The ways in which the Holidays creep into the workplace can result in completely unwanted behavior from coworkers and managers. This can manifest itself at Holiday parties, and in this case, Christmas decoration competitions. This Redditor shared their story via this thread on Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit, chronicling how every year, the various departments at their office participate in a decorating competition. This sounds fun in theory, but in practice, it's just extra work. OP w…

A company's success is dependent on its workers, so you'd think it would be incredibly foolish for an employer to lay off every single member of their staff in some bizarre power play, expecting everyone to turn around and reapply for their roles, grateful for the chance to grovel and endure the unnecessary stress and emotional turmoil of having their livelihood threatened just so their employer could feel sufficiently powerful.

Taking a peek into the life of a contractor as he works to build a restaurant is so interesting. If you don't work as a contractor, you'd have no idea what goes on while people are building a restaurant. By reading this story, you get a good insight into the process: for example, it's not just one group of people who are in charge. Instead, there is a general contractor who is responsible for managing subcontractors who work under the GC's supervision. There might be one person who's in charge…

Here's a friendly reminder that giving two weeks' notice is a courtesy, not a requirement. And if you are met with anger or resistance or any unwanted tension from your employer during those final two weeks, you have absolutely no obligation to stay. This tech worker at a dealer learned that the hard way after being poached by a rival dealer. He was fully transparent to his boss that if the other owner accepted his asking wage, he would consider it but would give his current boss the opportunit…

What do you do when your company, nay—industry—regards employment not as an ongoing arrangement but as a mere rental of skilled labor? Sending you packing as soon as your position has served its most immediate purpose. In truth, it seems short-sighted since, when it comes to programming and development, there will always be a need for ongoing troubleshooting, updates, and improvements—who better to do that than the person who wrote the original program?

This story is a great example of why you should get everything in writing . While that's great advice, it's not always easy to accomplish in real life. For example, if you have a two-hour long meeting with your bosses, and then request everything from that meeting in writing, there's a 99% chance your boss will disregard that request entirely. But you can still get things in writing if you write to your boss something like, “Per our phone conversation, I'll be doing X and Y.” Next up, these peo…

There is nothing like a new manager coming in and messing up the structure and workflow that was functioning so well for literally everyone else. It's a classic conundrum that can manifest itself across all industries. That being said, it becomes particularly infuriating when these sudden changes affect you personally. This airline service provider submitted a PTO request for the Holiday season way back in October. The request was approved and all was well. But the new manager, who apparently w…

No matter how clear the rules of your business are, some customers just won't abide by them. Even when these rules are utterly crucial, some folks either won't understand, or they'll forget. Or, they might just choose to ignore them, like the guy in this malicious compliance story. It doesn't necessarily matter how strong you are when it comes to moving giant bulky items like couches or refrigerators. You certainly need to have some big muscles to move those things, but it's easier if you can u…

This manager was what we call a “seagull manager”: they randomly swoop in to scream and make a mess everywhere before fleeing the scene. Perhaps you've been in a job like these two guys were. As u/RedEd024 writes,

This deli worker was not thrilled about the sanitation standards at their job. Since they worked behind the counter, this worker got to see how the sausage was made, so to speak, because in their case, they were witnessing how rotisserie chickens were being sold. Instead of trashing turkeys that definitely shouldn't have been consumed by the general public, this guy was asked to just put them out for sale. It seems like this is not uncommon. How can bosses just not care if they're putting out f…

One business decided to let their customer support chat staff man the phones without any training… what could go wrong? This story is about the help desk workers who specialize in using the chat feature. Instead of calling up a company, these days, a lot of places will let you instant message with an employee instead. This feature is incredibly convenient. You can get help with your issue while you're at work without having to get up and make a long, drawn out call. You can also get help while…

Someone make sure this employee is getting in touch with a lawyer ASAP. If you are new to the workforce, please take this unsolicited advice from this group of complete non-experts here at FAIL Blog: do not ever let your boss try to pressure you into signing a resignation letter. If you have or have ever had a boss try to get away with this nonsense, please know that they could not be more transparent in their ridiculous attempts to get out of providing any unemployment compensation. Now, there…

Office Christmas parties – you either love ‘em or you hate ’em. Some are awesome, some… not so much. I guess it's the luck of the draw. But have you ever heard of a company making you pay to join the party? Well, that's what happened to the OP. And to top it off, he didn't even get to go. He got fired one hour before the party. Talk about a holiday bummer.

Which bonus would you rather have: a subscription for a monthly jelly delivery, or a pair of socks? There's not a correct answer to that question, but those are two real things that some workers got as holiday bonuses . I never knew that a subscription to a jelly of the month club was such a popular gift. Numerous people cited that as a present their workplace gave them in this post from r/askreddit. That's a cool gift, I suppose, it's good to broaden your horizons and try new things. But you k…

Candidate assignments during the interview process are a constant source of derision in online discussions. While we frequently rant against them, it's logical to reason that there is some reasonable requirement for an employer to be certain that their new hire is capable of doing the job and that they're not likely to become a sticky cog or a liability. Thus, interview assignments make sense to the extent that they test a candidate's aptitude in the knowledge and skills required to do the job.

Imagine your boss not paying you and then giving you a lecture about your inability to handle finances well! It takes a special kind of cognitive dissonance and tunnel vision to have that level of audacity. It's the kind of narcissistic “main character syndrome” behavior we have seen in a lot of anecdotes about horrible bosses here at FAIL Blog. What's especially amusing here, however, is that when this boss was backed into a corner about being late on payroll, instead of owning up to her mista…