Let this story serve as a friendly reminder that no matter what anyone says about it, you are entitled to discuss your salary with others in the workplace. Of course, that kind of transparency is exactly the opposite of what your employers want you to do. That kind of transparency, however, can expose systemic flaws that all employees should be aware of regardless of whether or not those in charge want you to know about it. Here , we have an employee who knew his rights and advocated for himsel…

Working in IT often means being constantly undervalued and under-appreciated. This, of course, should not come with the territory, considering nothing could run properly without a functioning and knowledgable IT department, but alas, other employees seem to take advantage of what it means to actually have a good IT guy. Unfortunately for this Redditor , he had to endure the classic biases against IT on top of a totally unprofessional new CFO who was gradually replacing everyone around her with…

No one wants to end their year at work on a sour note like this. Of course, annual performance reviews are bound to cause some sort of anxiety among most employees, especially those who are preparing to advocate for a raise. Unfortunately for this employee, she was met with total rejection, and it only gets worse from there. This Redditor had been at the company for over three years without a significant pay raise during her time there. Not only was the CEO complimenting her work all the time d…

The music people choose to listen to in order to get through the workday is a private decision. It's not meant to be publicized for all your employers and coworkers to see. No one needs to know how much you listen to Taylor Swift or the Wicked soundtrack. Unfortunately for this Redditor , he and his team of 30 or so coworkers were asked to share their Spotify Wrapped screenshots with the whole team as part of a team-building exercise. This would be an immediate no for me. If I want to share tha…

Who knew that efficiency and productivity would not always be applauded in the workplace? It's the kind of awakening most young folks get when they land their first jobs. Not everything is actually about the work you do, although it should be. In fact, it should be that employees should be able to go in, get the job done, and leave on their own time, but I suppose it's not worth dreaming too big. Unfortunately, most work environments run on optics, as this student worker would quickly discover.…

It's not easy socializing with former employers, especially when things did not end on a good note. Sometimes, you feel you can transcend any previous tension, but the reality is that it is not easy for those old wounds to heal. Here, we have a former employer who pushed this Redditor to quit on the spot by pointing out every little flaw and mistake at work, even when they were entirely unnecessary. Now, years later, the original poster (OP) was asked by his ex-boss if he could join OP's Dungeo…

‘Tis the season to receive an underwhelming Christmas bonus from your out-of-touch employer! Sometimes, it’s a basket of stale cookies. Sometimes, it's a water bottle with the company logo on it that you can't even put in the dishwasher. And sometimes, it's a $25 gift card to the AMC movie theater near you, which for this employee , was a full 1.5 hours away and in an entirely other state. First of all, anyone who knows anything about the state of moviegoing today would implicitly understand th…

It's the time of year to get disappointed by your employers when they fail to give you the Christmas bonus you most likely rightfully deserve. There is nothing like the month of December to feel simultaneously grateful and jaded. On the one hand, you're planning to spend time with loved ones, which in and of itself requires figuring out logistics, purchasing gifts, and negotiating difficult personalities. On the other hand, you're looking forward to some much-needed time off work, which in and…

Some bosses call emergency meetings because of a work crisis, some schedule one-on-ones to discuss important matters, and others just want to start some drama. In theory, folks on the internet would align their sensibilities with this toxic employer, but in practice, no one wants their boss sewing seeds of doubt in your brain. That's exactly what this boss did to a manager who had been working for just three weeks and was buried in tasks and responsibilities. On top of this very difficult trans…

A good manager keeps their word. This applies to all aspects of management, whether it's expectations and responsibilities for employees or respecting employees' rights and boundaries. Here, we have a coordinator at an airline service provider who wanted to take off work for the Holidays and had been saving up his PTO to finally use in December. He followed standard protocol, put in his request months in advance, and that request was rightfully accepted. Flash forward, of course, to December it…

Sometimes, the only way to properly explain yourself to your micromanaging employer is by sticking to your principles. This employee had actively been trying to gain management experience over the years but was repeatedly denied the opportunity, which already left them feeling undervalued, under-appreciated, and underpaid. Matters were made worse after the employee , who was working checkout at the store, noticed an error when scanning a customer's item. They replaced the item with something si…

"As for me, not only did I get a promotion a few weeks later, but my spreadsheet became a bit of an office legend."

Sometimes, the only way to prove that you're a valuable employee is by showing and not telling. After all, most folks need to see things to believe them, and this employee had spent the better part of the last five years at their company automating systems so that tasks were far easier to complete for everyone involved, including their technologically challenged coworkers. However, clearly, their value was underseen, unnoticed, and not reflected in their salary. After an office Karen decided th…

Sometimes, there is only so much poor treatment one can take. It is an unfortunate reality that in certain workplace environments, employees have to expect a certain level of vigilance from management that can, at times, border on micromanaging or even callous. However, the greatest indicator that a workplace is run by decent folks is how they treat their employees when they are going through hardship and need support. In this instance, we have an employee who was in the midst of a health scare…

Applying for jobs is always a brutal process, and most candidates need all the help they can get. That's why it's especially upsetting that this former employee who was recently let go received a savage reference from their former employer, who had made it seem like they were on good terms. Of course, if they weren't, the Redditor would never have listed their ex-boss as a reference in the first place. Let's also take this opportunity to remind ourselves how references can be useful and how the…

Shoutout to all the good managers out there! It's far too common these days to hear about toxic management and the enforcement of bogus new policies that actively hurt employees while benefiting companies at large. So when we do come across a story where a decent manager defies these types of unnecessary rules and regulations in the name of protecting their more or less powerless employees, we have to be grateful for the few nice authority figures that are still out there. Here, we have a manag…