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'I applaud your father for... calling their bluff': Employee refutes his job's petty HR team with his own evidence

Imagine working hard for decades for the same company, pushing towards retirement age, only for them to turn around and treat you terribly. Many companies simply do not care about their employee wellbeing, instead, they only care about their bottom line. There was a time where working for a company for decades really meant something — the company could be trusted to care about their employees who were loyal to the business over the years. But these days, it's all about keeping shareholders and…
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'That would be to expensive': Boss boasts about his standing desk but won't let anyone else have one

Standing desks may have become all the rage, but some people can't stand them. Being on your feet all day can be tiring and result in aches that can't wait to be eased by a well-deserved rest. Just ask anyone who works in retail, nursing, or the service industry and has to be on their feet all day. Workers from these sectors are probably permanently bewildered by office workers' obsession with standing. My own experience with standing desks has led me to believe that their sole reason for exist…
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'I got a nice bonus': Dude automates both boss's and boss's boss's job, they get fired

With all the talk of AI and all that, you might be looking at your job nervously and wondering… could an AI do this? You'd hope that automation and new innovation would lead to better working conditions and easier tasks. Still, it's more than likely that your company will cut your job to save a dollar today, even if it costs them tomorrow when the AI fails to replicate the nuance of your work. But what if the shoe was on the other foot? What if, instead of having your job automated by your boss…
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'They tried to write me up': Boss reprimands worker for being twenty-two seconds late, worker phones boss every time they leave home

Living in a world that isn't black or white makes things better for everyone, especially regarding the enforcement of minor infringements. Inflexible policy enforcement begets inflexibility—ask, and you shall receive. If you're going to nitpick the strict enforcement of rules, be ready for a staunch defense using the same reasoning. While punctuality is always a good skill to have in the workplace—being one of the classic ways of showing that you respect other people and their time—it's safe to…
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'I need to get paid on payday': Bartender gets fired and blocked for demanding to be paid on time

Remember that one kid from your high school English class who treated everything like it was a complete joke—to the point of cruelty—never taking or accepting responsibility for any of his actions? Yeah, well, that kid could have very likely gone on to become someone's manager or open their own business. Now there's a terrifying thought. It's like George Carlin famously put it: “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” Well, this bar owner and…
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'Ok, Karen, she's fired. Happy now?': Karen demands girl gets fired from a place she doesn't work

Getting fired from a job where you didn't work is a bit like losing a race you weren't entered into in the first place; it's really hard to be upset about it when you didn't even know you had something at stake. This customer shared their story of witnessing another fellow customer ending up on the wrong end of a stray Karen's fury when they visited a “Wall of Marts” during a trip to the United States. They share their surprise at realizing that the people they had read about in “People of Wall…
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'Quit my job suddenly via email': Worker quits their job because of a bad boss, boss demands they come in and talk face-to-face

Seldom do you quit a job and ever want to go back. It's surprising how the sudden absence of a paycheck removes all desire to set foot there ever again. This is especially true when you quit because of a bad boss or coworker; you would hope never to see them again if you can manage it. When your boss is verbally abusive, going in for one last “face-to-face” discussion is probably the last thing you should do; the last thing you want to do is give them another chance to get in your face or spin…
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supermarket workplace-stories in-the-workplace toxic-workplace workplace-story malicious compliance retail coworkers workplace Horrible Bosses toxic-work-environment - 20475141

'We were now operating on a shoe-string budget so the manager got as much money as they could': Extreme cost saving measure causes costly pricing error

At a certain point, cutting costs to extreme measures will just cost you more in the long run or cause your entire business to fold under its own weight—or both… simultaneously. The short-sighted pursuit of profit is a trap that businesses often fall into—and why not? It's an easy methodology to follow that makes sense and follows logical reasoning: Spend less, earn more. The issue is that you have to spend money to earn money, and not investing in proper resources can cost you more when you ne…
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'He would barely look at anyone after that': Worker gets micromanaging boss fired by writing fake reviews

