Most people in this world fall into two camps: Those out to make things better for everyone and those in it for their own gain and to meet their own ends. Sure, this concept sounds quite reductive (it is), and the reality is things aren't quite so black and white… It's more than likely people will play to both sides depending on their current needs and motivations. Still, ultimately, I maintain that if you distilled people down to their true purpose and intention, you'd find the original statem…

Make sure to read the signs very carefully.

Own up to your mistakes or things can get very messy!

You can ignore a contract all you want, but that doesn't stop the contract from existing. It's a pitfall that many a worker has fallen into… and a few bosses have had this problem too, especially u/Altrissa's boss at an oil and gas automation company. Up next, this construction worker tried to warn his boss that a rain storm was brewing, but his boss wouldn't let him move anything, and the result was… “The concrete bags … began to harden into just big rocks.”

PTO is yours to use at your own discretion.

This IT department tried to warn their leaders that they were about to spend a lot of money, but they just wouldn't listen. Every company tries to save money as best they can, though some are better at the task than others. It's incredible how many companies bleed money by overpaying their higher-ups, not watching how much money is being spent on clients, or just being bad at keeping finance employees employed. Not to mention that departments can get overwhelmed and let things slip through the…

There was a time and a place when staff retention was an organization's top priority, and it was a point of pride and honor to have and care for long-standing employees. My grandfather worked for the same company his entire life—though he was famously mocked towards the end of his career by a notorious executive (who would go on to publicly defraud the large corporation for millions.) My father was nearly the same, working for the same organization from before I was born until his retirement wi…

Messing with a bartender is never a good idea. If you're a customer, befriending your local bartender can be a game changer (and considerably cheaper if you're playing things right). In this case, however, we have a restaurant manager who truly underestimated how valuable his top bartender was. Firstly, the manager disregarded his commitment and dedication to the restaurant for years, so the bartender went off and got a promotion and pay raise at a busier establishment. He put in his one week n…

If an employer expects their employees to respect the schedule by always arriving at their shifts and always being on time, then they should show the same level of respect to the employees' time and schedule. That means that canceling shifts for employees “just because” is not a valid excuse and is definitely not respectable, especially if they cancel someone's shift only 10 minutes before it is supposed to start, causing the employee to still go through their commute. We believe that the emplo…

The majority of workers fantasize about taking business trips. You are free to follow your own career path and see different cultures around the globe. Nonetheless, when an employee travels only for work, it is customary, if not required, for the company to cover the necessary costs to ensure the worker enjoys a pleasant stay. So, how would you respond if the business declined to cover necessities such as food? The story below is an account of a frustrated worker. The original poster (OP) descr…

Imagine being such a micromanager that you feel the need to enforce what music your employees can listen to while they work. As I am sure you are all well aware, music is one of the few things that can provide momentum and levity through the difficult monotony of the workday. What's more, the employees in this scenario are construction workers. They have to do tough manual labor, oftentimes in the heat, day in and day out. If they want to listen to music on a stereo while they work, they should…

This employee has been watching too much Grey’s Anatomy . After discovering that her intern was having an office romance with a senior associate, she thought that the best way to handle the scenario and to “stay out of it” was to go around confronting both parties and starting more drama. The best part is how folks in the comments section were quick to call out the flaws in her logic about “pretty privilege,” a phrase she used when confronting her intern. People accused the associate of being j…

“I have dealt with a lot of people and you are downright nasty and disrespectful.”

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

This one goes out to all the people-pleasers out there. If you’re someone who consistently de-prioritizes your own needs in favor of what is best for someone else, you may have found yourself in a similar work-related conundrum as this employee. She recently had her first full-time position at a startup and was quickly taking on far too many tasks and responsibilities after the person who trained her quit without much warning. It was not long before the employee started experiencing a serious c…

This caretaker had to wield that phrase that should be a warning to any boss: “Can I have that in writing, please?” As an employer, that should immediately make you do a double take. It should make you think, “Hmm, why does my employee want to document this order?” Perhaps they've already had some reservations about it, or they see something you've missed. No matter, though, because that type of boss dislikes listening to employees. They think that they're superior in their role, and that their…