Imagine if you went to jail, and instead of letting you miss your shift, your job bails you out so you can go to work. Well, that’s allegedly what happened to this guy on TikTok.
“I called my work today from jail and told them they need to find someone to cover my shift,” Juan Reyes (@kingreyes5150) wrote in the text overlay of a trending video.
But they did not react as Reyes expected.
“These MF’s bailed me out and made me go to work,” Reyes said.
In the TikTok, he’s seen walking into work in a black hoodie and grey backpack, looking both frustrated and confused.
Apparently, Reyes may not be the only person who’s had a police encounter in which their job got involved.
“A guy at my job got arrested while he was at work. They made the police wait until the end of his shift to take him,” a commenter shared.
“My boss bailed me out and picked me up from the police station, STRAIGHT back to work,” another wrote.
“Happened to my hubby. They bailed him out went straight to work, took little by little every check till it was all paid back,” a viewer wrote.
While these commenters’ experiences may be real (the world may never know), Reyes regularly posts comedic content, so it is more likely that the TikTok was a sketch versus a real event from his life.
The video, real or not, struck a nerve for workers, earning over 3.2 million views and over 1,700 comments.
“Married to the Job brings a whole new meaning,” a commenter joked.
“You’re a valued employee,” another said.
Do I have to tell my job I’m in jail?
If you ever are in a predicament where you’re in jail and are worried about how that’ll affect your job, here’s some advice from various bail bond sites:
- Don’t tell your boss unless necessary. When being held in jail many people end up worrying about whether they need to disclose their jail time to their job. Typically you don’t unless it is a requirement written out in your employment contract. You do however need to disclose in situations where your arrest intermingles with your work responsibilities. Like if you got a DUI and need to drive for work, Rapid Release Bail Bonds wrote.
- Get someone to cover your shift. If you’re not sure that you’ll make it out of work in time for your next shift, you have a few options that don’t include telling your job you’re in jail. Instead you could gain some time by asking someone to cover your shift, use a vacation day, or call out with a personal day, 3D Bail Bonds suggested.
- You can likely still work on bail. Having a job can be one of the factors that sway a judge to approve bail since it means a person not only produces income to pay the bail but they’re less of a flight risk since they likely don’t want to lose their job. DeLaughter Bail Bonds also wrote that a worker can still work on bail ” if your employer agrees.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Reyes for comment via Instagram direct message but did not immediately hear back.