A vape shop owner caused a heated debate online as he considered either firing or demoting a worker after she took a mental health day.
The unnamed employer took to reddit, explaining that he gave the worker, who he called Peggy, a promotion - as she proved herself in her role as cashier for two years.
However, after waking up 'three hours after the place should open,' he was bombarded with notifications from the store's Facebook page when Peggy didn't show.
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He wrote: "Customers have been trying to come [to the] shop, but the store is closed. Employees are showing up for work, but they're locked out."
Peggy did not respond until 'an hour before her shift was supposed to be over', saying that she needed 'a mental health day.'
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Her reasoning for not calling her employer in advance to let him know she needed the time was: "I didn't have enough spoons in my drawer for that."
The shop owner explained the two options he then gave her - to be demoted or just get the sack.
Of course, Peggy was not going to go quietly, so according to the employer she began accusing him of mental health and gender discrimination.
This caused a huge debate on Reddit - with lots of users siding with the employer, who outlined in his original post: "none of this would have been a problem if she simply took two minutes to call out.
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"This no-call/no-show s*** is not the way to run a successful business."
The post - which now has over 35,000 upvotes - brought in commenters who were adamant that if anything, not calling would make a person feel much worse and maybe Peggy just was not up to the promotion.
One user said: "I was going to say, as someone with a chronic illness I completely understand the 'spoon' analogy.
"But there is not a single time that I have lacked the 'spoon' to send a text and call/leave a voicemail and say hey I am not doing well/I can barely move.
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"That takes two seconds, and I can go about my day."
Another user questioned Peggy's promotion: "If she has days when she isn't able to make a phone call then she should be in a position of responsibility like that."
However some commenters felt that the owner was part of the problem. "Places will promote people into managerial positions, but then not give them any training on how to effectively manage themselves," one said.
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"You end up with someone muddling their way through it until someone eventually gives them training months later, only they've potentially ruined their team's morale or trust by that point."
The employer said he feels like the a****** because it is not something Peggy can control, and he is threatening her promotion.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, 1 in 6.8 people experience mental health issues in the work place with women twice as likely within full time positions.
The COVID pandemic has also seen a sharp rise in the need for mental health services - and research published by the Centre for Mental Health claims mental health problems in the UK workforce cost employers almost £35 billion last year.
'U OK M8?' is an initiative from LADbible in partnership with a range of mental health charities which features a series of films and stories to raise awareness of mental health.
Explore more here and don't suffer in silence. Reach out. It's the brave thing to do.
MIND: 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans: 116 123.
CALM: Outside London 0808 802 5858, inside London 0800 58 58 58.
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