For most people who work full-time, their workplace is supposed to be their second home. Where they can work professionally, build good relationships, and perform well. However, there are instances when the toxicity is just too much.
These people from the Reddit Community shared their moments when they realized how toxic their workplace is. Some of these might be familiar, check them out!
1. Family Drama
I realized the toxicity when our boss got into a screaming match with one of the managers (his daughter) in the middle of the office.
I'd just started there 3 weeks ago, and it was absolutely mind-boggling to watch. I looked around at my coworkers; everyone was just looking away, doing their best to stay quiet and not look at either of them.
The person at the desk next to mine saw my shocked face and whispered, "They do this a lot. Just ignore it."
Yep.
thrown12212020
2. Metrics ‘Cheating’
One of my job's metrics for how our performance is graded is "on-time departure." We get so many points if we're within -10, -5, 0, 5, or 10 minutes from the scheduled time.
People try to cheat by tampering with the clocks, and that's a punishable offense.
I was good at leaving early or on time most of the time. I got a call one day to warn me that I was under investigation because I had the most points in the company. They assumed that I was cheating, and that's when I knew I had to go.
I wasn't going to start being late to avoid repercussions.
wearsAtrenchcoat
3. Generation Gap
My wife works at a deli that mostly employs people who are either in high school or older, retired people who are just bored and want something to do.
The disparity of maturity creates a lot of workplace drama.
I kid you not; there is some 18-year-old girl who works there with her mother, and if you cross this chick, she will tell her mom. My wife is also getting chewed out for things her manager forgot to do, like ordering food.
I have a hard time not asking my wife to look for another job. I’m worried.
jonahvsthewhale
4. Performance-Based, Not By Age
I had the privilege of working with one of the top-paid banking architects in the country at the time. I was very young, and no one in the company believed the project would succeed.
So, when I showed up, the gentleman had one look at me and smiled and kinda mentored me along the way, and we did finish the job successfully. He was well into his 60s and treated me like a kid. After the project was done, he came to our office, and l wasn't there; he was out in a client meeting.
He bought a bag of chocolates and called to tell me he was leaving it with my boss. My boss took the whole bag with him to his home and left two chocolates in the bag.
I am still very disappointed about it. It's been 16 years since that happened.
umayanan
5. Insensitive People
They fired a new father the day before Christmas Eve because he missed a month of work due to his wife getting very sick after giving birth. He didn't try to get medical leave or anything because he was worried about his wife and taking care of his newborn.
The second one was when I sat in on a leadership meeting. I worked at the time as almost a bridge between two sides of the company, and all the leaders did was Gossip about their employees and talk about who they wished they could get rid of and who annoyed them.
One of them was a new leader, and they had been friends with these people a month ago. The meeting was about how to improve morale on the floor. The end result was a competition for a 25 gift card to the company store, which is nothing but company apparel that no one wants anyway... it didn't work.
Earthwick
6. Didn’t See it Coming
I got hired while my wife was about 6 weeks from giving birth. I told the owner in the interview that I would need at least a week off in the next 6 to 8 weeks when my kid comes. He had an autistic kid and led the local chapter of Autism Speaks, so I thought he was an alright guy.
When my kid was born, he had the manager call me every day and ask when I was coming back because nobody was doing my work.
I came back after 3 days off work. My kid was born on Friday, and I am back at work on Wednesday. I was fired 2 weeks later.....as a new father at age 28.....
shadow247
7. Horror of One Mistake
When the line "You're only as good as your last mistake" popped into my head, I realized that it explained everything about how I was treated in that toxic office.
It didn't matter how many things I did well or effectively; one mistake was all anyone held on to.
Also, I was hazed my first year there, and when I tried to ask about addressing some of the office culture, the director shrugged and said,
"That's just the [name of college] way."
Yes. This was a very prestigious higher education institution.
greenoakofenglish
8. Waiting Game
We reached a point where we regularly had to wait to cash our paychecks. We basically were told we had to get orders completed and paid for in order for the account to have enough money to pay us.
During this time, the boss went on a vacation, which was just great for morale.
My manager had to take a day off, effectively putting me in charge for the day. I texted my manager, "What should I do if the IRS shows up? lol".
2 hours later, an IRS agent came in looking for my boss.
I found a new job not long after.
[deleted]
9. The Silver Lining
My realization came late.
