Part of the enduring appeal of the iconic sitcom The Office has to do with how relatable people found it. From everyday characters to workplace drama, there’s something uncanny about watching the TV drama based on real, unstaged, mundane, often boring work life.
The truth is, if people would open up one day and decided to share their weirdest workplace stories, the chances are they’d make it to the directors cut. Because truth is often stranger than fiction…
This viral thread from Twitter gives us a glimpse into the craziest work stories from people who got into trouble while on duty, and it may well leave you speechless. “Sorry to do prompt Twitter, but what's the wildest reason you've ever gotten in trouble at work?” wondered Montucky Woodsnacks. Sorry not sorry, but Twitter was prompted indeed.
Image credits: tuckwoodstock
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Because it's always worth repeating: FAST - Face (has their mouth or skin dropped on one side); Arms (can they raise both arms to the same height and squeeze with the same strength on both sides); Speech (can they talk coherently and clearly); Time (to call the emergency services - stroke treatment is time crtitical)
Getting into trouble at work is something we all have experienced, as long as we've had a job. Usually, it’s our mistake and then, we have to take responsibility and draw conclusions, but it can also be something completely different.
While each mistake has the potential for growth and learning, if the reason why you got into trouble is beyond crazy, then there’s probably not much to learn in the first place. It may be due to a toxic team member, a jerk boss, a weird work rule. In that case, you’re probably not living your dream job right now, and the chances are there’s a lot to change there.
We've all heard of and completed an employee survey. These little questionnaires are designed to tell our employers how we really feel and what we really think, beyond our daily smiles and endless coffees.
There’s a common problem, however, with employee surveys. It’s that although they are made to find out the truth of how employees feel, they rarely do so. And when employers spend the money and go through the trouble of doing a survey, they want to believe that they’re getting the truth about what’s going on. So they don’t accept their workers can be doing something as simple as lying.
I once got chastised for sitting on the floor to stock a floor-level shelf, too. I was like... how else am I supposed to do this??
In fact, even on customer surveys, some experts suggest that as many as 50% of people are less than truthful in their answers. Human nature is working against the employers. So in order to get the most accurate answers, the employer's mission is to minimize the amount of risk employees feel when they’re asked to take the survey.
you should quit after this conversation, this kind of boss should not presence around humans
Things like never connecting survey scores to manager ratings or compensation, describing in detail what will happen with the results and doing what you promised to can work wonders. People can feel like they won’t get into trouble for ticking a box to show their motivation at work has been low recently, and that they don’t agree with management's approach to some things.
I was fired for stealing. I didn't steal a damn thing. Their cute little blonde new accountant did. Fire the Chicana I guess.
I was 19, going to college,and had to work to stay in college. One night when we were closing the assistant manager at the convenience store I was working at trapped me against a wall and tried to force himself on me. I was prettified. Next day I told the manager what happened. He said he would take care of it. Found out next day I had been transferred to another store almost 20 miles away. Me - not the guy who attacked me.
Fire alarm (lights and sound) in my section of the building didn't work, which I found out during an emergency when all the other alarms were going off but we (my employees and I) had no idea. Smelled the smoke from the roof, opened the door leading to rest of building, surprise alarms! Repeatedly told my boss, was ignored. Guess what I told the fire marshal during our next inspection?
Next time just let the patient code (just as long as no feelings are hurt, that is all that matters, ofc). Then when the family sues for millions, we can explain in court that the only reason they died was because you were told you are too mean the last time this happened.
Never understood this rightly labeled BS office dress codes. If you have no direct customer contact in a very stiff business you should be able to wear what you like... okay almost everything, bondage clothes or the tiny glitter bikini top might be a little too much/less/over the top.
My boss would make fun of people who left on time. "Look who's leaving before the job is done". Thing is, the boss didn't pay overtime. He always fired every person for the same reason: insubordination, therefore not eligible for unemployment. Then he would say "nobody wants to work".
Herding kids is a ton of work and it is all physical. Driving only hurts when you stop hard.
I want a unicorn on my bill!! Why do I never get a unicorn on my bill????
