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micromanager

‘Our agreement doesn’t apply': Employee quits and gets reimbursed for $21,000 after boss insists they commute 200 miles a day for 2 years without compensation

‘Our agreement doesn’t apply': Employee quits and gets reimbursed for $21,000 after boss insists they commute 200 miles a day for 2 years without compensation

Too many bosses don't know or care to go through company policy. But a handful of them know exactly which rules will benefit them… and not their employees. You would think that a boss who purposely makes their employee drive 200 miles a day without being compensated should be fired. I find it hard to believe I'm the only one rooting for this dude's professional demise… So what happened? This boss lied to his employee and worse, manipulated them into commuting 200 miles a day for 2 entire years…
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'How do you expect me to work if I'm not remote': Micromanaging CEO flip flops between calling programmer's job ‘remote’, leading to employee turning off alarm clock and staying home following ‘remote work' instructions

'How do you expect me to work if I'm not remote': Micromanaging CEO flip flops between calling programmer's job ‘remote’, leading to employee turning off alarm clock and staying home following ‘remote work' instructions

Tsk, tsk, CEOs and their antics. On the one hand, you're remote because it suits the needs of upper management. On the other hand, you're not remote because of the same reason. Well, which one is it? You can't have your cake and eat it, too. This micromanaging CEO was the type of human I stay away from. Anxious and suspicious of his employees and unable to make an informed decision or directly say what he wants. Always flip-flopping back and forth. The programmer who was working under him had h…
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‘You need to return your lab coat’: Employee brings manager a bag full of muddy ashes after he quit following manager's demands he return work clothes

‘You need to return your lab coat’: Employee brings manager a bag full of muddy ashes after he quit following manager's demands he return work clothes

Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get what you request… Work clothes can be super practical, or they can be an utter nuisance. One employee relayed the time his car caught fire on the way to work, with all his work clothes inside it. Luckily, he was unharmed, but his clothes… Well, that was another story. Unfortunately, all that he had left was a pile of ashes. He had already given his notice to his boss and was told to return all work clothes before leaving. As this was his…
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'[She's received] 154 emails so far': Micromanaging boss asks her employee to CC her on every email, only lasts an hour

The bane of your existence when working as a desk jockey is going through your emails. As if the toppling towers of Mount Complaint came tumbling down into your inbox, the avalanche of emails never truly ends. The moment you finally reach the mysteriously elusive '0 Unread Messages' banner, a fresh onslaught of notifications pop up to replace it.
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'They hired 3 people to replace him and still shut down': Company shuts down after new management fires highest paid mechanic to cut costs

'They hired 3 people to replace him and still shut down': Company shuts down after new management fires highest paid mechanic to cut costs

More often than not, new management really knows how to dig their own grave. This new owner fired one very essential employee because the reality was that the owner had not done his homework, so he had no idea what this employee did. As it turned out, this employee was doing three jobs in one, meaning that the owner now had to replace him with three new employees. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself… It all began when a company that sold 'man cave' items was sold, and new management was looki…
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'I am counting EVERYTHING': Retail worker maliciously complies with supervisor's contradictory instructions

'I am counting EVERYTHING': Retail worker maliciously complies with supervisor's contradictory instructions

If you give unclear, contradictory instructions to your employees, you're just asking for problems. It makes you wonder how these supervisors got promoted in the first place. Clarity is pretty much the most important part of the job, and if you can't do that, you have no business expecting your team to follow you blindly. This thread was posted to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit by u/Correct_Campaign3707 , who worked on the Member Service team at a retail company and was tasked with ch…
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‘You can’t do this': Manager cuts 3 hours out of senior employee's wages after employee's 13.5-hour shift ‘didn’t meet his standards', then backpedals when employee turns to HR

‘You can’t do this': Manager cuts 3 hours out of senior employee's wages after employee's 13.5-hour shift ‘didn’t meet his standards', then backpedals when employee turns to HR

New management just always seems to mess up the thriving environment they arrive in, taking senior employees for granted and playing with their wages as if salaries are part of a game. This manager was only two weeks into his new job, and already wreaked the type of havoc that can result in mass resignations… He told one of the senior employees, OP, that he was cutting three hours of work out of a shift because he had looked at the cameras and seen that OP wasn't ‘working’ to his standard. OP h…
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‘That’s your problem, not mine': Micromanaging boss gets flustered when they realize they have no control over employees's PTO; gets put in their place