I got laid off from a job with good pay and benefits, but I was dealing with long hours, high stress, a department with low morale, and a hands-off manager who seemed to care more about the company than me.
Even though the place was toxic, I was sad to leave. I'd been there for years, and the job was in a field I knew a lot about.
A few days after the layoff, I attended an event not far from the building I worked in. When I saw the building, the first thought that popped into my head was,
"I'm glad I don't have to go back there tomorrow!"
Something somewhere, deep in my brain or my soul, had just told me that the job I'd just been fired from wasn't for me.
RedditPrat
10. Overused Employee
I had a job as an industrial engineer that I really liked for 6 years. The guy who made it toxic wasn't even my boss. He was the operations manager of the building where I was domiciled, but I didn't report to him.
When he started, my boss told him I was there to help him out with anything he needed. Well, a couple weeks into him working there, "what he needed" was for me to cover a Sunday shift that started at 6 AM (the reason there was a need for a Sunday shift was that he attempted to handle almost twice the amount of volume that I told him was the max for a Saturday and it went as poorly as expected), and called at midnight to let me know.
When I didn't pick up because I was at my engagement party, he told his boss and my boss that I had agreed to come in at 6 the next morning.
It was one of the dumbest things I ever did when I canceled all the plans with my family members who were in town and showed up. If I hadn't, there would have been about 50 employees waiting in the parking lot because nobody else had the keys, and people would have been pissed at me, but oh well.
At the time, my bosses were putting me on software development projects and working on transitioning me into a software dev role. Still, within 6 months, I was supervising the operation from 9 AM to 9 PM M-F and 6 PM to 6 AM Saturday nights. I had been pulled from all my software projects.
I quit to take a software engineering boot camp, and now I am a software engineer.
ElToberino
11. Removing Manpower
In college, I had a part-time job at a big retailer selling appliances. They would generally have a promo of either 0% financing or free delivery, one or the other, but not both.
That being said, there was a workaround where we could still give people both, and multiple members of our management team told us that if that was the only way to get the sale to do it.
2 months later, they fired half the department for doing what we were told to do.
I quit right after that.
Marijuanavich
12. Worst Experience
Mine was, and I’ve told this story a few times on here, but after being upskirted at work (17F, the uniform was skirts, kids/young people store), my manager bought me black lace underwear and gave them to me for Christmas.
In front of the entire team.
At the staff do. It was tongue in cheek, insinuating it’d give a future one ‘something to look at.’ I remember feeling humiliated and sickened but having to try and save face. I felt like the incident was my fault.
After that, the “I love my job and team and am happy to work in this field and will do anything for them” shattered. My eyes opened to illegally long shifts, being underpaid, and secretly getting us to cover.
At the same time, he pretended to be in and paid us cash in hand so the CEO wouldn’t find out. A “we only hire young pretty girls because it’s good to encourage shy kids or teens and add to the fun theme!” is far more nefarious and also morally corrupt. More completely inappropriate workplace things.
I’ve thought about coming out and talking about the company for five years. It’s somewhat well-known in the UK. Past employees have said the same; many are still recovering from it years after leaving.
But I’ve always been too afraid, and I know too well that many people would still support me despite things like this coming out.
playbypaper
13. All For Nothing
When my partner was giving birth to our only child.
I had spent weeks preparing to be gone for two weeks to be with her during and after birth, held many meetings, cross-trained, etc. (I was a manager at a tech firm). I had accrued ample vacation time.
On my 2nd day off, my partner goes into labor, and we go to the hospital.
During my wife’s labor, the CEO called my cell repeatedly. I finally answered and told him my partner was in labor, and I was on vacation. He totally ripped my head off and told me to open my computer and finish the reports. These were reports that I had trained someone else to do.
Actually, others within the company were perfectly capable of doing it.
Because we were broke (yes, I was underpaid), I ended up doing reports in the hospital, took a short break during the birth, and then went back to work until we were released. We had a few days with our newborn, but then I had to return to work because my phone was blowing up.
That week, I worked from 6 am to midnight some days, getting everyone caught up while my partner was at home recovering from delivery and learning how to be a mom.
Everything in me wanted to quit, but I knew we needed the next paycheck, and at that moment, I could not fight a legal challenge with my employer. They had me right where they wanted and made my life hell while my child just coming into this world.