I guess it depends which finger you're using to push up those glasses.
thats just bloody stupid let me guess good old USA ironic they call it land of the free when its anything but
Four cents?!! You think a corporation can survive losses on that scale???
We only have $9.000.000.000.000.!!! Are you crazy?!!
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This is unusual, as they normally allow a certain amount of leeway on tills as mistakes do happen. Questions will be asked if your drawer is consistently out. The worst I did was to ring up a greenhouse instead of some fruit using the short codes - both the customer and I quickly realised I'd got something wrong as the bill was £100 more than expected. However it wouldn't surprise me if put the wrong code for different varieties of apples or rang up apples as pears, though I was pretty good at knowing them and checking what I had entered before moving to the next item. Mind you that is 30 years ago and they might have tightened their belts by now!
At a small shop I worked at after taking a mental health break from the kitchen I was called to the bosses office about my till. My boss was cool and this seemed unusual. I had been ringing up my personal cans of soda for .96 cents, paying with a dollar and leaving my pennies in the drawer sometimes so my till was over consistently. She was openly concerned I was shorting our customers on change, not in trouble though after some laughs.
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This is nuts, when I was a cashier at a gas station anything under $5 was never even looked into. Unless it was like ALL the time. When we put the amount from the end of our shift into the registers to calculate our over/short we never even put the cents.
At the Konsum (grocery chain in germany) the cashiers have a leeway of 4,99€ & and most of the regulars leave change that's less than 0,10€ for the cashiers to fill up the till or to help out other customers which may be short on a few cents
Back in the 1970s, I cashier at Burger King. This was when you had to memorize prices, key in amounts and count out the change. They lets us be an entire dollar off for the week. I always pusher for a percentage off. I worked mid-days and always had the lunch crush and often had tour buses coming in just before lunch. It was not unusual for us to have $1K days and the boss counting out my drawer when I was on lunch. There was one girl that was just really bad at counting change. She would be off by a quarter or so every day. She got moved to the kitchen. They gave out awards for being right on for an entire month. They did not want you over because that meant you were shorting the customer.
I bet they would have been silent if your drawer was 4 cents over. Jerks. My first boss (I was 15, 55 years ago) complimented me one night on having a perfect cash drawer. I was surprised to find out that it was off almost every night. They expected it (we had to count out change by hand in those days). She told me it was an average of 0 cents off over time, so she never worried about it. She was a sweetie.
I appreciate that they name and shame the offending employer.
Sounds like POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia). I have it (along with a whole host of other illnesses). It really sucks and it isn't well understood.
Sighing is my "regroup" default when facing a task I'm not sure how to handle. Has gotten me in trouble, too.
That's like mine. Nursing Unit Manager spoke to me on the first day saying a flower hair clip was against the dress code. I looked up the dress code, it said nothing about hair clips. She had a massive big spiky hair clip herself. She was just trying to put me down a peg. For the next 3 years I wore as many large, bright and colourful hair ornaments as possible. It's a friggin hair clip, it's not going to interfere with me delivering a baby or helping a Mum breastfeed.
Note: this post originally had 112 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I got seriously yelled at once because supposedly the day before I didnt lower the blind in the window of the changing room. Not only I was not working that day but nowhere in my contract said that I was the only person in the entire company responsible for that blind. The woman was obsessed with me for some reason and kept looking for excuses to complain about me.
Another time in a dutch rescue centrum where I worked I got lectured because we run out of raisins to fill some toys that we used to give to our primates. So i used pop corn instead. We were allowed to give them popcorn, that was not the problem. The problem is that the "instructions" for that toy said specifically to use raisins so we werent allowed to use anything else. The "toy" was a log with holes drilled in it to put the food inside.
