An employee who had lost nearly everything in a devastating house fire was forced to take a day off from work to deal with the aftermath. Despite the circumstances, his employer refused to compensate him for the missed time, showing little sympathy for his situation.
Content creator Ben Askins, who has a reputation for sharing bizarre stories about employees and their bosses, posted a video about the man's unfortunate situation. "Last year, I had a house fire and lost the contents of my bedroom," the man wrote.
"Clothes, bed, everything - the house was full of smoke damage and needed cleaning and redecorating," the man added. The man, a full-time worker, could not go to work the day after the fire due to the loss of his belongings and the need to clean up his home.
Employee Denied Sick Leave After House Fire
His boss later deducted that day's pay from his monthly salary, claiming that the employee was not "technically ill" and could not use a sick day. "When something happens in your personal life that impacts your professional life, which happens to everyone, a company has a choice," Atkins explained.
"They can either decide that they're going to abide by all the marketing collateral where they bang on about how much they care about their team and actually help step up and make it helpful, or they can make the situation worse." In this case, the employee's company unfortunately chose the latter.
Askins emphasised the situation's stress, saying, "You've lost all your clothes, dealing with landlords, dealing with firemen, dealing with insurance. That is a [expletive] stressful situation." When the employee questioned his boss about the lack of compensation for the missed day, he was told that accommodating him would mean doing the same for all other employees.
"Do they think loads of their employees' houses are just burning down and this is a common problem?" Askins wondered. "And if this is a common problem, you've got way bigger issues than one day's pay for that team member." He added, "it's an awful situation and they just made it a million times worse."
Online Outrage: Calls For Empathy And Support
Many TikTok users took to the comments section to criticise the boss's apparent lack of sympathy and humanity. One TikTok user commented, "A day's pay is the least a company can do to rally around an employee after a house fire or serious tragedy."
"My dad had a stroke; I rang my job to tell them I wouldn't be in (expecting it to be recorded as sickness). They gave it to me as compassionate leave. Small gesture but made me appreciate them," another user shared.
Other commenters encouraged the man to find a new job, stating that they would have quit immediately if they were in his situation. It is ultimately up to the employer and company to decide on additional sick days or time off, but showing compassion and support should be a standard practice.
The employee should have been given the time and space to address their immediate needs without worrying about work responsibilities. Employers can make employees feel valued and appreciated by offering support during difficult times.
Offering extra sick days for personal emergencies can boost employee morale, satisfaction, and loyalty. This can lead to higher retention rates and a more engaged workforce.
Unfortunately, many bosses drive employees to quit by behaving insensitively. For example, one boss demanded an employee's Saturday itinerary to understand why she couldn't work weekends. Another manager accused an employee of not being a team player for refusing to work overtime.
