The practice of necessitating and checking job referrals during the interview process creates a system in which an employer can provide feedback about a worker's performance and contribution during their time in the company's employ. Sure, the candidate themselves often needs to volunteer the points of contact, but when certain key periods of employment are omitted in a candidate's references… it's easy for a hiring manager to read between the lines. So what, then, is an employee able to do to…

It's not uncommon for those in petty positions of power to vastly overestimate the reach of that power. Whatever the words of the message, the point this manager is trying to convey is clear: we know that you need us more than we need you, so we're going to see how far we can manipulate the conditions of your employment in our favor and you're just going to have to deal with it.

The great thermostat debate in office workplaces is extremely common and practically without a solution. It's almost like a real-life sort of “Trolley Problem” in that whichever side you take, there's going to be someone losing out. Some people run extremely cold and have poor circulation, preferring to live in literal infernos like some kind of demon lizard person. On the other hand, you have folk like myself who are the literal inferno and generate far too much heat as if we're a human nuclea…

Life is comprised of a series of rules, rules that, throughout our lives, are imposed upon us and, maybe, even set for us by ourselves. Some of these rules are paramount, and our ability to follow them will determine who we are, how we're perceived, and the effect on the world. Other rules are really quite silly, and one feels silly following them. Chances are that these silly rules were written and enacted by someone who really had no idea what they were doing or were imposed by someone who wa…

We're not totally sure when open-plan offices became a thing, who first thought they were a good idea, or why they thought they were a good idea in the first place, but it's really hard to believe that the 90s pop-culture icon that was the workplace cubicle—once hated as a symbol of the worker's dehumanization as and entrapment—is now something that workers globally yearn for and miss every day… What we would give for even a cubicle (or any sort of space) at the office that we could call our ow…

A joke?.. In this economy?! Regardless, you know it's a good joke when it's so good that HR wants to hear it. It's no secret that employers can be a little sensitive to derogatory statements about the quality of the work environment that they're providing for their workers—even if those statements are completely irrefutably accurate. This usually involves remuneration but also extends to other aspects of the workplace culture and environment. Basically, the method of operation in these workplac…

It turns out they were essential to the business after all… Traditionally, layoffs were considered to be a point of shame in business, only used as a last resort as it was a sure sign that your business was failing—usually as a direct result of failures in leadership's decision-making and mismanagement. Really, this—along with the hit that was sure to follow the stock pricing of publically traded companies—was all that kept companies from considering using layoffs as a cost-saving measure. Nowa…

There are a lot of reasons not to hire a potential candidate, and on the other side of that coin, there are a lot of reasons why a candidate shouldn't pursue a role. Certainly, if the other party isn't willing to follow (or capable of following) basic etiquette and decorum, that's a pretty good sign that the ensuing relationship isn't going to be a bountiful one. In a world where much of our communication takes place in non-verbal written mediums, it's important to remember that it's incredibly…

Being a target of workplace bullying or harassment is almost always a no-win situation, particularly in a small organization. If the offending party is a long-time member of the organization or otherwise well-connected to the organization's decision-makers, reporting them for their behavior isn't going to do much of anything; in fact, it may cause them to turn on you instead in order to relieve themselves of “the problem.” Large corporations will have no tolerance for this type of behavior and…

One thing's for sure: there's no greater relief than quitting a bad job, especially when you already have another one lined up and ready to go. Everyone, at one point or another, has dreamed of doing this—preferably in explosive fashion. One day, walking and just letting your honest feelings fly before walking out —never to be seen again—while everyone is still sitting there stunned and processing what has just occurred.

A company's success is dependent on its workers, so you'd think it would be incredibly foolish for an employer to lay off every single member of their staff in some bizarre power play, expecting everyone to turn around and reapply for their roles, grateful for the chance to grovel and endure the unnecessary stress and emotional turmoil of having their livelihood threatened just so their employer could feel sufficiently powerful.

What do you do when your company, nay—industry—regards employment not as an ongoing arrangement but as a mere rental of skilled labor? Sending you packing as soon as your position has served its most immediate purpose. In truth, it seems short-sighted since, when it comes to programming and development, there will always be a need for ongoing troubleshooting, updates, and improvements—who better to do that than the person who wrote the original program?

Candidate assignments during the interview process are a constant source of derision in online discussions. While we frequently rant against them, it's logical to reason that there is some reasonable requirement for an employer to be certain that their new hire is capable of doing the job and that they're not likely to become a sticky cog or a liability. Thus, interview assignments make sense to the extent that they test a candidate's aptitude in the knowledge and skills required to do the job.

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…