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Was fired from a HD in town because I found out they were manually adjusting payroll punches (cutting my hours), and taking money out of my check to pay for something someone else stole from a sealed package that was being shipped out. They were shipping. Opened the box. Stole from it. Sealed an sent to supplier. Since it was short and didn't match my invoice it was billed to the company. Who billed me. Luckily I had the duplicate and then called the state employment agency to refund my money. Only for stole item not payroll theft. Then was terminated next day. The emp agency guy was bribed to drop the payroll issue an close the case by getting a trike motorcycle. The day he picked it up in drove it right into the garage bay door an totaled it. Karma 1. Then a month later the bank came and locked the place down for bankruptcy. Karma 2. The owner was found to have been funneling money from the company to his mayor campaign in a diff city. Karma 3.
I got written up at work because I make really good meatloaf. Four of us were sitting around a table talking and one woman, who is not originally from America, said her husband wanted meatloaf and she had no idea how to cook one. I said that my family loved my meatloaf and I would share my recipe. This offended a woman at another lunch table, and she went her boss and said that I was being offensive in the lunchroom. When I asked how offering to share a recipe was offensive, I was told that I needed to be more sensitive to others around me - no other explanation was given. The offended person then went to the woman whom I shared my recipe with and gave her HER recipe stating that it was way better than mine, and I cannot go around saying that I made the best meatloaf anymore. I honestly didn't know I was in a meatloaf competition. I thought I was helping someone new make a nice American meal for her American husband.
That is some serious insecurity! And I would LOVE your meatloaf recipe!
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I got yelled at for "unprofessional" behavior when I'd taken a medication that made me sick. I was puking every fifteen minutes and couldn't function, but when I called in and explained, the manager got snotty. "Well, that's very unprofessional behavior, especially during the holiday season." When I pointed out that I didn't have a bad reaction by choice, I was told that I "should have made better decisions" about starting new meds. I hung up, and ghosted the place.
Lol, hold on let me take out my crystal ball and my Ouija board try to divine whether or not my meds are going to get me sick. I don't know why this reminds me of guys who think you can 'turn off' a period (can't you wait until next week? can't you turn it off?), but it does.
Load More Replies... I was talking to a woman I worked with and I made the mistake of mentioning my grandparents were Jehovah's Witnesses (I am very much not, she very much was). From that moment, everything she said to me was about having faith and 'if only you could see the truth'. I don't have a problem with religion except when it's being forced on me or I'm being preached to. One of my co-workers mentioned how this women had left a Watchtower on her desk and she felt weird but she threw it out and we just giggled about it-no biggie. Later that day my boss pulls me aside and warns me the woman overheard us and was offended and I'm like...well maybe someone should talk to her about constantly pushing religion on people. Every time anything went wrong, even little things, it was because we didn't believe in "the truth". Someone died and her response was 'you should be happy they aren't living in this world anymore.' Or she'd leave Watchtowers on desks. Ugh. Why do I need to be talked to again?
I've started reporting/filing complaints about overtly religious c**p in the workspace. It is not appropriate to tell me you're praying for me, and it is REALLY not appropriate to include prayer in any way at work. It is not appropriate to ask me what "church family" I belong to. I do not want to hear how important your faith is to you. Much like the details of your sex life, or your health, these are not things you share in professional environments unless under specific circumstances.
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There were a few for me 1. Our department got in trouble because we would all gather in one cubicle at lunch and eat so they made a no huddling rule. 2. I got in trouble for wearing shorts...I worked on a fish farm (in and out the tanks) and its 35°C.
I once got a written warning for wearing odd socks with a uniform. The funny thing is that I was also wearing company issues black safety shoes. I said hell no and called the union. The boss in question was not allowed to speak to me anymore without a representative present. Yes. He really disliked me from the start.
I got multiple complaints that I didnt say hello or smile at 2 workers. I stopped after they looked directly at me and ignored me multiple times. I'm not going to play your ageist ego games, sorry not sorry
Three days into working in a British international school I was brought into the principal's office. Been a teacher for 30 years and never experienced this. He demanded to know why, in a 'getting to know you' session with my Year 13 (17 year olds) tutor group I had told them that my family is mixed race. He repeatedly wanted to know what my 'motive' was. This white English man then claimed he was not racist but that the parents of our students (in Malaysia) would not understand.
