Everyone has had that moment of panic when you send a gossipy text about someone and worry that you accidentally sent it to that person. Nine times out of ten, you're just being paranoid, but every so often, you find yourself with a ton of explaining to do. Now, what would you do if this situation occurred but it wasn't about a family or friend and instead this was about a coworker? What you do if the roles were reversed and you didn't send the unkind message, but this time, you received it? Wo…

Hiring a student worker means you have to respect their class schedule. Unfortunately, most managers not only refuse to do this, but they also often hire students because they feel like they can easily manipulate them into complying with their ridiculous demands. We suppose the logic is that because they have minimal experience in the working world, they can be more easily pressured than the average jaded and disgruntled worker. You know what we mean by the latter… the guy who looks like he's b…

How can this employee not interpret this new bonus policy as a personal slight? This dude had been working at the company longer than literally everyone, but when he hit 25 years on the job, he only received a plaque. Now, two years have passed, and suddenly the CEO announces that two coworkers have just reached 25 years at the company and are each going to be rewarded with bonus packages of $25,000. Meanwhile, the other guy is still getting nothing more than his cheap plaque, which is probably…

Working with a team that you really enjoy being a part of is one of the smallest graces you can hope for in what's otherwise deep, begrudging resignation to your working life. Unfortunately, like most of the good things in life, the balance is delicately struck, and one small change can turn them on their heads. After spending almost seven years at this tech company working with a true leader of a manager who always stood up for his workers and encouraged autonomy and a healthy work-life balanc…

There is nothing worse at work than having to bother your manager every day to do a simple task that would make things exponentially easier. The lack of action can say a lot about the kind of manager you have. First, he could be intentionally making things difficult for you and playing mind games. That's the cynical take, but it's not an impossibility. Next, there's the slightly more generous take, which is that your manager is not the brightest bulb. Yes, that's the kinder interpretation of th…

There is a lot a job candidate can do to mess up their application. Sometimes, it's not exactly their fault. Job postings can be notoriously vague and shady. Who hasn't ended up in an interview where you suddenly realize that this so-called “great opportunity” is far beyond what you thought it would be? However, every so often, the interviewer is not at fault. Sometimes, and I know this may be hard to hear, we may be responsible for not getting hired. These hiring managers shared what they beli…

It's hopefully no secret to anyone at this point that if you're given an anonymous questionnaire at work asking for your honest and critical feedback, there's a pretty good chance that that questionnaire is not, in fact, anonymous. That, or there are plenty of ways that it's going to be traced back to you regardless of how “anonymous” it actually is. After all, if they receive one response that's pointedly critical and you're usually the one who has no problem voicing your feedback, chances are…

Let this story serve as a friendly reminder to never underestimate the power of the IT guy. This employee ended up going from leading a robust team to being a one-man operation following the arrival of the company's new highly problematic CFO Pam. Pam started getting rid of employees who had been around for a long time one-by-one, so this Redditor knew his time was coming. One day, he was tasked with training Pam's 21-year-old nephew in all things IT. She clearly thought that his technological…

Imagine having to clean up this boss's mess! This employee compared notes with some of the other women on her team and realized that something strange was afoot. Essentially, 13 female employees either quit or were fired as they were approaching their late 20s. All of them were newly engaged, recently married, are about to start a family. The way HR attempted to get away with this nonsense was to give these women “disciplinary action” months in advance and to accuse them of not pulling their we…

Every office has a technologically incompetent coworker. The truth of the matter is that some people simply should not be allowed to have phones or computers, and sometimes, I will include myself in this category. The number of times in which I have accidentally texted the wrong person is proof alone that I am not the most careful when it comes to technology. This is also proof that it is not always the oldest coworker in the office who is the technologically challenged one. In fact, I have had…

There are certain people you do not want to frustrate in a restaurant, one of whom is most certainly the lead cook. However, as in any fast-paced work environment, people can get hot-headed and conflicts can arise between folks who feel like they are stepping on one another's toes. This lead cook was often stationed in an accessible place in the kitchen so that everyone could easily access him and vice versa. However, on one busy night, the lead cook briefly left his station in the hands of a n…

Every new hire deserves time to adjust to their new workflow, but sometimes it becomes instantly obvious that hiring someone was a mistake. There are several ways in which this can happen. For starters, the new hire could be one of those rare unicorns who is actually good at interviewing for positions despite being remarkably unqualified. On the other hand, it's quite possible that it was the company's fault. Perhaps the job requirements and expectations were unclear, and the only people to bla…

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…

Sure, it takes a detail-oriented person to manage a restaurant, but some supervisors are not cut out for it simply because they are too intense. These micromanagers tend to be unable to pivot if unforeseen circumstances arise. They also tend to be extremely frustrated when employees make judgment calls and handle their tasks differently. In other words, micromanagers rarely make genuinely good bosses. Instead, the only thing they are successful at is making enemies out of the people who work fo…

Imagine reaching out to a former employer for a full-time opportunity, getting flat-out rejected, and then being asked to give money to the organization. You have to admire the audacity of these people. This Redditor shared that after successful contracted work, she sought a salaried position at the same company and put a ton of work into her application. When she was rejected, she wound up receiving what was clearly a copy-and-paste rejection email. She ended up reaching out to her contact at…

There is no positive trajectory for a company that caters to a Karen employee. This time, the Karen in question did not even have any real power. She had been shirking her responsibilities at work long after a minor neck injury from which she had fully recovered. Her coworkers had even seen that she was partying on the weekends, but she managed to find a doctor who could get her out of coming to work as much as she wanted. Finally, her boss, who ran the sales operations team, convinced HR to fi…