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Boss begs employee to stay when they quit after being denied a raise: 'I can give you what ever you want'

It's pretty safe to say that your employer will never fully appreciate your contribution until after you leave. At this point, they will realize that your contribution isn't quite as easy to replicate as they thought, leading to productivity losses that they will have to pay a lot more to replicate. Of course, they could have just given you a moderate raise and saved more money than they ended up spending. A certain part of this is misreading the relationship, overestimating the hold they have…
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'I am not allowed to do anything': Retail worker faces down angry parents after colleague sells parents the wrong computer for kid's gaming ambitions, prevented from helping them by silly company policy

Working retail is a hectic and endless stream of customer interactions that balance on a knife's edge, with any one of them threatening to teeter off into a full-blown customer meltdown with possibly little to no cause. It's a way of living that leaves you emotionally drained and completely exasperated, while weekends end up giving you just enough time to self-isolate and prepare for your next shift. Meanwhile, despite claiming to have the customer's best interest at heart, upper management mak…
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'Boss claims that me quitting will result in the business closing': Worker gives 2-week-notice after basically running the company they work for for their boss, prompting boss's total meltdown

It is truly mind-boggling how some employers will treat the workers who are essential to the success and operation of their business. They gamble that they can pay them below market rates and keep them exactly where they are and that their workers will continue to be milked like the cash cow that they are… After taking on increasing responsibility in their boss's small business, this worker knew it was time to move on to greener pastures . They did what they thought was the right thing and gave…
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'Leaving was the best thing I did': Employer of 3 years hires new employee at $30k higher than experienced worker, they quit

It's no secret that a lot of employers in as many industries allocate more budget to hiring than they do to staff retention. This is a bit silly when you consider that large organizations will go on to spend tens of thousands of dollars on recruiting, onboarding, and training processes—in addition to value lost due to lost time and productivity of vacant roles. Though some of this cost is silent or not immediately apparent on the books and, in contrast, the idea of approving even half that mone…
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Experienced worker gets passed over for promotion after her manager witnesses how she speaks to new hires: 'I was fuming. I hate it when people type like that on social media'

When people use the term “not leadership material” they can mean a wide variety of things. It can mean that you're not suited to the organization's toxic expectations of complicity and your unwillingness to follow whatever directive is passed down to you blindly. It can also mean that your performance isn't up to standard or that you don't prioritize interpersonal relationships and kiss the appropriate rear ends often enough. “Doesn't do the things I want them to,”
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Customer service rep gets paid to play video games after management's misguided instructions leave them without any work: 'For 5 days, I sat in my spare bedroom/office playing video games, all while logged in'

If you do your job too well, you're simply going to make everyone else look bad by comparison. Instead of earning yourself the praise you deserve, you actually just wind up putting a target on your back while everyone quietly wishes you'd just disappear and stop making all of their jobs harder by setting the bar so high. Usually, your boss won't just come right out and tell you to stop working so hard or being so competent, saying the quiet part out loud would only make them and the team look w…
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Boss demands software service rep stick to the script causing client catastrophe: 'My boss said, "Just follow the script"… so I did—all the way to a million-dollar client meltdown'

It really is something to marvel at how managers can repeatedly forget the importance of a human touch when it comes to dealing with clients. Hokey business theory and overconfidence are no match for good relationships and experience at your side. Yet, time and time again, new managers come marching on the scene, insecure about their place in their new role—maybe due to their lack of experience in the industry—overcompensating for that by making broad, sweeping changes, ignoring the pleas very…
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Job candidate laughs in the face of interviewer after their terrible offer: 'I didn't mean to I just burst out laughing'

When you've suffered through job hunting and interview processes to finally make it to the point of an offer, it's disheartening to realize that the wool has been pulled over your eyes… That there's actually been no chance at a job at all: they're just fishing to find someone desperate enough for a job that they can be properly exploited. Still, it's better than actually starting the job before the red flags start to pop up—at least marginally. This candidate reached the point of actually laugh…
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'I was hired and fired within the span of 3 hours': New employee fired three hours after being hired and shown around the company's offices

