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toxic-boss

Boss scams employee out of $100 after he kindly buys food for entire office, employee uses boss's words against him to get delicious payback

‘You should've gotten it in writing’: Boss scams employee out of $100 after he promises to reimburse him, employee uses boss's words against him when he's needed for an urgent project

"He screamed, I mean screamed, ‘You agreed to work on this project weeks ago!’ I repeated his words verbatim."
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'I deny work from all of my managers': Employee with three different bosses keeps claiming he's swamped with tasks, ends up doing no work and collecting checks

'I deny work from all of my managers': Employee with three different bosses keeps claiming he's swamped with tasks, ends up doing no work and collecting checks

Clearly, this company has a management issue, but this employee will be the last person to complain about it. He has found himself in the unique situation of having three different bosses from three separate departments. These departments have very little crossover, which helps the employee immensely when he claims that he has been overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities from other departments. This is how he has managed to avoid getting any work from all three of his supervisors. Instead,…
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Employee told by boss to move surgery to Christmas break despite having 300+ hours of PTO saved: '[I] should be able to take this time off'

Employee told by boss to move surgery to Christmas break despite having 300+ hours of PTO saved: '[I] should be able to take this time off'

Imagine feeling the pressure to use the 300+ hours of PTO you saved on recovery from surgery and then hearing from your boss that you should consider pushing the surgery back to Christmas break. First of all, using vacation time for a medical emergency is already a sign of a toxic work environment. Secondly, the fact that this boss would rather have their employee delay their surgery so they can be available before the Holiday season says far too much about how much they value the well-being of…
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CEO boasts about record profits then announces slashing everyone's 401K matches in the same conference call: 'We just had the best year ever thanks to YOU!'

CEO boasts about record profits, then announces slashing everyone's 401k matches in the same conference call: 'We just had the best year ever thanks to YOU!'

This conference call sounded like a rollercoaster ride. It's no secret that company meetings often are filled with motivational speeches from the higher-ups at the company. CEOs are likely to give a positive spin on the state of things in order to maintain momentum and drive among employees. However, most employees can see right through these tactics and can decipher if the health of the company is much more grim than it seems. This time, however, the CEO had the audacity to claim that things h…
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'Tyrannical management took away my desk fan': Boss punishes employee for leaving desk fan running overnight, makes him struggle in the heat

'Tyrannical management took away my desk fan': Boss punishes employee for leaving desk fan running overnight, makes him struggle in the heat

In every office, there is a coworker who runs a bit hot. We do not mean to shame said person; as someone often runs cold, I always have at least a sweater ready for me at all times. Both of these employees exist in every workplace and deserve to feel comfortable. This Redditor admits that he often runs hot and came up with the solution of using a small personal desk fan so that his constant desire to make the air conditioning cooler would not upset other folks. Apparently, however, people still…
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Boss takes away construction workers' stereo, middle manager defends the team and buys them a new one: 'He didn't expect me to advocate for them'

Boss takes away construction workers' stereo, middle manager defends the team and buys them a new one: 'He didn't expect me to advocate for them'

Imagine being such a micromanager that you feel the need to enforce what music your employees can listen to while they work. As I am sure you are all well aware, music is one of the few things that can provide momentum and levity through the difficult monotony of the workday. What's more, the employees in this scenario are construction workers. They have to do tough manual labor, oftentimes in the heat, day in and day out. If they want to listen to music on a stereo while they work, they should…
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'If I catch that you were slacking off or lying, you are fired': Law partner demands summer associate to update him on whereabouts at all times, malicious compliance ensues

'If I catch that you were slacking off or lying, you are fired': Law partner demands summer associate to update him on whereabouts at all times, malicious compliance ensues

This is what it looks like when justice is served. This law partner may have been working in the industry for decades, but his outdated way of approaching workplace dynamics became a major problem. It seems like he's the kind of boss who chooses one lowly employee to direct all of his anger and frustration toward, as if there is nothing said person can do to meet his desires sufficiently. Unfortunately for this summer associate , they became the target of all his antics. Most of this unfair tre…
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Accountant forced to cover front desk, coworkers see company salaries on his computer screen, they all quit: 'The other employees were livid'

