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toxic-workplace

Boss and coworkers keep calling employee by the wrong name despite efforts to correct them: 'Time to start butchering their names'

Boss and coworkers keep calling employee by the wrong name despite efforts to correct them: 'Time to start butchering their names'

Calling your employees by their preferred name seems like the bare minimum regarding proper workplace treatment. It doesn't really get more disrespectful than ignoring someone's constant corrections. This Redditor's name ends with an -a but is constantly referred to by a similar-sounding name that ends with an -e. If this were perhaps their first few weeks on the job, then the mistakes would be understandable. But there's really no excuse for the mixups at this point, especially when the Origin…
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Karen boss won't let salaried employee use the break room because he's not an hourly worker: 'I can't get water or coffee now'

Karen boss won't let salaried employee use the break room because he's not an hourly worker: 'I can't get water or coffee now'

Imagine not being allowed to grab water or coffee during your work break because for some inexplicable reason, it “confuses” people. This salaried employee was told by his Karen boss that hourly workers began to notice his trips to the break room and were asking questions about the frequency with which he must be clocking in and out. Rather than the boss informing these folks that he's a salaried employee and doesn't have to clock in and out to grab a coffee in the break room, she asked this Re…
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Employee keeps running list of problematic quotes to bring up in exit interview: 'If you're able to crawl to your desk, you should be at work'

Employee keeps running list of problematic quotes to bring up in exit interview: 'If you're able to crawl to your desk, you should be at work'

Some people dread the idea of an exit interview, but this employee has been waiting for this moment for months. Ever since she realized she was stuck in a toxic work environment, she started to keep a running list of all the problematic moments so she had her receipts. This not only made the day-to-day slightly more bearable, but the list would also protect her from any trouble since she had literally all the dirt on her boss. This thread was posted to Reddit by kerripotter , and it sparked a t…
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20+ times bosses caught their employees breaking the rules: 'Employees honestly think I don't notice when they're ASLEEP!'

20+ times bosses caught their employees breaking the rules: 'Employees honestly think I don't notice when they're ASLEEP!'

No employee can be “on” all the time. Everyone needs a break during the work day to recharge, zone out, and center
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New boss enforces unnecessary rules about submitting expenses, team maliciously complies: 'OK boss, you'll get your paperwork in spades'

New boss enforces unnecessary rules about submitting expenses, team maliciously complies: 'OK boss, you'll get your paperwork in spades'

Whatever happened to “if it ain't broke, don't fix it?” If you're ever in a position where you are joining a company and leading a team that already is.a well-run machine, consider not enforcing your personal way of doing things onto everyone else. Unless the team genuinely agrees with your ideas to change the process, the only person who is really benefitting from this change is you. That is not a good enough reason to uphold the way a team does things. You have to adjust to their rhythm just…
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'Reschedule your vacation': Boss rejects employee's previously approved PTO, using his marital status as an excuse

'Reschedule your vacation': Boss rejects employee's previously approved PTO, using marital status and lack of a family as an excuse

Some bosses think that they have certain rights and privileges that they simply do not possess. This employee was entitled to their PTO time, they submitted their request months in advance, and their request was approved. Everything was good to go, flights were booked, and a much-needed vacation was planned. That is, until the boss decided last minute that he could reject those plans and go back on his word, all so another coworker could take off that same week. We understand losing two employe…
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Employee files complaint after boss is caught on video stealing her bag, HR sides with boss: 'She faced no consequences'

Employee files complaint after boss is caught on video stealing her bag, HR sides with boss: 'She faced no consequences'

This workplace debacle pretty much epitomizes the idea that HR protects the employer, not the employees. When the evidence of wrongdoing is so definitive, it's hard to imagine the human resources department coming up with a justified reason to side with the boss. However, this team managed to side with her anyway. Here, we have an employee who caught her boss stealing her bag after work hours. Furthermore, the security cameras even captured the boss leaving the office with the employee's bag an…
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Researcher gets back at startup bro by helping make a better product and selling it to the competition: 'Now he's going out of business'

Researcher gets back at startup bro by helping make a better product and selling it to the competition: 'Now he's going out of business'

It's easy to make enemies with startup bros. They're not exactly the most likable bunch of individuals. This so-called “CEO” spent way more energy stirring the pot with competitors than running an actual company, and it wound up biting him on the behind in the end. First, he lost a tech competition to an academic researcher and started sending a ton of mean-spirited messages. He even crashed the researcher's Zoom lecture to spam the comments. This was the final straw for the researcher, who dec…
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Company offers fully remote work in exchange for 24/7 monitoring of all home network traffic: 'Why would a company even want to bother with this?'

Company offers fully remote work in exchange for 24/7 monitoring of all home network traffic: 'Why would a company even want to bother with this?'

