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toxic-work-environment

'It's not like I singled her out': Coworker keeps hogging the microwave, employee confronts her, gets in trouble with HR

'It's not like I singled her out': Coworker keeps hogging the microwave, employee confronts her, gets in trouble with HR

There are definitely unwritten rules about using the communal microwave in an office. If you're heating up your lunch during an in-demand time and it's a frozen meal that takes more than five minutes to cook, you might want to step back and let other people use it first. Furthermore, if you're eating something particularly aromatic, consider eating in the break room and not right at your desk. This also applies when you're eating a messy meal. I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen c…
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'I've gotten my pay reduced twice in four months': HR blindsides employee, moves him from salary to hourly rate, pays him less per hour

'Get everything in writing': HR blindsides employee, moves him from salary to hourly rate, pays him less per hour

There is a reason why they say to make sure to get everything down in writing. This employee had the unfortunate experience of learning that life lesson the hard way after the HR representatives of the mental health facility in which he works kept shadily making adjustments to his contract. As someone who has worked freelance, part-time, full-time, and just about all the variations in between, I can confirm wholeheartedly that companies and bosses are going to make grand promises they cannot ke…
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'Obviously the police wouldn’t do anything about it': Nurse tech calls cops over $.50 theft to make a point to hospital administrators

'Obviously the police wouldn’t do anything about it': Nurse tech calls cops over $.50 theft to make a point to hospital administrators

This hospital had an ongoing food theft issue that got really out of hand. Why would someone steal food in a workplace environment? If someone lifts a meal from the work refrigerator once, you could chalk it up to a mistake. If it happens twice, it could be that someone was so hungry they couldn't wait to get food, or are just becoming more brazen about their theft. By the third time, this is a real issue---and it could even spawn copycats.
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'I'll get a doctor's note when you pay for doctors': Company changes sick day policy, employee gets shamed for calling in sick, forced to provide 'proof'

'I'll get a doctor's note when you pay for doctors': Company changes sick day policy, employee gets shamed for calling in sick, forced to provide 'proof'

Let's be real here: if your company is not willing to provide health insurance for you, they have no business enforcing a strict sick day policy. Such hypocrisy reveals nothing more than the blatant disregard for the employee's actual humanity, but before we get too serious about this matter, let's also acknowledge how hard it is for companies to enforce certain specific sick day rules and regulations. For instance, if they need you to come in and prove that you are, in fact, unwell as you have…
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'Wanted extra mayo so I maliciously complied by drenching it': 15+ servers share the pranks they pulled on customers

'Wanted extra mayo so I maliciously complied by drenching it': 15+ servers share the pranks they pulled on Karen customers

Being a customer-facing worker means having to put on a smile even when you are about to spontaneously combust underneath the surface. This is a grim and unfortunate part of the reality of what it is to be a server or to work in customer service in general. However, every so often, you get the opportunity to serve a little malicious compliance and/or some petty revenge along with an entitled customer's meal. Sure, you're still serving your customers with a smile, but little do they know, you ha…
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'Stop crying and get back to work': Underpaid receptionist quits for a better job, learns 1.5 years later that her ex-boss still can't fill her position

'Stop crying and get back to work': Underpaid receptionist quits for a better job, learns 1.5 years later that her ex-boss still can't fill her position

It's not easy to remember your worth when you're desperate for work. The working world is engineered to make us feel grateful for signing any sort of contract in a highly competitive market with next to no jobs. That being said, even if you finally landed in a decent position after months and months of searching, always be sure to remember that if you end up taking on more responsibilities than the ones that were initially outlined upon getting hired, that means you have the right to advocate f…
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'I can't do ANYTHING if you're both YELLING AT ME': Karen customers messed up their own payment, accuse front desk agent of fraud, she claps back

'I can't do ANYTHING if you're both YELLING AT ME': Karen hotel guests messed up their own payment, accuse front desk agent of fraud, she claps back

Accusing a hotel front desk agent of fraud is probably not the best way to get them to help you. Remember: these are the people that can make your stay exponentially easier or exponentially more difficult. It's also worth noting that so much of this drama can be easily resolved if people remember to book their hotel stays directly on the hotel website rather than through a third-party site. The number of instances in which we have seen irate customers make this mistake through Internet stories…
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'[He] thought it was appropriate to call me at 10 p.m. to berate me': Workers retaliate after wage changes; boss blames the one employee who had no idea about it

This boss had it coming . The OP practically ran the whole show at the company—hiring, training, fixing things, coming up with ideas, etc. The place couldn't function without him, and it seemed like the boss wanted it that way. Whenever something went wrong, it was never his fault. The OP was getting worn out. Constant calls and texts after hours, always there to fix things. But not this time. When the higher-ups announced wage changes, something the OP had nothing to do with, the employees wer…
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'Childish? Yes. Regrets? Not one': Coworker keeps making employee do his work, employee lashes out, ruins coworker's office plant, sabotages his notes

