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workplace-stories

‘Don’t contact me again': Boss demands unpaid intern to work extra hours, intern quits on the spot and blocks boss's number

‘Don’t contact me again': Boss demands unpaid intern to work extra hours, intern quits on the spot and blocks boss's number

Unpaid internships should not be a thing. No matter how small the job that they are doing, if it is a job, they should be getting paid for it. The whole concept of unpaid internships only allows employers to take advantage of young people who desperately need to gain experience in order to get a real job, and that's just wrong. Employers can afford to pay them even a minimum hourly rate, instead of bossing them around for nothing whatsoever. This is why I was extremely proud of the intern in th…
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'He deleted the entire company's website by accident': 20+ Foolish managers whose employees roll their eyes at their antics

'He deleted the entire company's website by accident': 20+ Foolish managers whose employees roll their eyes at their antics

If you think your boss is goofy, just wait until you hear about how other peoples' bosses act.
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Guy gets passed over for a promised promotion in favor of manager's buddy: 'SAY WHAT BRUH?!'

Guy gets passed over for a promised promotion in favor of manager's buddy: 'SAY WHAT BRUH?!'

Who wouldn't react this way? Sometimes, people will mistreat you so egregiously that you have no choice but to drop all the niceties and call this person out point blank. That's exactly what happened to this Redditor , who worked in a body shop and had expressed to his manager over several years that he wanted the opportunity to take over for painting when his much older coworker inevitably retires. The promotion would not only result in a pay raise, but it was also far more in line with what t…
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‘I handed you my two weeks' notice… two weeks ago': Boss schedules employee to work even after they quit their job, resulting in a dispute when they don't show up

‘I handed you my two weeks' notice… two weeks ago': Boss schedules employee to work even after they quit their job, resulting in a dispute when they don't show up

Bosses don't have to be nice to their employees. Sometimes to gain respect you have to be firm with your employees, and they probably not going to like you for that, which is completely fine by a lot of employers, as long as things get done on the job. But still, many bosses managed to create a successful work environment while still having a good relationship with their employees, which is truly admirable. That being said, even if your boss isn't nice to you, there are still parts of the job t…
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CEO revokes new employees' job contract, costs himself millions: 'He had a "bad feeling" about me'

CEO revokes new employees' job contract, costs himself millions: 'He had a "bad feeling" about me'

This CEO just made a huge mistake . Better still, he has no idea what he's done, or how colossal his mistake has become. When you finally get a job with a nice salary , it can transform your life overnight. You can pay off your debts, stop worrying about making rent, and have a little extra to treat yourself with. It makes it feel like all those years of working unpaid internships or minimum-wage jobs have finally paid off. This worker found a startup company that was willing to double their cu…
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IT worker charges 16 hours to 2 hour job when management instates new painstaking time-logging system: '[The] client refused to pay'

If you've ever worked a job that relies on timesheets, you know how this goes… Management (usually of the upper variety) wants to keep better track of how and where staff are spending their time, they pressure staff to charge out more hours to jobs, trying to keep them from posting “unproductive” uncharged hours. Suddenly, clients are getting charged more hours, and therefor paying more, for services implement The really interesting thing about management wanting to better track
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'You will respect me': 47-year-old Nurse Karen throws tantrum at younger coworker, embarrasses herself in front of a patient

'You will respect me': 47-year-old Nurse Karen throws tantrum at younger coworker, embarrasses herself in front of a patient

Having a Karen coworker feels like going into battle every single day of the work week. You have to walk into your place of work ready and prepared to be lectured, condescended to, and poorly treated. If the Karen in question is your equal, don't worry: she'll still talk down to you no matter what. Having a Karen for a coworker is largely about picking and choosing when to defend yourself and when to be the bigger person and let her nonsense go in one ear and out the other. Generally, you want…
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Worker denied 2 days of leave because of strict policy, follows same policy and gets a month off instead: 'It was a great month'

Strict adherence to policy is a double-edged sword; if you demand unquestioning obedience to the rules when it benefits you, then you need to hold that same zealous ideal when things aren't stacked to go your way. Unfortunately, we humans seem to really struggle with this and love nothing more than changing rules, or our interpretation of them, to suit us best—sometimes without realizing we're doing so. After all, we're all the heroes of our own stories, and we have the uncanny ability to hold…
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‘I'm done': Overworked employee finds out that the job they've been hired to do doesn't exist, boss was using them to do her own job

‘I'm done': Overworked employee finds out that the job they've been hired to do doesn't exist, boss was using them to do her own job

