Compulsory: Wild text from boss goes viral

A wild money request from an anonymous boss has gone viral, and workers have been left offended and stunned.Ben Askins is a workplace commentator from the UK who has found his sweet spot by sharing anonymous texts from bosses and offering his advice.He recently shared a text message exchange between a boss and an employee that almost had him in disbelief.Askins read out the text exchange that involved a boss texting an employee and making quite the wild money demand.Anyone who has worked in an office will know that often, when someone leaves the company the employees will pull together and put in for a leaving gift.This exchange, however, takes things to the next level.“Hey! I noticed you haven’t put in the leaving present for Josh yet.Can you send $50 today? I want to put the purchase in by the end of the day,” the boss texted.Keep in mind this is in euros, so in Australia it is around $100.“Can I ask why it is so expensive?” the employee replied.“Money is a little tight right now and to be asked to put in so much feels like a lot.”The boss didn’t back down but instead doubled down on the money request that quickly became a demand.“Josh has left the company for 3 years now and I think it is a nice gesture to show our appreciation,” they said.When the worker replied that they didn’t really work with Josh and, therefore, didn’t think it was fair, they put in such a large sum, especially since he made so much more “money” than them.The boss wouldn’t see reason and instead replied that it was “compulsory” and argued it had to be because it wasn’t fair to get money off some people and not others.“Besides it isn’t that much all things considered,” the boss argued.Askins said that he doesn’t mind leaving presents as a concept, but “companies should pay for it” not individual employees.“Companies should take responsibility and set a budget,” he said.Askins argued that this would avoid anyone feeling “pressured” to pu...