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toxic-workplace

'He enjoys firing people': Airline service provider's PTO retroactively denied by conflict-friendly new manager, employee claps back

'He enjoys firing people': Airline service provider's PTO retroactively denied by conflict-friendly new manager, employee claps back

There is nothing like a new manager coming in and messing up the structure and workflow that was functioning so well for literally everyone else. It's a classic conundrum that can manifest itself across all industries. That being said, it becomes particularly infuriating when these sudden changes affect you personally. This airline service provider submitted a PTO request for the Holiday season way back in October. The request was approved and all was well. But the new manager, who apparently w…
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'[Boss] expected her employees to share beds': Principal demands teachers share beds for mandatory unpaid work trip, one teacher refuses, gets reprimanded

'[Boss] expected her employees to share beds': Principal demands teachers share beds for mandatory unpaid work trip, one teacher refuses, gets reprimanded

There are so many potential red flags when it comes to work trips. Let's start with expenses. If it's not all-expense paid, there better be a good reason. That doesn't mean the flight and hotels. I'm talking breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, and snacks. That's right, we workers are not playing around anymore. Then there's the issue of the quality of the hotel. Do not settle for your boss getting some janky old room at the nearest motel. The situation needs to be just as convenient and nice for…
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'Employer is trying [...] to force me to resign': Boss tries to cheat employee out of unemployment compensation, also denies PTO request

'Employer is trying [...] to force me to resign': Boss tries to cheat employee out of unemployment compensation, also denies PTO request

Someone make sure this employee is getting in touch with a lawyer ASAP. If you are new to the workforce, please take this unsolicited advice from this group of complete non-experts here at FAIL Blog: do not ever let your boss try to pressure you into signing a resignation letter. If you have or have ever had a boss try to get away with this nonsense, please know that they could not be more transparent in their ridiculous attempts to get out of providing any unemployment compensation. Now, there…
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'We didn't sell enough to pay you guys': Bakery owner late on payroll, employee calls her out, boss send condescending text

'We didn't sell enough to pay you guys': Bakery owner late on payroll, employee calls her out, boss sends condescending text

Imagine your boss not paying you and then giving you a lecture about your inability to handle finances well! It takes a special kind of cognitive dissonance and tunnel vision to have that level of audacity. It's the kind of narcissistic “main character syndrome” behavior we have seen in a lot of anecdotes about horrible bosses here at FAIL Blog. What's especially amusing here, however, is that when this boss was backed into a corner about being late on payroll, instead of owning up to her mista…
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'I have cost the company $12. I quit': Employee shamed for scanning food item incorrectly, quits on the spot, managers have to scramble

'I have cost the company $12. I quit': Employee shamed for scanning food item incorrectly, quits on the spot, managers have to scramble

Managers who make a big fuss over small mistakes should be careful. Otherwise, they might end up losing all their employees one by one. No one is saying that being detail-oriented on the job is not important. Of course, it's important. But there's a way to motivate employees to pay attention to those details without making them feel like nothing they do is correct. Moreover, it's also equally important (if not more so) to empower your employees and make them feel welcome, at the very least. Her…
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'This led to them doubling down on their stupidity': Business docks employees' pay for leaving work 59 minutes early, employee calls their bluff and takes them to court

'This led to them doubling down on their stupidity': Business docks employees' pay for leaving work 9 minutes early, employee calls their bluff and takes them to court

This company was great at first, but slowly became too toxic for one employee. Cultivating a professional and pleasant atmosphere in a workplace takes effort from every person in the building. If employees are happy, they'll probably be friendlier, which will make collaboration easy. When employees are dissatisfied at their job, though, cliques start to form between different branches of the business, and employees might harbor resentment towards management . After all, if management is in char…
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'My coworker reported me': Coworker tries to get daycare worker fired, boss almost does until they check security footage

'My coworker reported me': Coworker tries to get daycare worker fired, boss almost does until they check security footage

There's no greater sign of a toxic workplace than having a coworker looking over your shoulder at all times, waiting to see you mess up. Oftentimes, these are the folks who are threatened by someone else's presence, especially someone they think is the competition. However, just as it was in this situation, the employee did virtually nothing wrong and the coworker was just seeing what they wanted to see. To me, this phenomenon feels reminiscent of high school behavior. I remember when a classma…
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'Can I get paid all that I would make here in advance?': 20+ crazy questions job candidates actually asked

'Can I get paid all that I would make here in advance?': 20+ crazy questions job candidates actually asked

Who hasn't messed up an interview before? I'm sure we can all agree that everything is a learning experience, and sometimes you have to learn by making mistakes. We all know that mistakes can build character, blah blah blah, but really? If I could go back, I would erase all the mistakes I made in job interviews. I don't think those mistakes led me to where I am today. I think that this line of thinking borders on delusional. The truth is that sometimes, you don't think before you speak and you…
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'What a complete waste of my time': Manager tries to get employee written up for forgetting to take notes, manager's boss intervenes and fires her

