Employee goes viral after refusing to work on her day off — Her manager’s reaction sparks netizens' outrage

At a time when discussions about work-life balance are a hot topic, a woman employee's post on Reddit has now gone viral on the internet. The woman, aged 22, works as a retail employee; she recently shared her story about standing up to her manager who tried to force her to work on her scheduled day off. Posting under the username AliceWillxo on Reddit’s r/antiwork, her experience has gained much attention online and many people have found it relatable.
Here's what happened
Alice works at a small clothing store in a mall. Recently, her company fired half of the staff without warning — thus, leaving just her, the manager, and a part-time worker to keep things running. After working for over a week, Alice was finally scheduled to get a day off on Thursday and she had planned her errands, a doctor's appointment, and some much-needed rest for it.
But on Thursday morning at 8 am, her manager messaged her asking her to come to work because they had too many customers to attend, and they were short-staffed. Alice politely declined, reminding her manager that it was her weekly-off day and she had personal commitments. To which, she didn’t hear back from her manager.
However, later that day, Alice noticed that her manager had posted a cryptic Instagram story that read: “Some people only care about themselves.” And Alice was pretty sure that the message was aimed at her.
The next day at work, the manager confronted Alice, questioning her reliability and saying, “Real team players step up when it’s hard.” That's when Alice couldn't hold back and she told her manager that she earns $15 an hour, gets no benefits, no paid time off, and had just watched half her coworkers get fired. “You don’t get to guilt me into unpaid loyalty,” she told her manager.

Since then, the manager has been giving her the silent treatment — which many Reddit users joked might actually be a blessing.

Netizens react
Alice's post gained much attention online and roughly 22,000 people liked it in four days. Many commented in support of Alice. One said, “The whole problem of giving your availability and still getting scheduled — then you're the bad guy for not being flexible.” Another said, “How were they even ‘slammed’ at 8 a.m. in a mall store?”

Alice’s story clearly struck a nerve with many. At a time where many workers feel overworked, underpaid, and disrespected, her viral post is another reminder of why so many people are demanding better treatment on the job.