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toxic-workplace

Guy takes over-the-top skills assessment for bartending job: 'Who do you think you're hiring?'

Guy takes over-the-top skills assessment for bartending job: 'Who do you think you're hiring?'

At what point will hiring managers just acknowledge that the reason why people are applying is always ultimately about a paycheck? Sure, sometimes there can be passion that motivates an applicant to apply for a particular position, but a paycheck is a paycheck and people need money to live. That's the point of work. With that in mind, no one should dress a job up to be anything else during the application process. It also should not be a bad thing if a candidate states that they want a certain…
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‘He worked for one hour from home and that was it’: Undervalued employee finds loophole in company half-day policy, barely works until he quits

‘He worked for one hour from home and that was it’: Undervalued employee finds loophole in company half-day policy, barely works until he quits

There is a special place in heaven for employees who discover loopholes and share about them with their fellow coworkers. It’s perhaps the most rewarding phenomenon within the battlefield that is toxic workplace culture. The only thing better than discovering a loophole within company policy is, well, being treated well by your company. However, we’re realists over here, and we understand that proper treatment of all employees is merely the stuff of dreams. This story, however, surely provides…
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Boss Guilts Employee Right Before His Paternity Leave: 'I can’t tell you not to take it but that’s a long time without you'

Boss Guilts Employee Right Before His Paternity Leave: 'I can’t tell you not to take it but that’s a long time without you'

Imagine how this employee's wife responded to this guilt-tripping. It probably does not bear repeating, but maternity and paternity leave are an inherent part of workers' rights. We all know that being a parent of someone at any age is a full-time job in and of itself. Being the parent of a newborn is like having five full-time jobs at once, and that does not include someone's actual full-time job. To that end, there is no point, especially in this day and age, in a toxic boss trying to shame a…
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Guy quits job, toxic employer retaliates by calling wellness check: 'I just want to be left alone'

Guy quits job, toxic employer retaliates by calling wellness check: 'I just want to be left alone'

Imagine finally summoning the courage to quit your job, and when you finally do, they refuse to leave you alone. Make no mistake: it takes a ton of courage to work oneself up to the place of finally calling it quits. At this point, an employee in this situation has likely considered every pro and con. By the time they schedule a meeting to confront their employer, they have 100% made their decision. So begging and pleading will not do any good. Furthermore, if the employer is totally blindsided…
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'Always double-check your recipients before hitting send': New hire embarrasses herself by sending workout video to her entire team

'Always double-check your recipients before hitting send': New hire embarrasses herself by sending workout video to her entire team

Sending a message to the wrong recipient is a classic mistake that most of the time, is minor. Sending an embarrassing workout video to your entire team of new coworkers is not exactly a minor error. Thankfully, I have yet to find myself in a similar situation where I have embarrassed myself to that extent in a workplace environment. However, I have on occasion texted an unkind thought about a family member or a date to that very person. There may be ways to unsend messages now given advancemen…
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Boss lays off entire staff over text: '[We have] decided to close our operations. Effective today'

Boss lays off entire staff over text: '[We have] decided to close our operations. Effective today'

Sometimes, abrupt decisions need to be made, but in this case, a heads-up would have been nice. The fact that the head honchos in this scenario decided to wait until all staff had gone home one night only to shut down the store indefinitely at 9:28 pm already signals the incompetence of management. But of course, it only gets worse. With absolutely no warning, this toxic boss decided to notify the entire staff via text message that everyone was getting let go. What gets us is the hypocrisy of p…
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20 Interview Flops Where Hiring Managers Figured Out Candidates Were Lying: 'They literally started crying when we brought out a laptop for the skills test'

20 Interview Flops Where Hiring Managers Figured Out Candidates Were Lying: 'They literally started crying when we brought out a laptop for the skills test'

Sometimes, embellishing a resume can come back to haunt you forever. Obviously, honesty is the best policy, but it can be tempting to over-exaggerate in such a competitive job market. It can be hard to stand out. Sometimes, it's even accidental. Perhaps the way you phrased something on your resume gave the hiring recruiter the wrong impression of your skillset. Look, we know that scenario is likely quite rare, but we often side with job candidates here at FAIL Blog. This time, however, we're go…
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Boss's team loses in the Super Bowl, calls in sick and dumps all his work on employee: 'I am super sad but I'm working through it!'

Boss's team loses in the Super Bowl, calls in sick and dumps all his work on employee: 'I am super sad but I'm working through it!'