Never again.
throw_away_TX
14. Too Optimistic
When I was given a promotion without a raise to a post that was not instead of but in addition to all my other tasks, I already knew before I started it that there was zero chance I would be able to fulfill that new role at all because my manager would effectively block me at every turn.
That role had already been held by a few other people for short periods of time before they got fired, and I knew it was basically an ejecting seat.
I guess I should have twigged sooner because of the overall turnover rate of employees and the astonishing number of rage quits. I'm just really, really optimistic when I probably shouldn't be.
The employees warning me not to take the job the day of my first interview should have been a red flag, but I appear to be quite a dunce that way.
Flock_with_me
15. Dirty Works
When they so clearly and blatantly stitched up the most honest, straightest guy because he was earning too much money. He was super efficient and really good at the job.
Our team of 3 (field-based) worked like clockwork, a well-oiled machine where we were allowed to police ourselves for the most part. Management never really had any dealings with us other than to collect paperwork on a Thursday.
They didn’t like that this lad earned a couple of dollars an hour more than us due to an agreement he made with the previous company owner. Myself and the 3rd lad in the team didn’t know, nor did we care when it all came out. Well, the bosses decided J needed to go in order to save money.
They faked a break-in on his van, stole a bunch of stuff, and disciplined him for leaving valuable equipment locked in his van. Then, they tricked him into going to his van at the office with the promise of installing a new alarm system. Instead, they messed with the tracker, falsified the tracker printouts, and fired him for interfering with company property.
It was as blatant as I’ve ever seen. More so because the lad they stitched up is the most honest person I’ve ever known. I once witnessed him buy a $1.30 washer from the suppliers for a small repair in his house rather than take one from his van stock.
That’s the level of honesty I’m talking about.
And we were meant to believe he interfered with his van tracker for absolutely no gain whatsoever. The 3rd guy on our team and I left a couple of months later, and the company is now on its knees, having gone through at least 20 replacements in the last 18 months.
Whether it’s material, vehicles, or staff, they always take the cheap option and never learn from their colossal f*ck ups, which happen time and time again.
Interstate15
16. Wasted Good Employee
When my boss sent me a Skype message asking why I wasn’t producing as much work as I normally do and that she knew I could do better. I was one of the best workers, never had negative feedback, and had always had great managers (bounced around to different offices) before her.
I walked straight to her office and told her to please never talk to me that way again and explained that if she had looked closely at my numbers and compared them to my work schedule that morning (I arrived late), then she’d understand why I wasn’t producing as much.
From then on, it got worse.
I found out no one liked her. It all came to a blow when I wanted a new job and was being considered after nailing the interview. My stupid self used my boss as a reference, thinking she’d tell the truth about how great of a worker I am, but she gave me a bad reference, and I was denied the job.
I got a copy of what she wrote directly from her. She wrote I didn’t have much to say during meetings and that I used a lot of leave without pay (I was on FMLA for a short while, and the LWOP was less than 2 weeks throughout the year), which gave the impression I didn’t show for work much.
I was so angry I contacted our regional director, had a 3-hour meeting with him, and threatened a lawsuit. He said he’d help fix it by trying to get me into a better job in the agency, and he agreed - what she did was untrue and wrong.
I asked him to have my boss contact the HR manager of the job I was denied to explain that what she wrote was incorrect. And she did. I reapplied again for the job and was offered the position immediately without another interview. I started my new job in April 2020 and was promoted in November.
I’m so happy and relieved!!
ccoqui04
17. Nothing But A Bosszilla
Worked in a psych hospital for a couple of years. This is a (paraphrased) conversation that one of our nurses had with the doctor about a patient who kept assaulting other patients and staff. The doctor only physically came to the facility two or three times a week. He literally did not give a damn.
Nurse: Hello, doctor? The incredibly violent patient that we've all been complaining about for weeks just sent two of our staff members to the hospital. I'm pretty sure one of them has a broken hip. Can you please discharge this guy so we can have the police pick him up?
Doctor: No. Just bring in more staff. If you call me and bother me about this again, I will keep him in the facility even longer. And just for this phone call, I'm canceling my rounds for the day. You can now deal with ALL of the patients getting pissed off. Good luck, don't bother me again.
Nurse: Cool. Thanks.
We were not equipped or staffed to handle patients like this guy. He should never have been admitted to our facility. This one just one such instance of this type of situation.
