It's a sure sign that you need to accept your team is understaffed when you reach the point that you can't afford to have one single worker call out sick.

You can work and work and work until your fingers bleed and you haven't seen the sun, but you can never by back time with all that money you just earned—IF you even earned that much more money… Usually overtime isn't much, and even if it is, taxes take most of it away later. So are you really working for any sort of extra compensations actually? Or are you giving your employer precious time from your life that they can never repay you? Maybe next time you choose overtime over date night with yo…

This manager may not understand the concept of generosity.

This worker received a request from their boss that they remain available and respond to texts and emails while off duty, asking that they do this “as a favor” and without further compensation. This has sparked discussion in a popular online community around the ethical and legal issues with the request and the precedence it sets.

The illusion of power is absolutely real.

This manager found their workload increased dramatically when their co-manager was fired for a ridiculous reason. They then had to operate the entire store alone, which was rife with unique issues. The boss continued to be pettier and pettier. When they finally hired a replacement co-manager, they expected the manager to "cut their hours" immediately, which led to the titular confrontation. This thread was posted to r/MaliciousCompliance by the manager in the story, Redditor u/A-Stackhouse. Whe…

Which is it? No overtime… or checking emails at home? You can't have both. Too many employers these days expect their employees to be always available —without receiving compensation for it. Anyone who has worked retail, or in a waged position, has had an employer who has made it as difficult as possible to claim overtime. The store closes at 6:30 pm, and you're only contracted for those hours. So in an inexplicably non-existent amount of time, you have to manage to round up all the customers,…

Have you ever entered a workplace, friend group, or any social group and been warned to watch out for one particular member? It's an unfortunate aspect of our social nature; we always need a group or individual to be “othered” to feel like we're “in." While it's important to keep an eye out for red flags and not make yourself too vulnerable to possible exploitative behavior from these people (if what people say is true), it's just as important to form your own opinions. You might find that this…

When managing a business, it's best to ensure you understand how things go before making any big decisions. When your subordinates point out that your amazing shiny new idea isn't … you'd do well to listen to them and not let your ego push you into what could be a huge mistake. This thread was posted on Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit by Redditor u/Absurd-n-Nihilistic, who shared their story with the popular community. They tell how their new manager had joined the company from a diffe…

Gamers tends to have a bad reputation. The boomers simply see the kids that would be glued to the video games and procrastinate doing their homework and never go outside. So when they hear an adult say that they are a “gamer," many think that this is a person who is anti-social and will not get any thing done because they will be too busy on their consoles. However, that is simply not the truth when it comes to adult gamers. Sure, adult gamers will also spend a lot of time gaming, but they are…

Managers often have the tendency of getting employees to jump through hoops in hopes of getting promoted, then don't end up delivering. This employee did so much extra work that she actually saved the company $45,000, but alas, she was told she was still not ‘deserving’ of a promotion. In other words, even if you do a good job, it's not good enough. Fed up, OP decided enough was enough, because if the company was saving $45,000 but still couldn't ‘afford to give OP a raise’, then why bother put…

It's amazing the lengths that people will go to place blame on anything but themselves, especially when that person is an old employer seeking to blame you for their own mistakes. It's no secret that, after you leave a toxic workplace, everything will be blamed on you—but this company has taken it to another level. This worker, Redditor u/NimboStratusSuck shared their story to Reddit's popular r/antiwork subreddit, claiming to have been contacted by a previous employer who was seeking to get cr…

There are people that are willing to go to great lengths in order to avoid paying, such as this Karen, who took advantage of an employee at a nail salon. He was just doing his job when she made an executive decision to make his life unnecessarily harder. She ignored his instructions and purposefully kept moving her hand out of the UV/LED light, so her fingernails wouldn't dry. He gently put her hand back in a couple of times, as it is his job to do so, and she lost it. She called the cops, beca…

It's always best to take advice from and listen to the person who knows best… and just because you're in charge doesn't automatically mean that that's you. Even the most base level of worker will know more than you about niche details and processes regarding their role. That's the reason why, when entering a new leadership position, it's always best to observe and learn before acting and making changes. There will reach a point where you need to step in and make some changes, some of which may…

There's no workplace event more heartbreaking than experiencing the sudden dissolution of a supportive and thriving workplace culture. Most workplaces that claim “they're family” are toxic… but when you actually have a team that operates like an extended family unit, it's magical and makes working—well—tolerable, at least. It's one of those “show don't tell” types of deals. If you have to tell someone what they're experiencing, it's not going to be nearly as powerful as letting someone reach th…

Sometimes managers and business owners manage to convince themselves completely that everyone is out to get them. They're certain that their “lazy” workers are looking for every possible option to screw them over by slacking off on the job. Sure, there might be some workers like that out there. But from what I've seen in the workforce, they're completely outnumbered by those who are going above and beyond. Why jeopardize those workers' morale just so you can control the one bad egg? Why cut off…