This one goes out to the people who have to deal with die-hard football fans on a regular basis. Perhaps this person in your life is your partner, and every Sunday night during football season is filled with lots of shouting at the TV. Perhaps it's a family member who refuses to talk about anything else at the dinner table, even when it's between seasons. Or if you're like this employee, perhaps that big football fan in your life is your employer and you simply cannot relate to their obsession.…
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'She started counting very fast from 1-10 [...] I cracked up laughing': Manager with anger issues fires server over hash browns order

'She started counting very fast from 1-10 [...] I cracked up laughing': Manager with anger issues fires server over hash browns order

Some managers need to learn to have some patience. Not every issue is worth the time and energy to throw a tantrum and get on a high horse. There are often far more important things to be done and far more productive ways to channel any frustrations. But when has a manager ever listened to what we have to say over here at FAIL Blog? This manager certainly did not take our advice. She also clearly had some major anger management issues, considering that when she confronted a server about a hash…
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Update: 'That's the end of my narcissistic boss': Boss gets fired after dishwashing malicious compliance

Update: 'That's the end of my narcissistic boss': Boss gets fired after dishwashing malicious compliance

Working in a kitchen is the kind of high-octane environment where people can get testy and emotions can run high. Those of us who have worked in restaurants before know exactly what this is like, and those of us who have not can pretend they understand because they watch The Bear . This thread was initially posted to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit a few months ago, but the original poster is back with a new update. For the sake of clarity, we have included both posts below. In the fir…
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Toxic CEO leaves unhinged response to Glassdoor review: 'I'm sure Mommy wants you out of her basement by now':

Toxic CEO leaves unhinged response to Glassdoor review: 'I'm sure Mommy wants you out of her basement by now':

There is nothing like a toxic boss getting defensive and, in the process, proving why people were calling him toxic in the first place. That's exactly what happened when an unhinged CEO responded to this viral Glassdoor review, which was shared to this r/antiwork Reddit thread. Choosing to respond publicly to a Glassdoor review as an employer is already an eyebrow-raising move. However, the fact that this CEO clearly did not consult human resources or any other coworkers about how to respond sa…
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'Well...we're a startup': Candidate calls toxic boss out during interview for not paying his employees OT, withdraws application

'Well...we're a startup': Candidate calls toxic boss out during interview for not paying his employees OT, withdraws application

Startups will make up any excuse to be unprofessional, unreasonable, and so unserious. This job candidate found themselves in an interview with an arrogant, toxic boss who made work-life balance seem like a lazy outlook on life. Thankfully, they had enough experience in the startup world to know that when everyone is asked to work overtime throughout the weekends, there is a good chance that they are not being adequately compensated for that extra hard work. So when the candidate asked the inte…
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‘There is always so much drama going on at any given moment’: 15+ cringeworthy industry secrets, according to current and former employees

‘There is always so much drama going on at any given moment’: 15+ cringeworthy industry secrets, according to current and former employees

Working in any industry for some time can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you come to understand the ins and outs of said industry. On the other hand, sometimes understanding the ins and outs of an industry is not all it's cracked up to be. Because then you have to live with that knowledge for the rest of your existence and that could certainly change the way you go about your business. For instance, when I learned what goes into managing a box office for an entertainment venue, I g…
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‘Maybe treat me with respect and not [like] the company public trash can’: Higher ed employee quits after poor treatment, sends iconic email

‘Maybe treat me with respect and not [like] the company public trash can’: Higher ed employee quits after poor treatment, sends iconic email

Like all satisfying quitting stories, this one centers on a mistreated employee who woke up one day and realized they owed their employer absolutely nothing. Now, it should come as no surprise that working on the administrative side of higher education can be a draining existence depending on what you do. This employee claimed that they were treated with less respect than the average undervalued and under-appreciated administrative assistant. She posted the following thread on Reddit , which in…
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Lay me off right before Christmas? I’ll sabotage your replacement for me.

'Guess my work here is done': Technician gets laid off, gets 'virtuous revenge' by revealing his old salary to replacement

There's petty revenge, and then there's virtuous revenge. This is very much the latter.
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‘Want me to take a message? Sure!’: Coworker refuses to take her own calls, employee maliciously complies and escalates to management

‘Want me to take a message? Sure!’: Coworker refuses to take her own calls, employee maliciously complies and escalates to management

No one enjoys taking calls at work, but that doesn't mean you should offload those responsibilities on your coworkers. That's an easy recipe for making enemies on the job. At this office, everyone has to take the occasional call from disgruntled customers, and in this instance, we don't have a situation where the customer was the problem for once. Instead, we have a coworker who always happens to be
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