The doctor would frequently admit patients like this, which would stretch our staff to the absolute limit. The doctor knew and understood full well the impact it would have on the staff, and he just. Did. Not. Care.
supahfligh
18. No Freedom
A couple of female coworkers went to the HR manager to file a complaint about sexism related to the same guy in the workplace.
They were told by the HR manager and their boss that the company wasn't gonna do anything about it because it would be very hurtful for this man to hear that his behavior was wrong...
Later, when some anonymous surveys showed that employees were really not as happy as they(the company) were claiming on social media. People even felt discriminated against in the workplace. They brushed it under the carpet, saying people were just too stressed when they filled in the survey like that is not a problem on its own.
Many more of these kinds of things, but that's defo when I realized I had to get out.
uselessacount4ever
19. Worst Place To Be In
Someone in my department found a job posting on Craigslist for a photographer that we already had. We all immediately realized that the company was going to try and fire our current photographer, but not until they had secretly hired his replacement. Despicable.
Anyway, the head of the department forced the HR lady to pull us all into a room and tell us a big, stinking lie. The HR lady could barely keep the tears out of her eyes as she was forced to compromise her morals. Everyone in that room knew it was a big lie and that the head of the department was behind both of those awful decisions.
At nearly the same time, this same head of the department called me early one morning when she knew I was alone in the office and asked me to go grab something off the printer and destroy it without looking at it.
Turns out she had accidentally selected a working printer to print a chewing-out email from one of her family members instead of the one at home. Well, I tried not to look at it, but I had to look enough to identify that it was hers and not someone else's. I saw enough to know that she was hated by her family.
Ultimately, a few of my colleagues and I were fired on the same day because the same head of the department had been secretly reading all of our emails. We had been using email as a way of dealing with the stress of working for this horrible woman.
I had said something mean about this sweater she wears all the time. That got me fired. :/
pimpletwist
20. Give And Run
I once got asked if I wanted a different position, away from coding, into project management. I said, okay if you help me set it up and give some guidance. The next week, I got a project through a binder being placed on my desk, and the words, this is your project, good luck.
Before I could react, they were out the door. I had a hard time getting projects started, worked on common sense, and got some help from coworkers taking pity on me.
I made a checklist for software deployments, for instance.
Still, when I told in a rare department meeting that I made such a checklist, I was told sternly not to waste time on stuff I couldn’t charge customers with. After the confusing meeting, several coworkers asked me for a copy of the useful list…
It still took me some 2 years of working 60+ hours a week to make my way out the door. (And I got a 65% raise starting my next job.)
gozba
21. The Delays
Well, I wouldn't call it toxic exactly; everyone was polite enough, but I quit a job once when it became clear that the task couldn't be delivered on time.
My management rejected the three alternative plans I presented.
My immediate manager even told me words.
Manager: I agree that you're right, but I can't sell your plan to senior management.
Me: Then there's no point in me sticking around while this project craters.
I handed him my badge.
[deleted]
22. Worst Changes
They used the pandemic to cut bonuses, freeze salaries, and remove a majority of benefits. When we went public, they gave us virtually nothing. The CEOs and their cronies filled their pockets.
The cherry on top is that we used to get $1k in cash as a holiday bonus. This year, we got hats with the company logo and a power bank (obviously from the swag closet).
Throwawayx01928
A little history: We were acquired and absorbed by this company. Our old company was the absolute crap!! Vegas/Barcelona trips, beers at lunch, sick company parties. We were one of the hottest companies in the biz. EVERYBODY wanted to work for us. We had people planning to move to our office from across the world. They removed all that right when they hired us and installed a more "corporate" atmosphere.
All the fun stuff was replaced with mandatory town halls where they preach "community," "passion," and "integrity." They then dropped a bomb on us: "We're going public!" During this time, they froze salaries and cut bonuses. The company went public, and they didn't give the employees sh*t.
Instead of being rewarded like we were promised, they rolled out the stingiest RSU plan I've ever seen. To make matters all worse, the CFO is a sexist. He calls women b*tches to their faces and says the most derogatory sh*t when they're not around.
23. Hall of Shame
Years ago, I had an IT job that required reviewing the previous day's notes. Still, you would be publicly shamed for misspelling a word, having poor grammar, taking too long to troubleshoot, not asking enough questions, etc.
