It only takes one perceived slight for some people to reveal their true nature, their carefully crafted persona of a sane and calm individual slipping and revealing the chaos and hatred underneath. To be fair, a lot of people are wound pretty tight by their jobs and are often covering their mounting stress with the placid exterior of their working persona—but that still doesn't excuse this supervisor's extremely vindictive behavior retaliating against this worker for handing in their notice as…

When you're in charge and tell your workers not to do something, and they listen and don't do that thing, it's kind of hard to be surprised. Yet, this logic somehow doesn't apply when your boss tells you not to work overtime to finish a project that you'd need to work overtime to finish on time. Without fail, they're still surprised when it's not finished by the time the deadline passes… not that they were really paying attention to the deadline until their boss asked them about it. This one is…

When you demand that your workers adhere strictly to a schedule, you shouldn't be surprised when they continue to adhere to it even after you make a mistake in planning their schedule. After all, if you're insisting on micromanaging them, then you had better be prepared to micromanage, ensuring that you're feeding a constant stream of tasks if you want them to have any productivity at all. Of course, no one likes to work in these conditions, so you're always going to end up with a team of miser…

Working while in university is an interesting experience. Every time you're at work, there are people trying to convince you that the smoothie and salad shop in which you're working is the most important thing, more important than that test you need to study for to pass the class that is going to get you the degree you're actually working for. “That's all well and good, but there's no way my minimum-wage job is the most important thing in my life right now,” you tell yourself. It's only five ye…

This story serves as proof that politics, politicians, and political parties are silly wherever in the world you go—and also that politicians are completely incapable of listening to expert advice. In general, for some reason, people are particularly unwilling to listen to A/V guys , thinking that because they set up their home sound system and know how to use a TV remote, they know all there is to know about running an event as a sound engineer. For some reason, stories like this consistently…

It's unfortunate when loyalty isn't repaid in kind, especially in a long-standing relationship in which mutual trust and reciprocation should have meant a better result. Sure, circumstances change, and it might “just be business,” but there's always a personal aspect involved when a relationship has lasted this long. Plus, treating your long-standing employees well is just good business. If you're seriously thinking about firing your oldest employee unceremoniously just to save a few dollars… w…

You should always be careful with ultimatums, particularly when you're really just on a power trip and bluffing… Sooner or later, someone is going to call you on your bluff, and you're going to be left standing there with your hands tied, looking pretty silly. Still, this is a favorite tactic amongst toxic managers, who relish the idea of threatening their workers with firing more than J. Jonah Jameson. There's nothing they enjoy more than putting a proverbial gun to your head, putting your fam…

One of the benefits of working in a particular industry is that you get key insights into how things work, learning all kinds of insider information from working behind the scenes. Often, though, all this insider information does is lead back to the fact that the entire thing is just an elaborate charade. This knowledge is, of course, a double-edged sword because often you joined that industry in the first place due to a personal interest, and now you have to live with the knowledge that the en…

Imagine you have a master keycard, giving you access to an entire building, and then you bring that to the attention of a facility manager, knowing full well you two don't exactly get along. That is exactly what this feisty Karen did, obviously unaware of the consequences that her actions would have in regard to her ‘status’. This Karen was not the brightest crayon in the box, and her need to complain took her down a slippery slope that I surely would not recommend to anyone. If you have privil…

Getting passed up for a promotion when you know you are deserving of the role is rough. Probably the only thing worse is being asked for help by the person who got the job and has no idea what they're doing—proving definitely that you should have gotten the role in the first place. But, it's not uncommon for these types of things to happen in the workplace, where politics, corporate narratives, and other misguided decision-making processes often override actual logical reasoning. Unfortunately,…

It always seems to be the moment where we think too much of ourselves, riding high and mighty on our high horse, that we're struck down… and when you're riding high, there's a longer way to fall.

Having your things go missing from a shared storage space is, understandably, infuriating, especially when that space is only accessible by your adult colleagues who ought to understand full well that the taking of others' things is wrong—and not some preschoolers who have yet to learn that lesson. Still, repeatedly throughout your life, you'll be disappointed to discover that some adults just don't care about doing the right thing and will shamelessly do whatever is in their own best interest—…

Requiring your workers to complete work-related tasks while off the clock presents a range of moral, ethical, and legal issues. Still, it's incredibly common with different policies, making this intention incredibly overt to more subtle. At the end of the day, the design of these policies is to keep costs down, reducing labor costs by shaving off “unnecessary” time at the end of shifts, which means that workers are completing those “unnecessary” necessary tasks on their own time. A great exampl…

They say quitters never win, but when it comes to jobs, sometimes you just need to know when to walk away… After all, we're not going to work the same jobs for our entire working lives. I think it's safe to say that the days of that being a likelihood are long behind us. Sure, our grandparents might have started working straight out of high school and spent their entire careers with one company, retiring at 55 with an excellent pension… But that's just not in the cards for anyone who isn't bord…

Taking leave from your job is important. For one thing, a bit of time away can give you more headspace, meaning that when you return, you're feeling fresh and invigorated, ready to bring new ideas and approaches to your role—or it can just mean you return with your hatred for your job freshly invigorated… If that's the case, it's a good sign that your current role and duties aren't a good use of your time, and it's time to do something else.

Too many organizations prioritize the willingness to do what you're told without asking questions over any actual leadership skills. Should you find yourself in one of these workplaces, get out as fast as you possibly can. In that same vein, it's startling h ow many organizations and managers are willfully negligent about the legalities of the areas where they operate, and it's surprising that feigning ignorance actually allows them to get away with a slap on the wrist. Imagine if you tried to…