Employee sparks huge debate after refusing to attend morning meeting to go to workout class

Employers can be pretty strict with what they expect from employees in and outside of the office, but when does it go too far?

Well, this is exactly what happened when an employee and boss interaction was shared online.

Hosts of the Demoted podcast, Natalie Marie and Ross Pomerantz, shared their reaction to an email they received from a listener who claimed their 'Gen Z' employee refused to attend an 8am work meeting because they already had a workout class scheduled.

It's safe to say, the hosts weren't best pleased at the employee's response.

Natalie said: “You just started this job. I don't give a flying s**t about your workout class. Also an 8am workout class is too late. Work out at six, maybe seven.”

Ross then chimed in: “My visceral reaction was are you f***ing kidding me? My hand's shaking, and it's not from the caffeine.”

He continued: “To monopolise your calendar for things that I would consider to be personal time, that's gonna be a ‘no’ for me dog.

“You're going to have to give up some things.”

Natalie added: “You're not really allowed to do that when you're first starting your career, I'm sorry.”

But one TikTok creator added fuel to the fire after he put himself in the shoes of the employee and questioned the employer’s insistence that he should attend a meeting before his contracted working hours.

In the video skit, Alexandre claimed that 8am was his personal time and not that of the company.

He explained: “Okay, let's just say I skip the gym. Two things. When can I expect you to reimburse me for my class? And two, are you going to be paying me from 8am to 9 am? Or at the very least let me leave at 4 pm. Natalie, if your answer to both of those are ‘no’ then there's no discussion needed.”

His re-enactment caused quite the stir, with many agreeing about his stance on workplace etiquette.

One person said: “Yeah, don't normalise working outside work hours. Once you give in, there will be a second and third time.”

Another added: “I love this because we millennials are accustomed to sacrificing so much for a job. We didn't know such boundaries exist.”

Warning: Video below contains strong language:

After the flack, Natalie went on to reveal that she had no affiliation with Alexandre and that she removed the video due to negative comments.

She said: “First things first, we made the decision to take down the video, so it's no longer there. We got a lot of heat, and rightfully so. It was getting vicious in the comments. We decided to take it down.

“Just to be clear, if you're not getting paid to work before 9am, you do not have to work before 9am, do not condone that in the slightest. This is for a salaried employee, once a quarter.”

So, who what do you think?