FAIL Blog
Advertisement

workplace-stories

Micromanager threatens employee if he sees him wearing headphones in the office again, so employee invests in invisible earbuds

Micromanager threatens employee if he sees him wearing headphones in the office again, so employee invests in invisible earbuds

Always be careful with the words you say at work, folks! This micromanager was so annoyed by his employee wearing headphones in the office simply because he had to call his nice twice on one occasion. Talk about a power trip! In this day and age, nearly everyone wears headphones in offices to focus. Plus, the employee's line of work never involves serious or dangerous circumstances that would require him not to wear headphones. So when the boss told the employee he never wanted to see him weari…
View List
'There are rats in the kitchen': 30 employees and servers share the industry secrets their bosses do not want them to reveal

'There are rats in the kitchen': 30 employees and servers share the industry secrets their bosses do not want them to reveal

In every industry, there are things that folks outside of said industry would not necessarily want to know about. For instance, if you're eating at a restaurant and you learn that they don't clean the kitchen nearly enough, you might never want to eat there ever again. If you work at a company and you learn that the truth behind who gets promoted and who doesn't has absolutely nothing to do with merit, you might be discouraged. But like all secrets, the truth is bound to come out, and while it…
View List
Advertisement
‘I stopped coming into the office’: HR never approves employee’s Work From Home requests, he stops coming in anyway

‘I stopped coming into the office’: HR never approves employee’s Work From Home requests, he stops coming in anyway

It’s always amusing when employers seem to go out of their way to make it seem like going into the office matters to them… and then as it turns out, they don’t even have the bandwidth to monitor their so-called policies properly. Here, we have a company that kept ramping up their “return to work” policies to more and more mandatory days in the office. Now, this employee had been a hardworking member of the team for several years and had actually seen a boost in productivity with the hybrid and…
View List
‘My union rep will be in touch’: Boss demands employee provide a doctor's note for every sick day but refuses to pay for it, employee gets the demand in writing, then files for grievance 

‘My union rep will be in touch’: Boss demands employee provide a doctor's note for every sick day but refuses to pay for it, employee gets the demand in writing, then files for grievance 

The beautiful thing about being an employee is that there is a contract for everything. Once you've gotten through a few places of work, you understand that everything you ever agreed on with your employer should be written down in your contract, that both the employee and the employer sign on. Once things are written down and secured, your employers can try as they might, but taking advantage of you should not be possible, and that is one important lesson you can learn from this Reddit story.…
View List
‘I gave my answer and that’s that’: Employee refuses boss’s insulting request to stay late to paint the office

‘I gave my answer and that’s that’: Employee refuses boss’s insulting request to stay late to paint the office

If it’s not within your job description, you should have a right to say no. This employee was not a professional painter by any means, and yet, his boss seemed to have the audacity to ask him to stay late to paint the office before the owners came to visit. Now, at the very least, he offered overtime pay, but he even suggested that the Redditor bring his wife so she could be another set of hands as well (mind you, the original poster’s wife is not an employee there). Thankfully, OP had enough c…
View List
Advertisement
Manager rescinds candidate's job offer after he demands they start working the next day, which made candidate laugh at his face: ‘I thought it was a joke’

Manager rescinds candidate's job offer after he demands they start working the next day, which made candidate laugh at his face: ‘I thought it was a joke’

When people usually start looking for a new job, the one thing they have to be mindful of is constantly being available on their phones. You always have to be ready to take calls from hiring managers, and every phone call might start the path that leads to a serious trajectory in your life. When one gets the call that they got the job, it is usually accompanied by a lot of happy emotions, unless there is something fishy about the call, like what happened in this Reddit story. When the hiring ma…
View List
work workplace employment Job workplace discussion in the workplace workplace-stories jobs malicious compliance workplace malicious compliance employee customer service technology technical difficulties Tech

Boss demands software service rep stick to the script causing client catastrophe: 'My boss said, "Just follow the script"… so I did—all the way to a million-dollar client meltdown'

It really is something to marvel at how managers can repeatedly forget the importance of a human touch when it comes to dealing with clients. Hokey business theory and overconfidence are no match for good relationships and experience at your side. Yet, time and time again, new managers come marching on the scene, insecure about their place in their new role—maybe due to their lack of experience in the industry—overcompensating for that by making broad, sweeping changes, ignoring the pleas very…
View List
Selfish coworker throws tantrum at work bestie for not throwing her a going away party: 'I did nothing. Her last day came and went'

Selfish coworker throws tantrum at work bestie for not throwing her a going away party: 'I did nothing. Her last day came and went'

