Woman sent boss a text asking to miss work for a funeral and his reply left her speechless

A woman who asked her boss if she could have a day off to attend a funeral was left in shock by his response.

It all started when Lisa messaged her boss to remind him of her request to take compassionate leave after her uncle had passed away.

"Hey Sam, I've just seen your email about holding off on requesting annual leave, but just wanted to make sure I was still able to take next Wednesday off. I wouldn't be asking, but as you know, it's for my uncle's funeral," she wrote in a message.

But she was left in a state of surprise when her boss replied, explaining why he wouldn't be able to grant her leave for the funeral.

"Lisa, again I'm very sorry to hear about your uncle as you know, but I can't make any exceptions. If I give you time off, I'll have everyone coming to me with special requests," he said.

Lisa was totally stunned and questioned her boss' decision, asking him to make an exception for her circumstances.

"I am really sorry but no, it would be different if it was immediate family but this is just too much of a stretch," he said.

The incident was shared on Instagram by entrepreneur Ben Askins - @benaskins.official - who regularly comments on difficult situations at work.

Lisa tried her best to negotiate the situation, explaining that she 'wouldn't fall behind on anything'.

"How about you work half the day and make up the hours for the rest of the week? I think we can justify that, just don't tell the others you're getting special treatment lol," her boss said.

Ben had a lot of thoughts on the messages, calling them 'madness'.

"This is madness. This is so bad. He acted like he was doing her a favour?" he said. "This is clearly a special occasion. Of course her team would understand. How is this your decision to make? She's already mentioned how close she was to her uncle.

"What on earth are you playing at here?

"This is an awful moment in your life, stand up and help your team out. Different people require different things at different moments. It's okay to treat some people slightly differently, depending on the circumstance."

Others were equally horrified at the exchange, with many sharing their own similar experiences.

One person wrote: "My old company were like this; deciding how close I am with my family for me. Rotters."

Another said: "I wouldn’t hand in my notice at all, I’d just go anyway and ignore his phone calls," while someone else commented: "I'd just hand in my notice, there and then."

In another video, Askins covered one bosses' demand that his employee 'jump on call' while on annual leave and on their way to the airport.