The day one of my friends quit because of an argument over grammar and management, I was happy for them to be gone, which solidified that this might not be where I wanted to work.
I left not too long after that. Stress wasn't worth it.
technicalpumpkinhead
24. Sign of Feeling
Usually, I am very good at drawing a line between my private life and my work life. I work an office job (IT), so I know there are people in much worse conditions, but one morning, I woke up to go to work, and I started crying like a child who didn't want to go to school.
This is the first and last time this happened to me.
I said dang it, went to work and quit. F*ck those guys. They actually made me scared of the work I love and doubt myself.
After I quit, I heard that 7 more people quit, so it wasn't just me who felt like that.
SimpleMinded001
25. Unfair Treatment
In the middle of my evaluation, while being reprimanded for using my cell phone on the floor too much (my kid calls me a lot), guess what?
My supervisor excused herself cause her son was calling her cell phone...
I was also told in a different evaluation that I shouldn't use my vacation time in the summer if 'I know [kid] will likely be sick in the fall.'
I had called in 2 days in a row after he came down with pneumonia one year.
figstea123
26. Treated Like Robot
I lasted just 3 or so months. It was a family company (I’ll never make that mistake again), and one of the brothers in charge was a psychopath.
You’d hear him SCREAMING at everyone, and then he started screaming at me. He would literally tell me to write down his exact words for emails he wanted to send to clients (because it was too difficult to do that himself, I guess! Note: I was NOT an executive assistant!) and type it up.
When I’d show him the typed version of his exact words, he’d berate me, scream at me, and tell me I was a “low-class writer” and to try again. When I found myself crying at my desk, I knew it was time to quit. Turnover there was high, and everyone walked on eggshells.
My boss (another brother) knew his brother was the biggest issue at the company but wouldn’t do anything about it.
Also, about a week after I started, the HR person quit because she “couldn’t take it anymore.” So that was a great sign.
I should have quit right then.
HoyMinyoy
27. Two-Faced Bosszilla
My boss used to gossip all the time, and I thought that they liked me because they shared all this with me. A few months later, they intentionally scheduled interviews for a promotion while I was on vacation.
I could still do the interview, but they already had someone in mind. When the job came up again, I could never prove it, but I believe they intentionally failed me to hire someone else (who I don't believe was much more qualified than me).
I went to HR to ask if I could see my interview notes/scores, but they refused. Boss found out about that and was not happy, I don't think. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm the topic of gossip now...
Also, this boss even told me that they would help someone pass the interview if they liked them...
lovely-day24568
28. Dodging A Red Flag
When everybody stays in their offices all day in order to avoid the boss. When he's out of the office, everyone laughs and smiles, and we all go to lunch together - it's a good day.
When he's back, we hide alone in our holes to avoid him.
He's keeping us from working together and enjoying each other's company. One true jerkward can ruin an entire workgroup.
kirradoodle
29. No Proper Setup
The only way that official information (hires, fires, policy changes, etc) is communicated is through office gossip. There is no confidentiality, there is no privacy, there is only gossip.
The owner's son/daughter/etc. Holds an important position and talks crap about every single other person at the company but pretends to be everyone's best friend to their face.
People put others down by bragging/whining about how much extra work they do (on a volunteer basis) rather than establishing a work-life balance for themselves.
Management cannot enforce policy changes. Policy changes are drafted but never officially launched and enforced.
Management is too busy tiptoeing around long-time people's personalities to actually make and enforce rules. "Well, if we make X and Y a rule, then Tammy will get mad, and she's been here 15 years". Or worse - "Well, we can make it a rule, but Tammy won't do that no matter what, so there's really no point."
There are no clear job roles, or people hold two or three ill-defined job roles in addition to what their "official" title is.
GaimanitePkat
30. Too Much Force
I would actually get in trouble for not saying hi to coworkers in the morning instead of just going to my desk and getting right to work.
Also got slapped on the wrist for not joining them in the lunchroom more. It was hell on earth for an introvert like me, which they knew of when they hired me.
Forced participation in social events is a hard no and a red flag for me.
[deleted]
31. Firing Rate
The rate of people getting fired vs. people quitting.
I worked in a shop for ten years and kept a scorecard on the owner. He would fire 65% of the people who left. Part of the problem was a bad hiring process, and the other part was a lack of respect for workers as human beings.