Many jobs ago, when I was about 20 years old I was a bookkeeper for a small family owned gas company who sold acetylene and oxygen tanks, just to name a few products. The office was me, the parents, some pregnant chick who took phone orders, and their son was mainly did sales. Dad slept in his office and Mom just yelled at everyone to do their damn jobs. One day lunch time rolled around and we always ordered from the deli across the street. Mom placed the order, buying lunch for us for some bizarre reason. She orders Italian hoagies (that come with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions). I, ME, gets yelled at for stinking up the office with onions, by the woman who placed the order! All the hoagies had onions, but she singles me out. I quietly continue to eat, ignoring her, and get the day's deposit ready. I drove to the bank, made the deposit and went home. I never went back and was in the middle of payroll. Good luck b*tches.
I got fired from a job for only taking 28-29 min lunch breaks instead of the full half hour. I basically got fired for around 7 min of OT over a 2 week pay period.
I had a patient's adult daughter call to complain to my boss which ended up in my personnel file-- apparently I sat/kneeled on her beanie babies while administering emergency care to her father.
That's sad that she was more worried about her Beanie Babies.
Load More Replies... Worked at the biggest car rental company in the world. Was chewed out for allowing a female employee (who has four kids) to install a child seat in a car for a clueless new father. Was told, "only a manager can do that for liability reasons." Now, I get that, but I have ZERO kids, nor was I ever trained in how to properly install a seat... Who would you rather "install" it for your kid?!
I'm not completely clear here on one thing: YOU are a manager?
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I unblocked a fire door once and spent the next 6 month's dealing with the rabid manager who blocked it trying to fire me for making him look bad. He ultimately got fired instead. BuBye Kurt!
In 2006, I decided to go back to school for a Master's. Artistic Director of the theatre I was working for found out and *DEMANDED* I tell him which schools I was applying to. When I refused, he fired me. Found out he had a history of "cleaning house" and had promised my job to a kid less qualified than me. I sued and they settled. Finally went back to school in 2009. F*ck "At Will" states.
All of these are example that the work culture in the US is f****d up
This one is recent, but still baffling. I was last out, and when leaving for the day, I had closed all the windows, as per instruction. But I didn't close them HARD ENOUGH. These windows are 40+ years old, and close with levers that turn 90°. But, they're so old and tight that I *physically cannot turn it all the way even with all my body weight* (will not wiggle loose), so I only turned them 60°, which keeps them shut all the same. This was a two-day conversation. A middle manager (who is not my boss) complained to my boss about it TWICE. That the windows were shut, but not shut ENOUGH.
Got fired from a spa I had worked at for 2.5 years during the pandemic because I changed the music. No offense to the artists, but clients don't want to listen to loud pop music while they receive a skin care treatment. I felt like I was being held hostage in a 'Forever 21' store 10 hours/day. Also, when I asked for a raise (after my one year anniversary) the owner told me " you can give yourself a raise by selling more" F&@K that place
Happened recently - Working in a Fruit n Veg store, binned some apples that were way way past it. Manager comes in the next day, makes us pick the apples out of the bin, bag them, price them and put them back on the shelf 🤮 This happens constantly - I'm currently working out my notice.
This makes me incredibly grateful for my boss.. we were at work (on a TV show set) and my husband called to tell me our beloved dog had collapsed and he was rising her to the vet. I burst into tears and my boss asked what was wrong. I just said "Ruby" and he told me to drop everything right there and go to her. I was able to hold her while she died and I will never forget that. He is an angel of human being.
Was working a second job evenings and weekends as a server in a restaurant. Late one night while at home, I got a call from the owner/manager asking me where my cash & receipts were. I said, "I swear, I put it in the vault in the floor of the accountant's office downstairs like I always do." He came back with, "uh we found an uncoiled wire coathanger down there." I didn't elaborate how the restaurant basement always had young male and female teens hanging around down there, at all hours. I was fired. About three months later I read in a local paper that the owner had been charged with some unsavory offences, including serving drugs and alcohol to minors!