Accountant forced to cover front desk, coworkers see company salaries on his computer screen, they all quit: 'The other employees were livid'

Here's a good rule of thumb: if an employee is handling confidential information, then it's probably not a good idea to let them do their work out in the open. This accountant tried to warn his new manager that it wasn't a good idea for him to cover the front desk on this particular workday, as he was doing payroll (and was the only person in the company capable of handling payroll). It wasn't that the accountant felt “above it" in any way; he knew that from time to time, the accountants in his…
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'There is no such thing as business ethics': Top HR nightmare stories featuring entitled bosses and unprofessional coworkers

'There is no such thing as business ethics': Top HR nightmare stories featuring entitled bosses and unprofessional coworkers

Working in human resources requires keeping a lot of drama to yourself. This poses a problem for those of us on the internet who want all the juicy gossip about all the messed up workplace environments so that we can feel ever so slightly better about our own messed up workplace situations. Thankfully, these HR employees were bold enough to share their stories and spill the tea for the rest of us. It comes as no surprise to report that the vast majority of these anecdotes involve those at the t…
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‘Enough was enough’: Tired team fired by boss after complaining about unreasonable expectations regarding workload

‘Enough was enough’: Company employees confront management about overwhelming workload, boss fires entire team as a result

Entitled bosses can lose out on great talent as a result of their massive egos. “He is now down to 2 employees from the 9 he started with.”
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'[My] signed 20k contract is [...] nowhere to be found': HR informs employee that his signing bonus is $10K instead of promised $20K

'[My] signed 20k contract is [...] nowhere to be found': HR informs employee that his signing bonus is $10K instead of promised $20K

Always document everything!
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Boss asks employees to take $5,000 out of each paycheck to be team players: 'My management actually has the nerve to ask me to be paid less'

Boss asks employees to take $5,000 out of each paycheck to be team players: 'My management actually has the nerve to ask me to be paid less'

Imagine gathering for a company meeting and hearing about all the great work everyone's doing, only to be asked to take massive pay cuts. This was not exactly the greatest display of a healthy company culture. Essentially, this executive at the company, who rarely shows her face and has next to no relationship with the Redditor and the other coworkers on their team, decided that the best way for the company to remain healthy was for everyone to elect a certain amount of money to be deducted fro…
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'I am so sick of these meetings': Micromanager adds 10+ hours of meetings to employee's schedule to review why not enough work is getting done

'I am so sick of these meetings': Micromanager adds 10+ hours of meetings to employee's schedule to review why not enough work is getting done

Let this story serve as yet another reminder to managers and supervisors everywhere that if it can be communicated in an email, there is absolutely no need for a meeting. Here is another tale of a micromanager who seems to be so concerned with their employee's level of productivity and has zero self-awareness considering the fact that they have been repeatedly adding 10+ hours of meetings every week. But then again, who is genuinely surprised here? Micromanagers never realize that they are ofte…
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'When I say I'm not available, I mean it': Employee berated by boss after last minute schedule outside his available hours

'When I say I'm not available, I mean it': Employee berated by boss after being scheduled outside his available hours

This manager has some audacity for placing blame on their employee!
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20+ lame corporate gifts and bonuses for longtime employees: 'It was a pen. Not a nice pen.'

20+ lame corporate gifts and bonuses for longtime employees: 'It was a pen. Not a nice pen.'

Never underestimate your employer's ability to let you down. Picture this: your annual review is coming up. You're coming on five years at a company without a meaningful promotion or raise despite always receiving encouraging and positive feedback. You have made it known over the past several months that you really would like something meaningful this time around. Finally, the day has arrived. You walk into the meeting and your boss immediately thanks you for all of your hard work. He says he h…
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'I no longer work here, remember?': Employee's two-week notice rejected, asked to leave immediately but still help with transition, she claps back

'I no longer work here, remember?': Employee's two-week notice rejected, asked to leave immediately but still help with transition, she claps back

Bad bosses can't have their cake and eat it too!
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