I stayed so long because I wanted to be in that business, and having kids locked me in for five more years than expected.
eightfingeredtypist
32. Closed For Mistakes
Being afraid to make a mistake because if you do, you'll be berated far beyond what's appropriate, even if the mistake is minor and easy to fix. They also won't tell you why what you did was wrong. They'd rather scream at you.
Also, high turnover rates.
I worked at a place described above. At least 1 person would leave every month, and we were always understaffed. I realized a few months in why people were leaving so quickly and left shortly after.
yeetgodmcnechass
33. Keeping Track
I had a meeting last week, and the worst of the managers I work with suggested we should all be good with talking on the phone to get answers to questions because she’s “bad at keeping up with e-mails.”
Someone responded that we need an e-mail to keep track of what’s been said so everyone is on the same page.
I kid you not. You could just about hear her grinding her teeth that someone spoke against her usual method of not being held to what she said.
OfficePsycho
34. Too Much Confusion
Well, this happens a lot. And usually, this is how our conversation goes.
Me: *doing Y*
Boss: why are you doing Y? I need you to do X right now!!
Me: Ok...but would you like me to finish Y first?
Boss: No! I expect you to do what I ask you to!
Me: Ok, no problem, I'll go do X
*10 minutes later*
Boss: Why is Y unfinished? It looks like someone started it and then left halfway. It looks like Y was on your list of jobs for today. Why haven't you done it yet???
Me: ....
I’m not kidding. It’s so hard to keep my cool whenever this thing happens. I mean, is it my fault?
[deleted]
35. Poor Operations
Everyone is replaceable, so they don't even worry as one by one, the skilled workers leave.
They wait before staff turnover reaches 50% planned or in motion resignations within a single month, before hiring more staff, raising wages, or doing anything else to keep the ones that want to leave.
They don't at least consult with the team before making any major changes to rosters.
They don’t ask what the problem is, why do we all want to leave? They just assume it’s the long hours, so they reduce the hours. Not realizing, that the team is only there because the long hours and OT give them much higher wages than other places on a higher hourly rate.
And by reducing the hours, they're cutting that wage severely. Why would the team now stay if they can make more at another place for the same lower hours but a higher hourly rate?
huskofthewolf
36. Pathological Liar
There are many types of bad bosses. Some types are harder to spot than others. I had a boss who sounded ideal at first: caring, motivated, and throwing around words of accolades... all of which are to gain the employee's trust. It is like love bombing, I suppose.
But over time, I noticed he was all words and no actions--he would promise something only to never deliver on it or half-ass it at best. When I confronted him about that (maybe in hindsight, it wasn't a smart move for me to do so), he turned to gaslighting and generally treated his associates (those who stopped drinking his Kool-aid) with a dismissive attitude.
I also noticed that whenever a very good candidate chose another job over the one that he offered them, his words and reactions were full of sour grapes. I am surprised this mofo hasn't run for office yet; his words and actions are exactly that of a politician.
__--t
37. Nightmare Of Hourly Work
If you’re an hourly employee and they constantly shift your schedule, leaving you with fewer hours than originally planned, you, thus, earn less or too many hours, which affects your health.
Especially if they tell you not to come in less than a few hours before a shift, and you’re now stuck with time, you could’ve planned something else around. Or if they beg you to come in at the last minute and drop everything you’re doing.
It might “just” be $50 a week lost due to hours cut or a few hours for “petty errands” lost for what’s usually no clear reason, but that adds up eventually and could make a difference in someone’s livelihood and/or well-being.
[deleted]
38. Nothing But A Mess
I just escaped from a toxic workplace with high turnover. Very little staff. Toxic over the top bosses, superiors, and supervisors. They’re a family and close friends. Always berate people for their looks, always fire people unreasonably, and always cause drama unnecessarily.
In the end, they unfollowed all their previous staff from social media, blocked them, and then made false claims about them. My boss even tried to claim that I damaged the monitor in the office just because I used it.
It was just a minor scratch and wear and tear. She asked me to pay the full price for it, and it’s two years old.
Disastrous_Ad_2779
39. Unlucky Guy
I worked in a hospital for over a decade, and it was terrible.
It was a local community hospital that eventually got bought up by a "Healthcare system," which nickel and dimed us constantly even though we were the only profitable hospital in their system.