'Childish? Yes. Regrets? Not one': Coworker keeps making employee do his work, employee lashes out, ruins coworker's office plant, sabotages his notes

In every office, there is one person who finds an excuse to be absent and to shirk their responsibilities as much as possible. As much as we often praise the folks who find ways to work smart and not hard, in this instance, someone else at the office is often left picking up all that slack. If you're the first kind of person, the key is to find a way to do the bare minimum without affecting anyone else's workload. If you're the other kind of person and you're the people please who has to take o…
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'Good luck managing this sinking ship': Employee sends savage resignation email after CEO impulsively fires eight new people

'Good luck managing this sinking ship': Employee sends savage resignation email after CEO impulsively fires eight new people

Hopefully, this dude doesn't need a letter of recommendation any time soon. He certainly won't be getting one from his former employers after saying literally everything he could say in the most dramatic email since that time I asked my therapist to resume sessions because the “job search was proving stressful.” But that's another story! As for this employee's resignation email, there is definitely a vicarious fulfillment we got from reading this, as I'm sure like many of you, we all have forme…
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'After this I want to quit': Employee request PTO to attend family funeral, boss asks for proof of the service

'After this I want to quit': Employee requests PTO to attend family funeral, boss asks for proof of the service

Paid time off should never be met with these kinds of invasive questions. When you sign a contract that entitled you to paid vacation time, there simply should not be any sort of explanation necessary, as you are granted a set number of days to do whatever you like in that free time. Now, some employers think that they are owed an explanation for every choice you make. Or perhaps they throw shade at the fact that you are using those days. Or perhaps it's all just societal pressure in your head!…
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'Lots of unqualified people selling hearing aids with a 500% markup': 20+ shady industries to be on the lookout for

'Lots of unqualified people selling hearing aids with a 500% markup': 20+ shady industries to be on the lookout for

In this day and age, there seem to be just as many bogus jobs and industries out there as there are legitimate ones. Frankly, that's a generous statement considering this list, which was compiled from this r/AskReddit thread. Some of these fields range in scope, but all of it boils down to unqualified people selling overvalued products. This could include consulting agencies that really have no business running data and making executive decisions from their third-party perspectives. This includ…
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'How is this even legal': Boss refuses to let coworker leave, gets him fired from new job and back to his old job

'How is this even legal?': Boss refuses to let coworker leave, gets him fired from new job and back to his old job

Welcome to the working world, where even your former bosses think that they're always in charge of you well after you leave. What happened to this security officer, unfortunately, is not an industry-specific experience. No matter what field you're in, you have probably dealt with a supervisor who thinks it's okay to call you whenever they'd like or who has even tried to manipulate you to stay as their underling until the end of time. Even at 22, I knew that it was not cool for my former employe…
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'Enjoy litigation and demotion': Employee gets back at former boss for stealing his ideas and firing him, eventually takes over boss's new company and demotes him

'Enjoy litigation and demotion': Employee gets back at former boss for stealing his ideas and firing him, eventually takes over boss's new company and demotes him

This epic tale of payback takes the kind of mastermind-level plotting and scheming most people could never pull off. That being said, I have definitely gotten some level of second-hand fulfillment from this employee-turned-boss's story. Now, I have never been in this kind of position professionally where a manager of mine took my ideas without giving me credit. I need to have valuable ideas in order for that to happen. Still, I can empathize with feeling like your manager is out to get you and…
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'Do not buy the coffee': 20 Fast food employees tell all about the worst items to order

'Do not buy the coffee': 20 Fast food employees tell all about the worst items to order

No one goes to a fast food restaurant for nutrition per se, but we should expect the bare minimum with regard to sanitation. Now, we're not here to tell you that fast food is bad for you. First of all, that's a given. Second of all, how are we going to stop you for those restless late nights when the only thing that can give you some semblance of joy is a large Oreo milkshake and an order of chicken nuggets? Still, if you find yourself walking into a fast food establishment on one of those desp…
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'It was an email I would NEVER send': Coworker signs inter's name on unprofessional email, intern speaks to boss, coworker gets fired

'It was an email I would NEVER send': Coworker signs intern's name on unprofessional email, intern speaks to boss, coworker gets fired

Who doesn't have nightmares about work emails? Whether it's you sending an email to the wrong person or receiving a dreaded email from your manager, we all have anxiety concerning the ubiquitous phenomenon that is emailing. Sometimes, I even get anxious about sending someone without an attachment or with an egregious typo, especially in my early working days as an intern. In fact, I can't imagine the stress this intern was under when she opened her work email one day only to discover that her a…
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