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toxic-boss

'I gave her exactly what she asked for': Micromanager boss scolds employee for lateness, regrets it when employee stops working long hours

'I gave her exactly what she asked for': Micromanager boss scolds employee for lateness, regrets it when employee stops working long hours

You know your work environment is toxic if you have to describe your supervisor as a “tyrant.” This employee had one of those bosses that no one likes. Not a single person in the company is happy to see that boss when she walks in the door, probably because she had a habit of flipping out over any and everything. No one wants to have a micromanager boss , especially not one who is constantly flipping out. It's not good to have to be in a constant state of fight or flight over office work! And t…
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'I'm quitting tomorrow': Employee discovers her boss planted a hidden video camera, bails without notice

'I'm quitting tomorrow': Employee discovers her boss planted a hidden video camera, bails without notice

You know that feeling everyone occasionally gets at work that you're being watched 24/7? Well, what if you suddenly discovered that this was actually the case? Sometimes when you have a micromanager for a boss, you get the feeling that someone is breathing down your neck and following your every move, as if they are just waiting to point out an error or give you a hard time about the way in which you go about fulfilling your daily responsibilities at work. This obviously does not make for a ple…
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'Oh, people like to work late': 20+ Workplace red flags that say, "Don't work here"

'Oh, people like to work late': 20+ Workplace red flags that scream, "Don't work here"

Don't accept that job until you've vetted the company well. I know it's hard not to accept the first gig that offers you a contract, but it's worth your time to spot red flags before signing on. One person mentioned another great one, which is having a lot of very young people who are running an older company. Young people are great, of course, but it signifies that the company can't retain their older workers, who probably left to find better wages . And it implies that they're hiring youngste…
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'Why can't I get paid?': Boss uses rainy weather to justify delaying payment to employees

'Why can't I get paid?': Boss uses rainy weather to justify delaying payment to employees

Bad bosses will come up with any excuse imaginable to justify their poor management skills. This manager messaged his employees and used the rainy weather to justify delaying payment to his employees. The Redditor's coworker was smart enough to ask why he was forced to work under these weather conditions and yet he couldn't get paid on time. Employment should always be a two-way street, people, and that applies to every aspect of the professional relationship. This sounds like a grown-up versio…
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'Everyone has to come in for eight hours on a Sunday': Boss enforces mandatory "deep clean" on a Sunday, employee refuses to comply

'Everyone has to come in for eight hours on a Sunday': Boss enforces mandatory "deep clean" on a Sunday, employee refuses to comply

Imagine waking up to an email in your inbox from your manager enforcing a mandatory “deep clean” shift on your one day off. Any sensible human would likely groan and decline the offer. And yes, no matter what this manager says and no matter how he tries to frame it, this is an offer as the employee's contract makes no mention of this “deep clean” shift. Furthermore, this manager had absolutely no plans to adjust the coming week's schedule to accommodate the weekend day or to try to carve out ti…
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Company call goes south over VP's remarks after no one gets a raise: 'If [you] only want to work 40 hours a week [...] you should leave'

Company call goes south over VP's remarks after no one gets a raise: 'If [you] only want to work 40 hours a week [...] you should leave'

This company call certainly did not inspire confidence. Normally, company meetings have that annoying motivational nonsense going on, but this time, we've got a VP who decided it was a good time to tell all the 300+ employees who have not received raises that they should be working longer hours. In fact, he said that anyone who is not willing to work 50 hours should quit now. Not exactly the inspiring words people want to hear after they have been denied even basic cost of living raises. There…
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'You want to send me home? Sounds good!': Micromanager sends employee home for violating uniform, employee pulls out company handbook to prove him wrong

'You want to send me home? Sounds good!': Micromanager sends employee home for violating uniform, employee pulls out company handbook to prove him wrong

It's time to discuss dress code at work. Within reason, people should have at least some sense of flexibility depending on the job. This is not the Pleistocene era. This employee simply wanted to wear shorts during his shift at a home convenience store because it was objectively “shorts weather.” His manager, however, who was seeking promotional opportunities and brownie points from the higher-ups, decided to be a stickler and to insist that the Redditor go home and return with pants. What this…
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'His inbox soon overflowed with 20 to 30 pointless emails daily': Micromanager regrets insisting on being copied on everything following malicious compliance

'His inbox soon overflowed with 20 to 30 pointless emails daily': Micromanager regrets insisting on being copied on everything following malicious compliance

Employers should learn to be careful what they wish for more than anyone else. This old adage is something we tend to teach our kids in preschool. We've heard it over and over again on television, in nursery rhymes, and in countless mediocre school productions of Into the Woods . Yet still, it seems that our managers and bosses have forgotten what things might look like if their wishes come true and the ridiculous demands they put upon their employees are met. This thread was posted to Reddit's…
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'Enjoy an extra 100+ emails a day': Employee resigns, reroutes hundreds of daily spam messages to boss's email

