Rhianna Benson
Ahh, the joys of annual leave.
Setting up your 'out of office' message, turning your work emails off and bidding a temporary adieu to the stresses of office life.
Is there anything more liberating?
Well, unfortunately one man was prevented from enjoying any of these pleasures after his boss demanded that he 'jump on' a Zoom call whilst he was getting ready to go on holiday to Spain.
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Submitting his side of the story to TikToker Ben Askins, the man was on his way to the airport when he received an message from his boss on WhatsApp.
"Where are you? Haven't seen you at your desk today, need to run something by you," he said.
The man then replied: "Hey um I’m in Spain on holiday this week.
"However, I can probably jump on a quick call when I am on the bus from the airport if it is really urgent?"
"Would prefer to do this in person as I need to go through the slides with you. Any chance we can jump on a Zoom call when you get to your hotel?" his manager wrote back.
Anyone else already feeling slightly enraged? Just me?
Anyway, the employee then told his boss that a video-call catch-up simply wasn't possible, being that he and his family already have a 'pretty packed' holiday schedule.
"Damn wish you had told me that you were on annual leave," the boss then hit out, to which the staff member wrote back, "It is all in the system and you signed it off two months ago."
Go, anonymous man! Back yourself!
His manager then came back with a remark that is guaranteed to set your teeth on edge.
"Lol as if I would remember that. It is poor from for you to not remind me," he wrote.
Naturally, the man hit back, writing: "I sent an email round to the whole team as part of my handover?"
And to Ben's utter amazement, the man's boss then admitted he 'doesn't really read' emails sent by his staff, telling him that he should have also messaged him 'specifically'.
As a final resort, the employee then offered an alternative to a Zoom meeting and agreed 'to call in the cab', adding that 'otherwise will have to be next week'.
His boss then bluntly replies: "Fine let’s just do it then I guess."
The WhatsApp exchange has left millions of social media users utterly blown away, including London-based managing director Ben.
"The team member, you know good for him but also ill-advised, has come back saying, ‘Look, I mean if I have to, I’ve got a bit of time here’," the content creator said.
"Then the guy’s come back going, ‘No, no I want it to be a zoom call and add another time on your annual leave’. I mean it’s just unacceptable, it really is."
And by the looks of it, the vast majority of his followers also agreed.
One gave a piece of advice, saying: "I block my employer’s number when annual leave starts".
Another commented: "Let’s normalise not reading texts from work outside of business hours".
"The only acceptable answer from the boss, 'Oh sorry. Totally forgot, have a great holiday,'" a third said.