Some stories make it really hard to decide where to begin explaining what is going on, but let's give it a go. The person who shared this story (OP) has been working with a certain company for about 7 months. From the first day, it was clear something was off, as OP's boss kept giving them more and more responsibilities, even though they were new, and definitely didn't get extra pay for all the additional work they got. Then, other employees kept quitting, and guess who had to take over their w…
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'Good luck paying [your] employees!': Guy refuses to fix payroll problem until he gets paid more, 50 workers walk out

'Good luck paying [your] employees!': Guy refuses to fix payroll problem until he gets paid more, 50 workers walk out

This is what happens when you try to manipulate the employees you rely on the most! So many managers think they can get away with unnecessary outbursts, lectures, and mind games, yet what they don't anticipate is what could happen if the employee they are currently messing with just decides to up and leave one day. Here, we have an employee who was voluntarily fixing any bugs in the company's sister without extra payment as this was not expressly a part of his job description. His new manager d…
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Clever job candidate outsmarts potential employers who post job listings that don't exist so they can use their assignments, getting them to pay thousands of dollars in compensation

Clever job candidate outsmarts potential employers who post fake job listings to collect free assignments, getting them to pay thousands of dollars in compensation

Finding work is never an easy task. It would be an understatement to say that there are times during the interview process when it feels overwhelming—it appears like a never-ending process that only the lucky few are able to complete. The story that follows centers on a clever lawyer who happens to stumble upon a job posting seeking a research lawyer. The Original Poster (OP), a research lawyer by profession, applied for the job immediately. Upon submitting his application, he was requested to…
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'Red flags start appearing from the very first minute I arrive': Startup hires employee for impossible project, then vows to cut their salary in half

'Red flags start appearing from the very first minute I arrive': Startup hires employee for impossible project, then vows to cut their salary in half

This person got roped into a job that was full of red flags from the very beginning. But when you're a college dropout desperate for work, those red flags might be easy to ignore. You've got to be careful with startup companies . While some are reputable and have bright futures ahead of them, most fail. You've probably heard the old adage that about 90% of startups fail, and that most fail within their first five years of business. That's because some are created by people like Chad, the boss i…
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'No': Middle manager demands contractor attend "mandatory" meeting, contractor replies with a simple "no"

Contracting is a tough gig, yet it is becoming increasingly common as companies seek to shift further towards a low-cost, low-obligation workforce. The thing is, as a contractor, you have fewer benefits and less guarantee of income, but while that uncertainty can be hard to manage, it makes up for that in flexibility. See, when you're a contractor, your “employer” (clients) really can't make you do anything outside of the contracted production they're paying you for. They can't set when or how…
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‘Fix your mess’: IT worker skillfully complies with micromanager, puts in 16 hours on a two-hour task, resulting in client's refusal to pay the hourly rate

‘Fix your mess’: IT worker skillfully complies with micromanager, puts in 16 hours on a two-hour task, resulting in client's refusal to pay the hourly rate

Large companies function like machines. The managers and employees are in charge of keeping the machine operating as efficiently and profitably as possible. But occasionally, people become so engrossed in their work that they lose sight of what needs to get done right now and what can wait. In the story below, a devoted IT worker has had enough of his supervisors' ridiculous expectations. Since the Original Poster (OP) has been employed by the same company for quite some time, he is familiar wi…
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'You want petty? How's this?': Guy gets back at annoying coworker by making the elevator stops at every other floor

'You want petty? How's this?': Guy gets back at annoying coworker by making the elevator stop at every other floor

Everyone has had an annoying coworker at some point in their professional career. You know, that one person you irrationally dislike and who always makes you struggle to not roll your eyes visibly in their face. There are a myriad of qualities that can lead to becoming that annoying coworker. There's the one who thinks they're slightly senior than you are based on absolutely zero evidence. There's the one who plays loud music, eats obnoxiously, or types like they want everyone to pay attention…
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'I cost my ex-employer $500,000': Boss makes employee take on the work of a whole team, rejects his request for a raise, employee makes the company tank

'I cost my ex-employer $500,000': Boss makes employee take on the work of a whole team, rejects his request for a raise, employee makes the company tank

Let this story serve as a friendly reminder to always get it done in writing, folks! Unfortunately, this employee learned that the hard way but was still able to walk away triumphant at the end of this toxic workplace drama. When the Redditor's coworker had to leave a big project in order to take care of his father, their boss asked the Redditor take the lead on the project moving forward. The original poster should have seen this as a red flag in and of itself, as his employer was essentially…
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