PTO policy is something that employees are extremely familiar with. The moment they plop themselves in that ergonomic office chair on their first day of work, they're already looking for ways to get out of it.
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'They nervously laughed that the meeting was timed badly': Employee fired 1 hour before office Christmas party that he already paid for

'They nervously laughed that the meeting was timed badly': Employee fired one hour before office Christmas party that he already paid for

Office Christmas parties – you either love ‘em or you hate ’em. Some are awesome, some… not so much. I guess it's the luck of the draw. But have you ever heard of a company making you pay to join the party? Well, that's what happened to the OP. And to top it off, he didn't even get to go. He got fired one hour before the party. Talk about a holiday bummer.
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'I always put in 8 hours': Micromanaging boss doesn't believe top-performing worker is actually working at home

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.
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'I decline, do it yourself': Overworked employee quits after dealing with upper management's double standards

'I decline, do it yourself': Overworked employee quits after dealing with upper management's double standards

I think that people only choose to become pettish when they are pushed to the brink. But if you ask me, the tale below makes a somewhat abrupt shift from magnificence to pettiness, leaving me astounded by the management team's lack of professionalism and arrogance. But instead of taking my word for it, let me give you a quick rundown of the events so you can be the judge. The story goes like this: OP says he has been looking for work for a while, therefore he is thrilled to be hired. However, a…
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'If you hire her, I'll quit': Employee terminates job candidate's offer after finding out the candidate is her old boss

'If you hire her, I'll quit': Employee terminates job candidate's offer after finding out the candidate is her old boss

One thought consistently haunts my brain, and that is you never know who might end up being your boss in the future… Karen from accounting who you suspect has taken your lunch at least seven times? You never know. It's not like upper management consists of the brightest crayons in the box… The proof is in the pudding with that one. This employee shared her own micromanager horror story on Reddit and explained the various ways in which her manager would make her feel like NOTHING she did was rig…
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'Drop everything now': Manager's micromanaging demand backfires after he interrupts an employee who is busy working on CEO's task

'Drop everything now': Manager's micromanaging demand backfires after he interrupts an employee who is busy working on CEO's task

Imagine you are sitting in your office at your own desk, minding your own business, when in storms your manager, unannounced, tells you to 'drop everything now' and immediately take care of a 'very important' task he gives you, which ends up being not very important at all. It shouldn't be hard to picture, as this is what managers are best known for… This manager was especially good at micromanaging his employees, and he wasn't even that high up on the food chain, so where he got all his confid…
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‘I'm leaving, good luck with the holiday rush': Senior employee quits after getting written up on his day off; boss backpedals

‘I'm leaving, good luck with the holiday rush': Senior employee quits after getting written up on his day off; boss backpedals

Coming to help in on your day off is like doing an angel's work, and bosses should be appreciative and not take it for granted. But upper management always finds a reason to complain, and they often feel entitled to employees' time, even when they aren't supposed to be working. This employee named Steve was probably a little too good at his job, and despite not being paid enough, he put all his effort into making the workplace better, even going as far as to come to help out in on his day off.…
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'You want more details, here you go': IT team complies with micromanaging coworker's request to provide ‘details' for new system update; turns out 120 pages long

'You want more details, here you go': IT team complies with micromanaging coworker's request to provide ‘details' for new system update; turns out 120 pages long

Some people are blessed with micromanaging coworkers who don't want them to get ahead and will go as far as to actively attempt to make them look bad so that they will stay in the same position for years, if not forever. That allows these mini micromanagers to get what they want, whether it's a promotion, a good reputation, or simple satisfaction that other people are as miserable as they are. If I had a penny for every time I met someone at work who was keen to throw others under the bus… This…
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'We can't work like this': Employees team up after boss docks 15 minutes pay from worker for being 1 minute late; productivity crumbles

'We can't work like this': Employees team up after boss docks 15 minutes pay from worker for being 1 minute late; productivity crumbles

When a boss tries to swing his weight around his employees, things can go south pretty quickly. One boss who was especially into micromanaging decided that if his workers were 1 minute late, then he would dock 15 minutes of their pay. He believed that this would lead to more productivity. Maybe he learned this approach in one of those faulty 'be a boss' courses, or maybe he took notes from his own former boss, but either way, this kind of thing is not gonna fly with construction workers. Trying…
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