'Enjoy an extra 100+ emails a day': Employee resigns, reroutes hundreds of daily spam messages to boss's email

Always be careful how you treat your employees because if you treat them poorly, karma certainly will rear its head. If the number of satisfying quitting stories we have told right here at FAIL Blog serves as any indication, it's that people with bad bosses are not going to leave their jobs quietly. In many cases, it is up to them to stick it to their bosses while they have the chance. Here, we have an employee who, among other responsibilities, was tasked with receiving dozens of sales calls a…
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Bank teller asks if he can sit on the job, management gaslights him: 'I was super thrown'

Bank teller asks if he can sit on the job, management gaslights him: 'I was super thrown'

Don't you just love it when you ask for something completely standard and are then told that you're being unprofessional? That kind of manipulative response from an employer is not only frustrating and unprofessional in and of itself, but it can also leave the employee spiraling and genuinely considering if they were in the wrong or not. It's a classic way to shirk responsibility and reflect blame right back onto the employee, and it's upsetting how common this management tactic seems to be. Th…
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'I was asked to take a 30%+ cut in pay': Top employee quits and company goes under after boss pressured him to be a "team player"

'I was asked to take a 30%+ cut in pay': Top employee quits and company goes under after boss pressured him to be a "team player"

This boss had a whole lot of audacity asking his already underpaid top employee to take a 30% pay cut. One has to wonder if the boss himself was willing to cut his own pay too. Somehow, we doubt it. Clearly, this dude should not be running a business, starting with the fact that he spent a large sum of money on business consultants who told him nothing particularly innovative about the state of his company. Unfortunately, his top employee had to suffer the consequences of his boss's total misma…
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Boss forces employee to take a red-eye home, he takes off the next day and leaves his boss scrambling: 'An $80 hotel stay could have avoided a far more costly loss'

Boss forces employee to take a red-eye home, he takes off the next day and leaves his boss scrambling: 'An $80 hotel stay could have avoided a far more costly loss'

Some people thrive on red-eye flights, while the rest of us are left trying to figure out how they do it. Personally speaking, I have never been able to get enough sleep on long flights especially red-eyes. Part of that is because for whatever reason, I am always seated next to a bathroom, a screaming child, or a sick passenger who will not stop sneezing or coughing. The fact that this boss thought it was a good idea to force his employee to take a red-eye says a whole lot about how he values t…
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'Boss balked at the idea': Manager forces employee to take PTO for the whole day just because he needed to leave five minutes early

'Boss balked at the idea': Manager forces employee to take PTO for the whole day just because he needed to leave five minutes early

Scheduling appointments during the work day can be difficult to navigate depending on how flexible and understanding your boss is. Most folks understand that it isn't exactly easy to schedule a doctor's appointment after work hours or on the weekends. Sometimes, you have to take what you can get. Furthermore, most employees understand that if they do have to leave the office early for an appointment, they will make up for lost time before or after. In short, it really should not be an issue wha…
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Cheapskate CEO enforces new coffee policy, employee gets payback at company workshop with his own rule: 'You can't have coffee!'

Cheapskate CEO enforces new coffee policy, employee gets payback at company workshop with his own rule: 'You can't have coffee!'

What is the value in enforcing who gets to have a cup of coffee in the office? The only potential answer to that question is for a toxic manager to be able to flex his muscles and enforce his sense of authority for literally no reason other than to do just that. This time, we have a manager who did not like how his employee offered interview candidates a cup of coffee, as they were not present in the office for “whole day events.” So, he went ahead and enforced this absolutely bogus rule.
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Guy gets passed over for a promised promotion in favor of manager's buddy: 'SAY WHAT BRUH?!'

Guy gets passed over for a promised promotion in favor of manager's buddy: 'SAY WHAT BRUH?!'

Who wouldn't react this way? Sometimes, people will mistreat you so egregiously that you have no choice but to drop all the niceties and call this person out point blank. That's exactly what happened to this Redditor , who worked in a body shop and had expressed to his manager over several years that he wanted the opportunity to take over for painting when his much older coworker inevitably retires. The promotion would not only result in a pay raise, but it was also far more in line with what t…
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'They are about to lose a $3M contract because I resigned': Project manager gets denied raise, gets far better offer, leaves and takes big client with him

'They are about to lose a $3M contract because I resigned': Project manager gets denied raise, finds far better offer, leaves and takes big client with him

If you feel like your bosses are taking advantage of you, you're probably right. When this realization occurs, it's always a good idea to write out the pros and cons of your current position, to think honestly and critically about the added value you bring to the company, and to assess whether or not your current employment status (salary, benefits, job title, etc.) accurately reflect the hard work you have put in over the course of your time at the company. This project manager worked his way…
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