Work holiday parties are a delicate concoction of forced holiday cheer and awkward social experiments. Case in point: the infamous White Elephant gift exchange. For those who've never played, it's a game where everyone brings a wrapped present, and the fun begins as gifts are opened, stolen, and swapped in a battle for glory—or, at least, the coolest gift under $20. Sure, seeing who ends up with what is fun (bonus points if you get to steal from the office food thief ), but let's not sugarcoat…

Let this story serve as a friendly reminder that no matter what anyone says about it, you are entitled to discuss your salary with others in the workplace. Of course, that kind of transparency is exactly the opposite of what your employers want you to do. That kind of transparency, however, can expose systemic flaws that all employees should be aware of regardless of whether or not those in charge want you to know about it. Here , we have an employee who knew his rights and advocated for himsel…

Good teachers are extremely hard to come by, so when a school gets a hold of a teacher who is loved by the students, the parents, and other teachers, you'd think the school would do everything to hold on to that gem of a teacher. However, a school is no different from other places of work, which means that the people in power often make stupid decisions. Decisions that make absolutely no sense to anyone involved, like firing extremely good employees. The teacher in this Reddit story was sure sh…

Working in IT often means being constantly undervalued and under-appreciated. This, of course, should not come with the territory, considering nothing could run properly without a functioning and knowledgable IT department, but alas, other employees seem to take advantage of what it means to actually have a good IT guy. Unfortunately for this Redditor , he had to endure the classic biases against IT on top of a totally unprofessional new CFO who was gradually replacing everyone around her with…

Jingle all the way to the bank

It is never fun to know that you are being left out of something and that people are doing it on purpose. Even though we are all adults, being excluded from social events can make each and every one of us feel like we are back in middle school, being picked last in Gym. When I first started my previous job, I entered a group dynamic of coworkers who were obviously very close to each other. They had all these inside jokes, shared experiences, and relationships that I had nothing to do with, and…

Only coal in their stockings

No one wants to end their year at work on a sour note like this. Of course, annual performance reviews are bound to cause some sort of anxiety among most employees, especially those who are preparing to advocate for a raise. Unfortunately for this employee, she was met with total rejection, and it only gets worse from there. This Redditor had been at the company for over three years without a significant pay raise during her time there. Not only was the CEO complimenting her work all the time d…

The music people choose to listen to in order to get through the workday is a private decision. It's not meant to be publicized for all your employers and coworkers to see. No one needs to know how much you listen to Taylor Swift or the Wicked soundtrack. Unfortunately for this Redditor , he and his team of 30 or so coworkers were asked to share their Spotify Wrapped screenshots with the whole team as part of a team-building exercise. This would be an immediate no for me. If I want to share tha…

Caught red-handed

Who knew that efficiency and productivity would not always be applauded in the workplace? It's the kind of awakening most young folks get when they land their first jobs. Not everything is actually about the work you do, although it should be. In fact, it should be that employees should be able to go in, get the job done, and leave on their own time, but I suppose it's not worth dreaming too big. Unfortunately, most work environments run on optics, as this student worker would quickly discover.…

We've all got beef with finance bros

It's not easy socializing with former employers, especially when things did not end on a good note. Sometimes, you feel you can transcend any previous tension, but the reality is that it is not easy for those old wounds to heal. Here, we have a former employer who pushed this Redditor to quit on the spot by pointing out every little flaw and mistake at work, even when they were entirely unnecessary. Now, years later, the original poster (OP) was asked by his ex-boss if he could join OP's Dungeo…

Instant karma

Any job that even slightly requires employees to have a car in order to do the job, should physically provide a car for said employees. If you cannot do the job without one, there is no reason why the responsibility of getting a car should be on you. However, because companies today are cheap and will do anything to avoid spending more money, they will never offer that option to employees without being prompted. If there's nothing to stop them, they will even go as far as making employee spend…

"They hand me all their work and leave the office at 2pm"