If You Want Less To Do, We’re Happy To Oblige

[Coworker] wasn’t just lazy; he was proud of being lazy. He barely got any work done on his shift, he would “find” issues to use as excuses, he would only choose the jobs that required no work, and he would have his mates on the production line submit even more of them so he could sleep on the night shift. It wasn’t even like there was a lot of work to do in the first place; he just didn’t want to work.

When our useless boss finally found another job, most people would at least try to make a good impression. Not [Coworker]; he was business as usual.

One morning, he was livid. His holiday request had been denied. It was too busy, so he couldn’t take it off. [Coworker] decided to wait around for our boss to arrive in the morning. I saw it all play out when I got there.

Coworker: “Why did you deny my holiday?”

Boss: “We already have too many people off; plus, you didn’t give enough notice.”

Coworker: “So?! [Old Boss] used to approve it!”

Boss: “I’m not him. We need you. I’m sorry, but I can’t approve it.”

Coworker: “But you don’t need me in!”

Boss: “The work plan states differently.”

Coworker: “But the other shift does all the work anyway! Anyone can run the long jobs. They’re not even important!”

It was like a record scratch. He just admitted he didn’t do any work, but [Coworker] didn’t seem to realise.

Boss: “Is that right?”

Coworker: “Yeah, there’s no reason that I can’t have the time off. Tell him, [My Name]!”

Me: “Err, well… I do have a lot of the work leftover in the mornings.”

Boss: “Hmm, okay. Well, I will look at your request again, then.”

[Coworker] celebrated to himself before going home. He got his holiday, but they “let him go” before he got back.

They ended up “promoting” one of the production guys to take on part of what [Coworker] was supposed to be doing. It worked out better than expected.