The interview process is a long and arduous one for both sides, really, and the last thing anyone wants is for their time to be wasted after such a long process. The relief that comes after simultaneously finally securing a role or finally having someone to fill an empty position on the team is understated, turning energies next towards developing and furthering the burgeoning relationship. While you can expect a lot of anxiety on the first day on the part of the candidate, the last thing you e…
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Slothful coworker demands employee's bonus claiming that she deserves it more, gets 3-week suspension: '[She] is going around the office calling me “selfish” and “greedy”'

Hanlon's razor is one of my favorite adages for maintaining sanity in this crazy world, and if you've read a few of these posts, you've probably seen it mentioned almost as many times. The philosophical razor states that one should “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” This is all well and good and helps one to let go of the atrocious and selfish behaviors they witness from others while out and about in the world: they don't mean to be that way they're jus…
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My employer has decided to give us a monthly in-person mandatory meeting at 8am one Sunday every month: 'the meetings are always things that could easily be covered in a simple email'

Many a misguided middle manager has had the idea of hosting meetings at a time that is convenient for everyone: say during lunch hour when everyone is on break, so won't have any meetings scheduled… except that break is unpaid and, well, when are people supposed to eat their actual lunch when there's suddenly a meeting jammed in there. No matter how fun they try to make it sound, “zazzing” it up and naming it something they think is cool, like “Power Hour Lunch Sync,” the reality remains the sa…
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'Manager wanted me to arrive 30 minutes early to get ready before clocking in': Manager demands worker arrive 30 minutes before their shift is set to start to begin working

Almost certainly, at some point, those working shift work, or in other jobs where timesheets need to be kept, have been told by some manager not to “bother” reporting time that they worked over their shift because it's “inconvenient” for them to report it. Sometimes, this comes in the form of being told that it needs to be at least 15 minutes to be reported and counted for anything, but that's not really true—at all. If anything, if their system can't handle menial minutes overtime, then they s…
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'I spilled coffee on [my company's CEO] on my first day': New hire makes dreaded first-day mistake when they spill coffee all over the company's CEO

The first day at a new job is a nerve-wracking experience. With none of the comforts of a practiced routine and familiarity, it really feels like you're totally winging it and just laying it all out there. Of course, when nerves are frayed and you're feeling jittery, it's more likely you're going to stuff something up, which is why those first-day nerves end up being rather prophetic. This worker made just about the worst first-day mistake you could possibly imagine when they accidentally poure…
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Graphic designer passed up for promotion they were promised for 2 years in favor of do-nothing social-climbing coworker, they quit: 'My manager was shocked, begging me to stay'

By the time you're training new hires in your department and taking on additional responsibilities and work, it's about time to start wondering when that promotion is coming. Let's face it: you're basically contributing at a level as if you'd been promoted already, so all that's left is to make the adjustment to your title and compensation. But, of course, no one likes paying for something they're already getting for free—and employers, first and foremost. So they'll drag out that promotion as…
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Employee denied raise and told they're replaceable after becoming sole engineer on a project, costs the company big when they quit: '$500,000 and two years of productivity over a $40,000/yr raise'

The proverb “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush” postulates that you're better off with what you have or are able to get now rather than what you might be able to get in the future. Reson being that While working for an emergency telecommunications company, this worker fell into the all-too-common trap of taking on additional work with the promise that it would eventually lead to more pay. Spoiler alert: It didn't. With the proverbial carrot dangling just in front of them indefin…
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Restaurant forces staff to compete for a chance to keep their jobs, letting customer reviews decide who keeps their job: 'Slacking off is not an option'

We thought the titular contests of the “Hunger Games” series were just some SciFi hoopla, yet here is this eerily similar real-world equivalent: competing for the privilege of working so that you can continue to support your own survival. In fact, “Hunger Games” is a fitting name given the fact that the arena for this real-world analog was in a restaurant. Everyone who has ever worked in the service industry or retail knows that customer reviews are a total grab bag, you can do nothing exceptio…
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