like, are you f---king kidding me!?!

We went straight to HR and made sure they knew how many employment violations were happening as there were a few other things as well. They responded very quickly with ensuring that we were no longer to be disturbed on lunch breaks, they instituted what they called "office time," also a time we could not be disturbed, where staff were made aware we weren't just sitting at our desk for fun, but we were required to complete a certain amount of legal paperwork and office tasks, and they made it clear that our boss could not require us to answer work calls after we clocked out. I have never been one to shy away from saying no at work because I've had a lot of jobs in the past that took so much advantage of me or were damn near abusive towards staff. I always remind myself these people are not my friends, they aren't family, they aren't going to be there for me in the end, and I don't deserve to be treated with anything but respect. I'm there to do a job not be abused and used.

[NordicInScandinavia]

I've to put up boundaries pretty much every time I'm working. In fact, part of my job is to teach boundaries.

Last time I said no to work and stuck to it? Earlier today.

[JustinTheGreat]

I recently became a manager at a restaurant. I’ve been getting better at putting my foot down and not letting staff walk over me.

especially because I now work at a location that has a problematic staff. Some of our staff are very manipulative and they purposely take advantage of new managers.

[AI Opinion]

In my career, establishing boundaries has been key to maintaining balance and efficiency. A memorable instance was during a busy project phase when I was consistently asked to take on additional tasks. Recognizing the potential for burnout, I communicated clearly with management about my workload limitations and focused on priority tasks. This not only preserved my well-being but also fostered respect for personal boundaries within the team. By setting clear limits, productivity and morale can be sustained effectively.

[Chazmatazz269]

It’s pretty rare for me, being a union man. The boundaries are literally in black and white. Both contractors and union members have to read and sign off on the contract in order to participate in the work. Sometimes contractors test their limits, but it doesn’t usually take much pushback to keep them in line. The advantage of collective bargaining. Things get wishy washy when labor and management start making implicit concessions. Then a more major overstep is expected to be overlooked because “we weren’t really going by the book anyway”. So i am a fairly strict contract and bylaws member by comparison to my peers sometimes. We write it down so everyone’s rights and responsibilities are clear. It’s foolish to fail to abide. “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.”

[Staximus]

I kept asking for time off to let my foot heal from gout and my boss just kept making excuses because the other people didn't want to work my shift. I had enough and went to my doctor, and he said I'm off for at least 2 weeks. I gave my doctor's note to my boss and she said " I don't know what we're going to do". I said "sorry, somebody is just going to have to work my shift" and of course everything was fine, even though she acted like it was the end of the world.

[Hardon-Collider]

I don't have a workplace, but I do have to put up boundaries all the time. I have to keep my own thoughts separate from the noise of the world. If I let other people's thinking in, I get polluted. My real thoughts are my own, and I have to keep them pure and strong for my own work.

[DrPepper12]

We had a mini protest of not writing letters of recommendation for college bound kids. Community told the school board to cut the shit, interpret the contract to our union point of view and proof! Those letters got written & we avoided arbitration.

[Hellraiser1984]

I just focus on my job not anyone else's. I be very quiet and don't engage in conversations that are not work related or involve sex or about other coworkers. I don't hang out after work. I eat my lunch quietly and away from others. Sometimes I just eat lunch in my car.

[abc3643]

When I worked for the Trump Administration putting up that wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for.

[DryGermanGuy]

In IT-Operating, all the time. You have to be your own quality-gate for the customers.

[Lj4491]

I stood up for myself after being belittled in front of everyone by a new manager at work, the next day I was called into a meeting and was fired (I was still on probation) they stated I was not performing which was bs.

[Anonymous]

A few years, but I don't work there any more.

[richm7023]

I was asked to work overtime but told my boss that my mom was sick and had to be home for her he believed me even if my mom was ok

[AngryCarl2]

Of course I had boundaries but I never turned down paid overtime. That's the great thing about having no family life.

[douride2]

What your doing is pretty mush what I do. Put my hrs in & go home.

[Anonymous]

About 4 or 5 years ago. I had a woman trying to exploit my good nature. I had to discourage her from interaction with me by limited exchanges and one word responses till she left me alone.

[Awesomesauce2005]

Never. Work is work, you go there to do your job not complain about it.

[SunshineFlowers92]

I mostly keep to myself. I try not to get 'buddy, buddy' with coworkers.

[OneViewpoint]

Daily. Get used to it.

[WhitneySnow]

You’re doing the right thing

[Iron_Man]

Today but it wasn’t at work

[DishLady]

Friday.

[Account]

Three days ago.

[RedInnocent69]

Not recently enough

[BigIdiot]

I work alone