Employee comes down with the flu and requests to leave their shift early, manager approves but coworker refuses to let them go: ‘"I'm not missing out on my break!"’

There comes a time in every working person's life when you must choose between a paycheck and your own health.

Hustle culture has conditioned us all to believe that we should go to work when we're dealing with a 102-degree fever, a pulsating migraine, and a serious case of the sniffles. It's challenging to balance your health and your career when one so clearly relies on the other. If you're one of the lucky workforce soldiers who have understanding managers, you likely don't have to second-guess staying home when you're coming down with a cough. Odds are, none of your colleagues want your germs, so why would it be a big deal to stay home and get better? The sooner you rest up, the sooner you're back on the work wagon.

That should be common sense, but if the wheel keeps turning, the money must keep churning. The working world doesn't wait for most employees who want to take advantage of their sick days, because 10 people are waiting to take their place if they're canned. When did prioritizing one's health become so controversial?

Luckily, the manager in this next story is one of the few workplace leaders who care about their employees' well-being. Sick employees won't ever contribute the same output that they would if they were in tip-top shape, so the push to work while ill doesn't make sense. We can thank our generation forefathers for championing the hustle culture we see today, which directly affects every one of us who wants to be treated like a human, not a number in the machine. The employee in the story you'll read below explains that they started feeling exceptionally ill before their shift, but thought it would blow over. Once they were at work, they could barely stand. So, naturally, they reach out to their manager to leave. The manager gives them their blessing, but their elderly coworker refuses to let them go. Who made them the boss? Scroll below to read the full story.