“Rules for me but not for thee” is never more accurate than when dealing with C-suite executives and their return-to-office plans.

When it comes to working from home or working in the office, a lot of employers insist that their staff work from the office—even when they could easily do their tasks from home. Especially when their work involves handling sensitive information which means the devices need to be kept safe and secure. Still, what constitutes “sensitive” is a grey area and when you're a middle manager of a retail operation there's probably a good chance that the information you're handling really isn't all that…

No one needs that much paperwork! This admin worker relayed a story from earlier in their career when a snarky Karen coworker started to complain about “missing documents.” She would ultimately come to regret that she ever made a complaint in the first place. Essentially, it was the Redditor's job to follow a document distribution matrix model to ensure that all departments within their oil terminal company received the necessary paperwork regarding Bills of Lading. Now, the Redditor had been w…

This is what it looks like when justice is served. This law partner may have been working in the industry for decades, but his outdated way of approaching workplace dynamics became a major problem. It seems like he's the kind of boss who chooses one lowly employee to direct all of his anger and frustration toward, as if there is nothing said person can do to meet his desires sufficiently. Unfortunately for this summer associate , they became the target of all his antics. Most of this unfair tre…

There is a fine line between a wronged customer advocating for themselves and an entitled one demanding special treatment. If you're a self-aware human, every so often you will find yourself in situations when you come up against the “system” and have to demand to be treated fairly. As you stand up for yourself, you may feel your body contorting into that of a Karen, but if this is a rare occurrence for you, then you're probably not like this customer. This dude thought he could call up the cus…

Here's a good rule of thumb: if an employee is handling confidential information, then it's probably not a good idea to let them do their work out in the open. This accountant tried to warn his new manager that it wasn't a good idea for him to cover the front desk on this particular workday, as he was doing payroll (and was the only person in the company capable of handling payroll). It wasn't that the accountant felt “above it" in any way; he knew that from time to time, the accountants in his…

Companies have the uncanny ability to approach an issue with solemn interest and earnest, particularly when safety is concerned, carefully documenting that concern and intention to avoid that issue—giving themselves plenty of paperwork to cover themselves with should the need ever arise. Yet, as soon as the proper solution is presented and the proper safety equipment identified you can bet your bottom dollar that they'll balk and silently go for whatever cheaper model the supplier they're alrea…

If you want someone to be accommodating, it's usually best to accommodate them too. This sounds like some sort of golden rule “treat others how you want to be treated” but really in a professional setting it's just common sense. Still, time and time again, budding new managers make the same mistake, trying to command respect and efficiency

Consistent, persistent, and especially unnecessary noise is an absolute menace when it comes to life in a neighborhood community. Sure, everyone's going to have a need to make noise, and that's just part of life, too. Mowing lawns and other home and garden maintenance are by no means quiet, nor are playing children and outdoor social gatherings. Still, something that happens occasionally can be understood and is thus tolerable, even if it is a slight annoyance. But incessant noise over a sustai…

“if you ever need to refuse to do something in [the] corporate world, don't say you won't do it—accept it and make sure it slows to an excruciating crawl.” Words written by this worker have never been more true, and those who successfully navigate the corporate world find themselves consistently using this tactic to shake off unwanted work without bringing needless attention to themselves. This worker was an employee of a large corporate entity tasked with training employees and managers alike.…

You might think that handling a truckload of cash every day would be an exciting gig, invoking images in your mind of the opening scene of “The Dark Knight” with clowns wearing clown masks and school buses and such being a part of the everyday experience. Well, hate to break it to you, but nothing about working in a bank makes for an exciting gig.

When making demands from someone who you're paying to provide you with a service, you'd do well to be certain that you know what those terms are. See, industries that work for clients on a contract basis have a habit of not notifying you that your additional requests will be incurring additional charges once the original terms of the agreement have already been agreed to. And why would they? You've already agreed to them, so it's fair to assume you already know the cost of what you're requestin…

Let this story serve as yet another example of a situation when the big boss in charge refused to listen to an employee's better judgment and the whole company suffered as a result. This kind of phenomenon happens all the time, but when it happens at a bank, the consequences can be legitimately serious. This head bank teller was typically in charge of ordering bills at the end of every week and tended to order a bit extra so that the branch never seemed strapped for cash. Of course, all that ca…

Teachers are underappreciated… by administrative staff, parents, and even the students they teach. To many, this comes as no surprise and is a well-known fact. When coupled with the fact that teaching also requires a lot of additional after-hours work to create lesson plans and grade assignments, it becomes exhausting work. And that's before we even address the shocking political kerfuffles that often plague schools and entire school districts. Still, there are those silent heroes, those fantas…

Working overtime stinks. The one upside of trading your free time—when you'd normally be at home with your pants off instead of at work—is getting that sweet, sweet time and a half… That is, if you live somewhere in the world where getting increased pay is a legal requirement. If you're unlucky enough to live somewhere where they never bothered to make it a law, you're probably just getting your normal rate… if you're getting paid at all. See, there's a secret third option that some more unscru…

You're going to get things wrong, and that's just a simple truth. There's no way you're going to get through this life without making a simple mistake. Owning that mistake, however, is a skill and one not a lot of people seem to possess—especially when it's your boss. This database admin worked on a team that had a requirement for an on-call rotation. If you've ever been on call, you probably know where this is going… Everything about the on-call system worked well, and the team even had its ow…