Something shady this way comes! Let's preface this with the fact that several folks who work in IT have already deemed this a nightmare in the making. This company thought it would be a good idea to give in to employees' requests for fully remote work, but there was a catch. That catch was that the company would provide all work-from-home employees with a router and a document for them to sign that would permit IT to monitor all of their at-home network traffic 24/7. That's right. We're not eve…
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Power-tripping Karen thinks she's the boss, employee gets back at her and takes over: 'I'll get you fired and get your position'

Power-tripping Karen thinks she's the boss, employee gets back at her and takes over: 'I'll get you fired and get your position'

It doesn't matter if you work in a high-powered corporate environment or a three-person company; there will always be that coworker who thinks they're in charge of you. Perhaps they were just hired before your time. Perhaps they're older. Perhaps they ate slightly senior within the company hierarchy. Still, if they're not your manager, they have absolutely no business ordering you around. We are going to call this personality Perpetua after Bridget Jones's coworker who is very much guilty of th…
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‘If you think you can find a loophole, think again’: Software developer maliciously complies with new boss’s strict 9-5 hours, team productivity tanks

‘If you think you can find a loophole, think again’: Software developer maliciously complies with new boss’s strict 9-5 hours, team productivity tanks

Who doesn't love when a manager's strict and unnecessary rules get called out in front of senior management in the most humiliating way possible? We guess that the manager didn't love it, but clearly, everyone else on this software developer's team enjoyed this comeuppance. This manager, Dave, came waltzing in and insisted that all software developers adhere to a strict 9-5 work schedule with minimal breaks. The Redditor explained how this was not ideal for the team's productivity, given that c…
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'As I handed her the coffee I told her I quit': Manager demands that employee makes her coffee at the end of every shift, employee finally snaps

'As I handed her the coffee I told her I quit': Manager demands that employee makes her coffee at the end of every shift, employee finally snaps

Some managers make such ridiculous demands that one has to wonder if they are trying to make their employees quit. Sometimes, that is the case, and other times, it's just that these managers have egos and enjoy engaging in power dynamics. If this description fits your manager, our advice would be to get out while you still can. Here, we have a barista whose manager would insist on having a coffee made for her at the end of every shift after everything in the store had been cleaned up and finish…
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Boss makes employee cancel vacation, employee's girlfriend confronts boss: 'I then demanded my boyfriend's boss refunds me every penny'

Boss makes employee cancel vacation, employee's girlfriend confronts boss: 'I then demanded my boyfriend's boss [refund] me every penny'

Friendly reminder to get your PTO confirmed before getting non-refundable flights! This employee's girlfriend learned that the hard way. People in the comments section were a bit tough on her for putting pressure on her boyfriend to make his boss refund every penny of their planned vacation after the boss denied the employee's PTO request. Still, we have reserved at least some sympathy for her. It's not like this employee wasn't entitled to that time, and while he wants to advance his career, h…
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'Boss wouldn't pay [for] two months after she fired me': Former employee calls out disorganized ex-boss for never getting her final paycheck

'Boss wouldn't pay [for] two months after she fired me': Former employee calls out disorganized ex-boss for never getting her final paycheck

It's always important to stand your ground when your employer has not honored their end of your contract. It can be easy in work dynamics to forget the fact that your contract is a two-way negotiation and you have rights no matter who is in charge. This former worker had the “audacity” to ask for her final paycheck two months after her toxic, disorganized boss fired her. After a period of radio silence, this Redditor finally decided to go off email and send a direct text message to her ex-boss…
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Employee gets suspended for no reason, stinks up work truck before quitting: 'Before I returned the truck, I release 6 stinky air fresher tags in it'

Employee gets suspended for no reason, stinks up work truck before quitting: 'Before I returned the truck, I release 6 stinky air fresher tags in it'

If an employee quits after poor treatment and is then tasked with returning something, do not expect that item to be returned in pristine condition. This worker had gone through a whole ordeal with her employer after multiple coworkers were let go due to a shortage of hours (yet somehow, they were still always hiring new employees… talk about messy and disorganized!). One week, this employee was taken off multiple shifts and given forced days off with absolutely no advanced warning. She wound u…
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32 remote employees buy device to bypass CEO's silly idle time requirements, now the CEO wants one too

32 remote employees buy device to bypass CEO's silly idle time requirements, now the CEO wants one too

The way this stubborn CEO handled the fallout of this situation says quite a bit about his leadership style. This formerly in-person work environment went fully remote a few years ago and opted to stay that way, which was a big win for the 32 employees who fought for this change. That being said, there was a catch: the CEO enforced silly idle time requirements, which resulted in heavy monitoring of their productivity on Microsoft Teams. It got to the point where employees were regularly shamed…
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