Manager called me out because my "desk was too tidy" ... she was adamant that I couldn't be doing my job properly because my work area was neat and everything stored in drawers or trays. Actual WTF moment
I got called into the office today for refusing to sit at a table with a coworker who has a history of causing trouble for me, and I promised my boss I would stay away from her and not speak to her. I guess he didn't remember that conversation because he said I put him in a bad spot and also hurt her feelings 🙄
Used to work in an international airport in NY. Walked in on my boss having sex in a supply room with someone who wasn't his wife. It was his wife's brother. I believe everyone has a right to make their own decisions and live their own lives. Unfortunately he was worried that I was going to out him and give his wife ammo to divorce him and take everything, so I was apparently let go. Showed up the next day and my security card didn't work. Was told it was because I had been working too many "unapproved" overtime hours. The hours hadn't been "approved" but the flights were still scheduled to arrive with no one else on shift... 🤨 Riiiiiight..
I got an Article 15 once (military punishment, goes on your record, can include lost pay and/or rank) because I cursed. At myself. I had just totally bombed a 2 mile run and my commander heard me say a bad word, so he wrote me up for insubordination, saying I had cursed at an an NCO who was standing at the finish line.
Sometimes I think most of the courses in business schools are about how to be a nitwit and/or @sshole and still get a management job.
Maybe I'm the bad guy here and I'll admit most of these are stupid reasons for getting fired. However some of them are legitimate reasons, like making a weed pipe out of carrot while you're at work or not kicking out a homeless person for using drugs in a shelter as just two examples. Sometimes IT IS your fault.
I don't think these companies would like me... "do we count the abbotiors among our steakholders?" (got a groan).
I was working customer service in a mall. A lady came up to me and asked if I had a band aid. She had cut her finger. I went around the other side of the counter to get her one, and my boss started lecturing me about it. Boss: "You can't give her a band aid!" Me: "Why not? She's cut her finger and we have plenty in the first aid kit." Boss: "Because that's giving her medical treatment. And I already told her she couldn't have one." Me: "Well, I just told her she could. Also, would you rather she was bleeding all over the food court?" Yup, I was working in customer service and got yelled at for doing good customer service by helping out a customer who was bleeding.
Because I made the day shift manager “uncomfortable”. How? I started crying while she was yelling at me because they didn’t have a certain product that day… because the delivery people didn’t deliver it the day before (I didn’t work for the delivery company and it was day shifts job to check that everything got delivered each morning)
A few weeks after a colleague quit, we got a call for him at the office. I got in trouble for telling the caller that he no longer worked there. Apparently I was supposed to lie about his whereabouts.
Got sent to HR for "being condescending" Years before COVID, we were implementing work from home in my department. our training included learning how to connect to the company VPN, which was only necessary outside of the office network. We tested all our WAH equipment in office to confirm we were familiarized with it. first day of work from I forgot my 2 factor auth code that was needed as part of connecting to the VPN. So I go in to the office, flustered because of messing up my first day at home. Anyways, a coworker that I've clashed with since day one asked for help saying she couldn't connect to the VPN (she wasn't ready to go home yet, hence being in office). I said you don't need to connect in building since you were connecting to the internal network. She didn't like my response and sought a second opinion on my boss, who said "if you had taken the wah training, you would know." Queue speaking to HR who definitely thought it was ridiculous. And told me to watch my tone
of course i'd gotten this job after being fired for calling the abuse hotline when the previous assistant director hit one child and threw a chair at another. suddenly they "couldn't afford me" .... my first week. and saw the same job listing the next day (they knew it was me because DCF interviewed everyone out in the open)
I wonatioch a national chain that has a Childcare Network of facilities across the state. I got in trouble for encouraging a co worker to call the abuse hotline because she was telling me she witnessed something. we are mandated reporters, by the way. the REGIONAL MANAGER OF THIS CHILDCARE NETWORK of facilities told me that I was creating a hostile working environment and that since someone else overheard me say "ive called the abuse line before and i'll do it again in a heartbeat" she didn't want "her girls" to feel they can't trust me. Regional director of a Childcare network of facilities sanctioning me for .... following the law.
I got told off because I stood too straight. Apparently good posture made you look proud.
