’40 hours plus nights and weekends’: Dutch worker rips into toxic American boss proving the entire Trump-era work ethic is utterly broken

A Dutch remote worker recently delivered a sharp reality check to their American manager after being reprimanded for logging off exactly at 5:00 PM every day. This whole scenario is a perfect reminder of how broken the intense American work ethic really is, showing that outside the US, the concept of work/life balance isn’t just a myth.

The worker, based in the Netherlands, shared details of an incident involving their newly hired manager, who operates out of New York. During a one-on-one meeting, the manager expressed “concern” about the employee’s dedication to the team. You’ve probably heard this song and dance before. The manager specifically disliked that the worker’s communication status went offline at 5:01 PM daily.

He was also frustrated that the worker hadn’t replied to an email sent on Saturday morning until Monday morning at 9:00 AM. If that wasn’t enough, the manager was “especially frustrated” the employee refused to join a “team bonding” Zoom call scheduled for 7:00 PM local time, according to Daily Dot.

It’s up to the employee, not the employer, to decide if they are available after hours

This manager had clearly internalized the American “hustle culture,” pushing the idea that “in this company, we go the extra mile.” Honestly, that phrase just sounds like a red flag for unpaid overtime. The worker wasn’t having any of it.

Instead of apologizing for having a life, they pushed back hard over Zoom. They told the manager, “If you can’t finish your work by 5 PM, it doesn’t mean you are dedicated. It means you are inefficient or understaffed.” That is a top-tier defense against a bad boss, and frankly, I wish more people felt empowered to use it.

The worker emphasized that they were neither inefficient nor was their department understaffed. They pointed out their contract stipulated 40 hours a week, not “40 hours plus nights and weekends.” Forty hours means forty hours, and that’s just how it should be.

Rather than accepting this as a valid point about productivity and boundaries, the manager threatened to put the worker on a Performance Improvement Plan, or PIP. This is where the story gets really good. The employee immediately reported the manager to Human Resources. The worker noted that the HR representative “literally laughed” upon reading the manager’s complaint, and I’m sure because HR has had worse issues to deal with.

The representative told the employee to ignore the manager entirely and promised to have a “chat” with him about local labor laws. This is a huge win for employees everywhere, and it’s wonderful to see HR actually protect a worker’s boundaries. Since that chat, the manager hasn’t sent any further emails after 5:00 PM.

It’s truly staggering how different the expectations are once you step outside the US. The worker noted how insane it is that Americans “have to apologize for having a life outside of work.” People online quickly chimed in, pointing out that in the Netherlands, the focus is entirely on results and high productivity, not on how many hours you log or how late you stay in the office.

The obsession with clocking time rather than achieving results seems to be a major headache for American employees. This whole situation serves as a perfect reminder that the American concept of centering your entire life around work isn’t normal elsewhere.