Family pressures employee to misuse work access for freebies and favors, he finally puts his foot down and walks out on family dinner: 'Following their demands would be a career-ending move'

It's one thing when your friends or family leans on your for advice or a favor here and there, but it's a completely different thing when those "little favors" start crossing professional boundaries. Many are likely painfully familiar with the awkwardness of being asked to use job perks for relatives, from sneaking a sibling into a concert, to slipping your uncle a discount, to passing along your cousin's resume. Sometimes these requests aren't just uncomfortable to decline, but they can actually put your career on the line if you don't!

That's what happened to one e-commerce employee at a family dinner. What began as a casual conversation over a shared meal quickly spiraled into a barrage of requests. He was asked to pull confidential data for his uncle's marketing team, push through a priority referral for an underqualified relative, and use his employee discount to pay for his relatives' shopping lists. He tried to explain the company policy, but they totally brushed him off until he reached his breaking point, storming off in the middle of mealtime.

Back when I was a waitress, friends would come in and ask me for favors all of the time. Any freebies I gave out had to be approved by my manager, who was pretty lenient. But I lost at least one "friend" for not giving them enough free or discounted stuff! They really couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that I literally could not order anything or give anything for free without my manager finding out and thus my job being on the line. That's the thing about professional boundaries the people asking often think it's harmless or "no big deal," but for the person being asked, it can mean risking their employment! No wonder this guy walked away.