Then on a daily basis, I got sh*t on by my boss because I was the only person under her supervision that was a lesser certification than she was and also the only male in three departments that wasn't a doctor.
HRzNightmare
40. Second-rate Owner
Worked at a place where the owner screamed and schemed at all times. He never stopped advertising for mechanics because they would always quit. I worked with one guy there I liked, and I told him when he left, I'd put in my notice at the same time.
He told me he was leaving, so I got another job. He quit, and I told my boss that I was leaving as well, and he fired me on the spot.
I ended up with two weeks of vacation before starting my next job. 25 years later, I still occasionally have nightmares about that job.
SuperstitiousPigeon5
41. Blessing In Disguise
I worked in a small warehouse for 6 years (started at 17), and for the first 4 years, I never took a holiday or sick day off. I was contracted to a 0-hour contract, which means you only work when needed, but I was working full time 5-6 days a week between 9-12 hours a day.
When I first started, I was told there would be no paid holidays or paid sick days. Being young and naive, I agreed. Whenever people took days off, I assumed they weren't being paid. So, anytime I was ill, I would still come to work.
I worked as needed and did everything I should. If I came to work late, I wouldn't get paid for the nearest half an hour (so if I started at 9 am but was 5 minutes late), I would only start getting paid from 9 30) if I left work 10 minutes late I would have to stay for 30 minutes to be able to get paid for the extra 10 minutes it took to finish the work.
Or I could leave and not get paid that extra 10 minutes per day because the staff was well overworked as there were only 3 members of staff. This went on for years until the boss got a girlfriend who was from America and made her HR and payroll for the company.
At Christmas time, they would travel to America and leave us in charge. So, one year, I was really poorly and still came to work as I normally would. I was sick and could barely move my body. His girlfriend told me to go home, and she will pay me for the full day.
I told her the boss doesn't pay us for sick days and holidays, so I couldn't afford to go home because he wouldn't let her pay me for the full day. I saw that she was annoyed and told me to go home because she would sort it out. I came back the next day still poorly but able to work.
She sat us all down to have a meeting and told us to tell her about anything we weren't happy about. We told her everything and the week after, everybody got a new minimum 40-hour contract with a pay rise stating that we would all get sick pay and paid holidays.
We have to log in via fingerprint on the new clock-in machine she had bought, and if we stay for a minute longer than we should, we will get paid every minute and not have to stay for 30 minutes to be paid.
She was a blessing in disguise. After a couple of years of working for the company, she hit the breaking point and realized what kind of man he actually was and broke up with him. Everybody left the company, and the business is now shut down. Although he has started another business. He couldn't fully appreciate the staff he had and all the work we had all done for him. So now he works alone
Ambitious-Nebula-210
42. Period Schedule
Got yelled at for getting my period at one job.
This was not because I was asking for any special accommodations or anything; it was just that my super pheromones threw the owner’s period off schedule, and she was mad.
I should have seen the red flags when I started the job. The boss bragged to me how everyone’s cycle would always sync to hers.
LevelPiccolo3920
43. Invisible Guy
So, this is what happened today: we are a two-member team and one manager. I am working or at least working on, until now on a project, and it was almost complete.
Only final approval was pending, when my manager gave a small edit to the other member and talked to her only during the meeting, and did not acknowledge me at all, I felt so frustrated and I always felt that she played favor with her over me.
Now that's a toxic workplace and a super toxic boss
LavishingLife
44. Keeping An Eye Out
I used to have access to the mailing credentials in an office I worked at for quite some time / helped get it started.
5 years later, there I was, reading everybody's emails, who were so busy smiling and asking me out to lunch while mailing my boss every reason they could think of to fire my ass.
I eventually moved to greener pastures. But not before I printed their emails and had them sent to their desks.
akbarkhan666
45. Lots of Mouth
Gossipping. I used to think people did it as a way to vent and socialize, and it would never affect me, but it damaged morale in my department soooo badly.
No joke, at one point, I tried to stop going along with it and resist, and the next thing you know, I was the subject of bullying and gossip.
To my face, it was you are such a good worker, we love you, you are so sweet, but behind me, it was, who does she think she is? She is so annoying; she is lazy and stupid. It hurt my feelings, and I don’t usually care what people think. Stop gossipping. Just stop.
RisingPhoenix5271