Let this story serve as a friendly reminder that your coworkers are not required to go out of their way for you. Here, we have a selfish employee who announced their retirement six months prior to their last day on the job. She assumed that their “work bestie” would organize a going away party for them
View List
Advertisement
workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employment-discussion job work coworkers job seeker workplace job interview interview employment in the workplace - 37492229

Job candidate laughs in the face of interviewer after their terrible offer: 'I didn't mean to I just burst out laughing'

When you've suffered through job hunting and interview processes to finally make it to the point of an offer, it's disheartening to realize that the wool has been pulled over your eyes… That there's actually been no chance at a job at all: they're just fishing to find someone desperate enough for a job that they can be properly exploited. Still, it's better than actually starting the job before the red flags start to pop up—at least marginally. This candidate reached the point of actually laugh…
View List
boss workplace-stories jobs job bosses work coworkers scientists update data workplace science - 37585925

Update: 'My boss has lied to the CEOs': New employee questions industry standards at their workplace as workers become "extremely selective" about what they tell higher-ups

The real world is nothing like school, but this person was concerned that they totally underestimated the whole industry they were working in . On the big wide world of the internet, there are some posts that gain a lot of attention and become legendary. Sometimes people tell stories that are so juicy and so well-written that the internet is just holding its collective breath, waiting for that update to come in. This is one of those times! U/biotinylated wrote this fascinating tale about their…
View List
 boss workplace-stories jobs job bosses work coworkers workplace quitting quitting work satisfying quitting story quitting story quit i quit coworker terrible coworkers employee employees working work stories

'No one else can or will do my job... and I'm about to quit with no notice': 15+ Employees who had the pettiest ways of getting back at their bosses

Don't get upset, get even! You can do this in many areas of your life, workplace included. Sometimes, though, getting even means quitting your job or leaving your boss stranded at a critical moment… and it feels so good! You'll learn in life that there's a certain type of boss who is particularly helpless, yet they still need their employees for everything. They'll demand perfection while messing everything up themselves. They want their employees to work as much as humanly possible, while they…
View List
Advertisement
Employee stands up for themselves when boss reaches out to him after working hours solely to belittle him, refuses to have his boundaries overstepped

‘‘Can I set some boundaries here?’: Boss starts company group chat to text employees outside of working hours, one employee is fed up with boss's entitlement and fires back

It's called a 9-5 for a reason!
View List
'Time is money': New boss enforces efficiency policy, backfires as employees start making mistakes, boss's job is on the line

'Time is money': New boss enforces efficiency policy, backfires as employees start making mistakes, boss's job is on the line

Sometimes, the best kind of leadership is stepping back when things are working perfectly fine. Here, we have a new boss who came from a more fast-paced startup environment. He decided that the best way to get his team members to like him was by enforcing an entirely new policy without their input that would prioritize efficiency over everything else, including quality. This was the kind of guy who didn't like any hint of hesitation, so this Redditor complied, albeit maliciously. He knew that a…
View List
work workplace employment Job Jobs workplace discussion in the workplace employment issues antiwork Horrible Bosses workplace-stories jobs employment-discussion job employee employees overworked-employees new job hiring job candidate job seeker interview

'I was hired and fired within the span of 3 hours': New employee fired three hours after being hired and shown around the company's offices

The interview process is a long and arduous one for both sides, really, and the last thing anyone wants is for their time to be wasted after such a long process. The relief that comes after simultaneously finally securing a role or finally having someone to fill an empty position on the team is understated, turning energies next towards developing and furthering the burgeoning relationship. While you can expect a lot of anxiety on the first day on the part of the candidate, the last thing you e…
View List
Advertisement
 aita Child chair work workplace Jobs job Boss bosses coworkers workplace-stories

'[She] said we needed to talk about how I “spoke to Nina’s child"': 20-year-old employee gets criticized by boss and coworker for scolding coworker's 9-year-old kid

So much for the sentiment behind “it takes a village to raise a child"! That's definitely not the thinking at this person's workplace, and it's created an awkward situation between her, a coworker, and that coworker's child . In general, if there are a bunch of adults and a young child, it falls on everyone to look out for that kid . This makes sense for newborns, who have constant needs, and toddlers, who are constantly putting themselves in harm's way. But the older the kid gets, the murkier…
View List
Customer support employee complies with entitled supervisor's suggestion to never go off script, then supervisor gets put on performance review for his suggestion

Arrogant supervisor tells customer support employee to never go off script, so the employee maliciously complies and causes a ‘Million-Dollar Client Meltdown’

"After all, I was just following orders."
View List
Advertisement

Hot Today

Advertisement