There's at least one in every office – someone who never uses his or her vacation time, always stays late, and always comes in, even when sick and coughing. Their bosses might claim they're model employees, but colleagues might instead call them work martyrs and wish that they'd knock it off。

The earliest evidence of work martyr is from a 2007 San Antonio Express-News review of the business book New Girl on the Job, by Hannah Seligson. The review includes several tips from the book, among them the following: "Don't become a work martyr. If you are always the one 'martyring,' it's time for a reality check. It's fine to stay late if everyone else is staying to finish a project, but if you're there every night and everyone else leaves hours before you, it's time to go home."