'What a complete waste of my time': Micromanager tries to get employee written up for forgetting to take notes, manager's boss intervenes and fires her

Some managers spend way too much time micromanaging than getting anything productive done. We all know what it's like to have a manager who seemingly has made it their only job to watch you like a hawk. Perhaps that intense vigilance is just in your head… just kidding, you're probably not wrong. Most people with authority like to spend more time flexing that authority than using it for good. In fact, when I have found myself in a position like this employee, I don't even care if the manager use…
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‘Don’t go through them too fast’: Supervisor tells employee to slow down productivity, cue malicious compliance

‘Don’t go through them too fast’: Supervisor tells employee to slow down productivity, cue malicious compliance

Supervisors should always be careful what they wish for when providing instructions to employees. This is especially true when it applies to college students with minimal work experience, who absolutely will follow everything their supervisors tell them word-for-word. I remember in my first internship I was getting coffee for my boss and had gotten so used to his very specific order that I literally froze at Starbucks when one time, they did not have his order. I simply could not function or th…
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'I went above and beyond and was awarded an exceptional yearly performance review': Company cancels $1,500 Christmas bonuses just 10 days prior to distribution

'I went above and beyond and was awarded an exceptional yearly performance review': Company cancels $1,500 Christmas bonuses just 10 days prior to distribution

There's no better gift to get from a company than a Christmas bonus at the end of the year. Well, a bonus is nice at any time of the year, but since December can be an expensive month, it's extra nice to get a little bit of help around the holidays. I know not all companies can afford to give out bonuses at Christmas, and that's fair, but what's not fair is what happened to this OP.
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'She is a textbook narcissist': Top Coworker Stories of the Year

'She is a textbook narcissist': Top Nightmare Coworker Stories of the Year

A terrible coworker can completely ruin your year. So if you feel neither here nor there about the people in your office, let's just say that you have quite a lot to be thankful for, and if that's not apparent, look no further than this collection of nightmare anecdotes compiled from Reddit's r/coworkerstories subreddit. Some of these stories range from coworkers with no boundaries to coworkers who keep shirking their responsibilities to the ones who you discovered get paid more for doing the s…
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'Don't fire me so you can hire your nephew': IT guy forced to train unqualified nepo baby to replace him, nephew tanks the company, boss gets fired

'Don't fire me so you can hire your nephew': IT guy forced to train unqualified nepo baby to replace him, nephew tanks the company, boss gets fired

If you feel taken for granted more than anyone else you know, you're probably the parent of a teenager or you work in IT. Even worse, you might be both. Now, I have never worked at a company big enough to have an official IT person, but I know how grateful my coworkers and I would be if we did. One has to wonder where this lack of proper gratitude comes from considering how lost we would be without the technologically competent folks in our lives and especially in our workplace environments. No…
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'You failed to pay me but I'm the bad guy?': Employee fired for complaining about a bounced paycheck from her employer

'You failed to pay me but I'm the bad guy?': Employee fired for complaining about a bounced paycheck from her employer

We all look forward to payday. Whether by direct deposit, check, or cash, depositing the hard-earned money and seeing your banking balance go up is extremely satisfying. You put in the grueling hours of work, so you deserve to finally be compensated. But has your place of employment ever failed to pay you? Or what about this: they gave you a check for the hours you put in, only for the check to bounce when you go to deposit it.
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'We don't need you, why don't you just quit': Karen and Kevin diner owners challenge overworked server to quit, server maliciously complies

'We don't need you, why don't you just quit': Karen and Kevin diner owners challenge overworked server to quit, server maliciously complies

Who doesn't love a classic “you don't know what you've got till it's gone” story? Here, we have a server fresh out of school who was constantly manipulated and treated poorly by her Karen and Kevin bosses. While I have never shared the particulars of a story, I do empathize with the situation as someone who has worked for ungrateful clients. In this case, I was working in a client-facing role and was already swamped that I did not need this particular person's business. When he started making u…
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'CEO [told] me to help them with my old accounts or he'll sue me': CEO ignores former employee's warnings about outdated system, leads to decade-spanning malicious compliance

'CEO [told] me to help them with my old accounts or he'll sue me': CEO ignores former employee's warnings about outdated system, leads to decade-spanning malicious compliance

Some employers refuse to hear the truth, and if you're lucky, they will have to experience the consequences of ignoring your constant warnings. We all know what it's like to be a disregarded employee. Sure, most bosses say that constructive feedback is welcome no matter what your position in the company is, but in reality, you are likely to be ignored if you are at the bottom of the food chain. When this happens repeatedly, it soon becomes exponentially clear that the problems you are noticing…
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