"Put those union dues to work"

They always say that you should fake it till you make it, and it's no secret that a little bravado will get you a long way. Sure, there might be an inverse relationship between confidence and competence—since you need to know enough about something to know how much you don't know, which makes you less confident as a result. But a lack of competence certainly doesn't stop people from getting jobs when there's confidence on display. But what do you do when you fail so epically upward that you fin…

The problem with writing or saying too much and flagging issues with your organization is that leaders will just default to considering you to be the problem, especially in instances where they are actually the problem but don't want to own it. And, let's face it, any issues within an organization are issues with leadership. At the end of the day, they're setting the course, and issues fall on their shoulders. But, they're not going to want to accept that, so someone who is flagging issues, whe…

Imagine having to endure a week with your most difficult and annoying coworkers only to be reprimanded when you finally take the opportunity to enjoy a night off. This employee was dragged to a week-long work conference where he was attending meetings and events on the clock for full days of work. Those hours of work were followed by endless meals and cocktails with his team. On the final night of the trip, the employee was excited to see that there was no after-work meal scheduled. He planned…

“Apparently, she tried to use me leaving early a lot as a reason that I should be fired, BUT SHE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS TELLING ME TO LEAVE EVERY DAY.”

Great managers empower their employees, while bad managers like this just try to bring them down a notch. It's a fact of life, and one that this person found out while they were still a teenager. This person worked as a technician at the automotive department of a chain store. At just 18 years old, they were relegated to some of the easier car tasks. That included things like “maintenance checks like wiper fluid and tire pressure, easy stuff,” u/MrTyroneTheCat explained. After you check out thi…

Taking the initiative will get you far in most workplaces, even though it's technically your manager's job to make sure you have work to do. But the last thing any manager wants to do is chase staff around to make sure they're being productive, and anyone who has managed staff who never do anything they haven't been explicitly told to do knows how frustrating this can be. So, just them knowing that you're actively trying to get as much as possible done without their oversight will bring them so…

Let this story serve as a friendly reminder that any boss who forbids their employees from discussing pay with one another is quite simply not entitled to enforce that policy. This hostess at a restaurant chain knew that instinctually after her manager reprimanded her for doing so. The hostess learned that she was getting paid less than her two coworkers for doing the same job. She brought this up to her general manager, who ultimately acquiesced and gave her a deserved pay raise. However, that…

Every unemployment period reaches its peak when an unemployed individual feels like they cannot let another day go by without them finding a job. Perhaps because of financial reasons, perhaps because they cannot stand another day at home, probably both. Either way, when one reaches that period of unemployment, they would do anything to simply find a job, and would probably accept a job no matter what. This means that they are willing to ignore a lot of red flags just so they would get to be emp…

If your employer failed to correct a mistake in your contract, that's their problem, not yours. This hire began his new position and realized that there was growing resentment from some of his new colleagues. Why, you may ask? As it turns out, everyone else in the office had to begin work at 8:00 am sharp, while the new guy was regularly waltzing in at 9:00 am. That's not because the new hire was always running late, as some of his coworkers likely suspected. He actually thought he was followin…

There are so many rules protecting the employer from employees doing whatever they want, but it is time to protest that there are not enough rules protecting employees from their employers. If an employee informs their employer of their time off, two months before it is due, there should absolutely be a rule prohibiting the employer from saying no. Employees should be allowed to use their time off whenever they want to, and if they bring it up a sufficient time in advance, employers should have…

Change is inevitable, no matter how we try to escape it or ignore it by burying our heads in the sand. The thing is, change is also pain, as whenever something new is to be learned, there is always going to be a process of failure and adaption and a loss of the comfortable and familiar, which is why people might try to avoid change in the first place. We can then conclude that, by associative properties “change is inevitable” and “change is pain” can just be simplified to “pain is inevitable”—b…

Who else wants to get in line for a doctor's note from this surgeon? This employee had a serious spinal surgery and, during recovery, was asked to go on a business trip to Shanghai after the startup he worked for was acquired by a much bigger company. Well, the employee tried to explain that he could only go on a flight that long if he were seated in business class, but his new boss refused to believe him until he got a doctor's note. Well, the Redditor's surgeon was happy to oblige, and he eve…

Whatever happened to practicing what you preach? This boss genuinely thought he could get rid of everyone's only work-from-home day each week, only to never abide by the rule himself. He always found an excuse to message his team at least once a week saying he had appointments or needed to stay home for his kids, blah blah blah. Look, we are sympathetic to the fact that people have life commitments and families to take care of during the week. That's why remote work can be beneficial for everyo…

Finding a new job is an annoyingly scrutinizing process, and the biggest pain in the whole ordeal is probably the assignments companies tend to give their applicants. While they are a necessity, as they can supply a workplace with a rather good idea of their candidates' abilities, they are a lot of work for the candidates themselves. One assignment is fine, but when one looks for a job, they probably end up completing dozens, if not hundreds of assignments before actually securing a job. The co…

People who sit behind a computer all day working from home tend to think that their struggles are the center of the universe, but the truth of the matter is that the real hard workers out there are the ones who have to be on their feet during the entirety of their shifts without sufficient breaks. Here, we have a team of employees at a "gift shop/information center" who have to endure standing for their eight-hour shifts for no good reason other than that's what their new ruthless manager think…