I've written about this same premise quite a few times in the annals of Fail Blog, but any time your boss is accusing you of doing something despite there being no evidence—and especially when the evidence shows quite the opposite—it's more than likely that they're just projecting their own personality flaws, predispositions, and hidden thoughts. Basically, they're just admitting that if they were in your position, they would be doing the same thing they're accusing you of.

The phrase “tripping over dollars to pick up dimes” has become a popular one in the discourse of online workplace discussion, particularly when it comes to employers holding out on overdue raises and earned bonuses from their top workers, though it has other applications too when it comes to other overly drastic cost-cutting measures in the workplace.

Some unfortunate situations in life arise out of mere happenstance or coincidence—but when something unfortunate happens to you that seems just a little too conveniently inconvenient, it can be hard to dismiss it as such. Of course, such thinking gives rise to all sorts of ridiculous conspiracy, but when your employer suddenly fires you just before you're set to receive a huge payout—one that they've been dangling on a stick all year like you're some kind of cartoon donkey—it just seems like th…

Imagine wanting a single day to spend with your visiting relatives over the holiday period and being told that it's not an option. Unfortunately, it's a reality that many employees face, particularly in sectors like retail, which also happen to be experiencing pumping trade at this time of year, and can't afford to have a single staff member away—primarily due to the appallingly low staffing levels they keep. They regard their authority in this situation to be absolute and—to be fair, it often…

An important lesson you learn early on in this world is to own your own mistakes, and whether or not someone makes mistakes is a good indicator of that person's character. As is often the case, there are plenty of people who never managed to learn this simple concept, with these people finding themselves in positions of authority all too often. It's not surprising then that there are a lot of toxic bosses out there who consistently find someone else to blame and someone else to shame for their…

There's nothing like hustling to go above and beyond in your role only to have your new boss turn around and throw some random metric that is vaguely associated with productivity back in your face for no reason. Your KPIs and contributions that are tied to actual revenue for the company are topping the charts, and yet your insecure micromanaging manager is concerned about the fact that your screen was “idle” for a few minutes. This is the problem with modern “productivity” tracking software tha…

Usually, when you name an award after someone, it's done to memorialize their significant contribution to the thing it's being awarded for, and never would you ever expect the person being memorialized to be eligible—lest receive—their own award. Can you imagine if every year the Nobel Prize just awarded every award posthumously to Alfred Nobel? I think the entire process would have a completely different perception.

Ahh… the holiday season, a time of year best spent with family and loved ones over incredible meals and through the sharing of thoughtful gifts. With images of bright, cheery, rosy-cheeked faces, Christmas lights, and decorations—maybe a little snow and mistletoe—it's a joyful time intended to bring out the human spirit, gratitude, and goodwill. Well, it should be no surprise to any of us that these optimistic ideas don’t meld well with workplaces. Stark grey walls with hard, cheap furniture. G…

Let's be honest: Missing out on a job in the last round of the interview can be tough, especially when you're desperate for a job… but if a prospective employer is using tactics like this, you probably didn't want to work there anyway. No honest hiring manager wants to waste their own time and spend more time recruiting than they have to.

Look, by nature, the interview process is going to require jumping through hoops and putting a little bit of yourself out there—and it's a lot like dating in that respect. The whole thing may seem like an unnecessary performance, but like with a first date, the idea is that setting a basic social exchange with some universal ground rules in place allows each party to assess the other party and decide whether there is any compatibility for proceeding further.

First impressions are important when establishing a working relationship, so important that people tend to read way too far into things during the first interview. It's not unheard of for interviewers to take one single harmless thing you said and extrapolate it into some wildly imaginative reason why you're a risk to hire. Tell the wrong interviewer you like baseball, and maybe they'll decide you're not fit for their team since baseball reminds them of their resentful father who tried to force…

The burnout from being overworked and from constant exposure to a toxic workplace environment can really creep up on you. One day, you'll think that you're doing fine, under a lot of pressure and stress, but managing it just fine. The next, your composure shatters, and everything you've been enduring hits you like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, you feel the weight of it all. No energy and sinking, you're now struggling to keep your head above the water level of all the tasks you have to complete.

We talk a lot about mutual respect in the workplace, and this doesn't only apply to coworkers; it also applies to managers/owners and their employees. If a worker shows you respect by giving you greater notice than necessary that they will be leaving due to outside circumstances, you will do well to repay that respect by not retaliating. You might get away with it in this instance, but rest assured, after seeing how you treated their teammate, your other employees will never give you notice aga…

While the “Carrot of Promotion” sounds like a great name for a Dungeons and Dragons item, it's not so great when it has been dangled in front of you to encourage you to do more work while working more hours and taking on more responsibility all under the promise that you might one day be compensated for it. Of course, often, employers fail to follow through on this promise and lead employees on for as long as possible before gaslighting them and pretending that this was never in the cards.

Introverts aren't really known for being socially forthcoming. In fact, that's kind of the entire point. Rather than attending parties, drinks, and after-work hangouts, they'd prefer the relative silence and peace of their own company, often preferring only to engage with others over shared interests, activities, and hobbies. Let's be honest: for most introverts, engaging in the required social interactions at work is more than enough, and many won't feel a particular need or even the ability t…

Job searching can be a painful process, and trying to stand out from a crowd through an electronic submission is difficult to do, meaning that you'll probably submit hundreds of applications to jobs—most of which you'll never hear back from. In a hundred submissions, you might hear back from a few—let's say 5%—so five interviews per 100 applications, which is a generous estimate. Of these five, you'll actually sit a first-round interview for three, hopefully getting asked to come back by two of…