When you end up in a situation where you're faced with a micromanaging boss, there often aren't a lot of options… HR might not take you seriously or even take your side; you usually won't be in a position where you can outright quit on the spot, and standing up for yourself is usually just going to make your life harder. This means that you may need to resort to alternative means, just as this worker did when they grew tired of their micromanaging boss. They share that, as happens all too often…
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'She got fed up': Manager regrets demanding that retail cashier ask for their transaction approval

Unnecessary rules and processes must be followed to the letter—because some manager who has never actually done the job decided it must be so. As long as they only waste your time, they'll remain in place indefinitely as you're hounded mercilessly about the resulting drop in productivity (thanks to these new processes.) However, as soon as these processes infringe upon the time of the manager who made them, it's miraculous how quickly they can disappear, which means the easiest way to get rid o…
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'Now I'll miss three [days]': Boss demands sick note for one day off, doctor gives them three more

Sometimes your actions to prevent something can bring it into existence as if you're unknowingly fulfilling a prophecy of your own making. That's what happened to this boss, who attempted to keep their workers from taking sick days by demanding they get a doctor's note only to have the doctor recommend them to take more time off than they would have in the first place. This is a common experience we've all probably had ourselves or witnessed at some point in our working life. A lot of organizat…
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'Is it normal to be fired over text after two days': Worker fired from new job after second day without explanation

Starting a new job is stressful; you've traded the relative security of whatever job you've just left for the uncertainty of a new one. This entire process, from start to finish, is time-consuming and emotionally draining, leaving you hoping that you'll never have to go through it again… and then you get fired on your second day. This old bait and switch probably means that either someone realized they didn't have the budget for a new role that they thought they did, or layoffs are on their way…
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antiwork workplace-stories employee toxic-workplace workplace-story i quit quit workplace viral-workplace-stories quitting employment - 20525317

'You will not be eligible to be rehired': Employer attempts to decrease turnover by increasing resignation requirements

At the end of the day, you can't just make it harder for people to quit to prevent them from doing so. You'd be better off putting the time and energy into fixing company culture and decreasing turnover. Yet, where there's a bad idea to be had, there's a manager somewhere looking to champion it with zealous vigor, abandoning it only after things go totally sideways and pretending that nothing ever happened. It's no secret that the medical sector is currently struggling for staff, with low staff…
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nepotism antiwork workplace-stories in-the-workplace employee toxic-workplace workplace-story manager workplace Horrible Bosses creativity in the workplace - 20543237

'[She] fired my wife on the spot': Manager framed to make way for nepotism hire, entire team walks out

Sometimes nepotism presents itself in subtle, understated ways that influence the progression of someone's career in unseen ways. But, sometimes, the person making way for the nepo-hire is brazen enough to fire workers under false accusations in order to make way for their desired candidate. But when you're in the process of prioritizing your own personal relationships over ability, you shouldn't be quick to overlook the personal relationships of those you're screwing over. This team knew where…
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'I put in my [four] week notice': Guy gets passed over for promotion, successful candidate tries to get him to do his work

Getting passed up for a promotion when you know you're the best candidate is heart-breaking—made worse by the fact that it's usually because of some petty political dynamic or so that they can bring in a nepotism hire. Bonus points when the person who successfully interviewed for the role turns around and asks you for help or tries to delegate your work because your peers and managers have recognized you as the “go-to person." Whatever you decide to do at that point… you probably would like to…
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workplace-stories toxic-manager work i quit quit pay raise workplace quitting toxic-work-environment workplace-story new job - 2021639

'I took another job': Plumber quits without notice for massive pay increase after boss denies them a raise

Realizing you're being paid far less than you're actually worth is stultifying. Suddenly, everything you do at work becomes an impossible burden as the weight of that knowledge brings you down. You can't help but wonder how long your employer has been knowingly capitalizing off this discrepancy and whether they've been laughing behind your back the entire time as they count the money they're saving on your paycheck.
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