In my teenage years I worked for a sales company, hacked into the phone routing system and directed myself all of the juicy calls. I got caught and still wasn't fired (though I absolutely should've been).
Worked as an advisor in service department at car dealership; was written up for "fraternizing" with a heavy line tech. That fraternizing was not accepting his offer to go on a date. TF?
It's kind of baffling for me to read these post, living in the Netherlands. USA sounds like a terrible place to live if you read the Bored Panda posts. Yet most TV shows, movies and even Americans are all Yay USA.
We'd been away for about 5 years, and came back recently. It's gotten even worse, and it wasn't a barrel of joy to begin with. Too many simple-minded mouth-breathers who think their beliefs are more important than, oh, actual facts. Not to mention anyone else's beliefs.
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I got seriously yelled at once because supposedly the day before I didnt lower the blind in the window of the changing room. Not only I was not working that day but nowhere in my contract said that I was the only person in the entire company responsible for that blind. The woman was obsessed with me for some reason and kept looking for excuses to complain about me.
Another time in a dutch rescue centrum where I worked I got lectured because we run out of raisins to fill some toys that we used to give to our primates. So i used pop corn instead. We were allowed to give them popcorn, that was not the problem. The problem is that the "instructions" for that toy said specifically to use raisins so we werent allowed to use anything else. The "toy" was a log with holes drilled in it to put the food inside.
Load More Replies... Was fired from a HD in town because I found out they were manually adjusting payroll punches (cutting my hours), and taking money out of my check to pay for something someone else stole from a sealed package that was being shipped out. They were shipping. Opened the box. Stole from it. Sealed an sent to supplier. Since it was short and didn't match my invoice it was billed to the company. Who billed me. Luckily I had the duplicate and then called the state employment agency to refund my money. Only for stole item not payroll theft. Then was terminated next day. The emp agency guy was bribed to drop the payroll issue an close the case by getting a trike motorcycle. The day he picked it up in drove it right into the garage bay door an totaled it. Karma 1. Then a month later the bank came and locked the place down for bankruptcy. Karma 2. The owner was found to have been funneling money from the company to his mayor campaign in a diff city. Karma 3.
I got written up at work because I make really good meatloaf. Four of us were sitting around a table talking and one woman, who is not originally from America, said her husband wanted meatloaf and she had no idea how to cook one. I said that my family loved my meatloaf and I would share my recipe. This offended a woman at another lunch table, and she went her boss and said that I was being offensive in the lunchroom. When I asked how offering to share a recipe was offensive, I was told that I needed to be more sensitive to others around me - no other explanation was given. The offended person then went to the woman whom I shared my recipe with and gave her HER recipe stating that it was way better than mine, and I cannot go around saying that I made the best meatloaf anymore. I honestly didn't know I was in a meatloaf competition. I thought I was helping someone new make a nice American meal for her American husband.
That is some serious insecurity! And I would LOVE your meatloaf recipe!
Load More Replies... I got yelled at for "unprofessional" behavior when I'd taken a medication that made me sick. I was puking every fifteen minutes and couldn't function, but when I called in and explained, the manager got snotty. "Well, that's very unprofessional behavior, especially during the holiday season." When I pointed out that I didn't have a bad reaction by choice, I was told that I "should have made better decisions" about starting new meds. I hung up, and ghosted the place.
Lol, hold on let me take out my crystal ball and my Ouija board try to divine whether or not my meds are going to get me sick. I don't know why this reminds me of guys who think you can 'turn off' a period (can't you wait until next week? can't you turn it off?), but it does.
Load More Replies... I was talking to a woman I worked with and I made the mistake of mentioning my grandparents were Jehovah's Witnesses (I am very much not, she very much was). From that moment, everything she said to me was about having faith and 'if only you could see the truth'. I don't have a problem with religion except when it's being forced on me or I'm being preached to. One of my co-workers mentioned how this women had left a Watchtower on her desk and she felt weird but she threw it out and we just giggled about it-no biggie. Later that day my boss pulls me aside and warns me the woman overheard us and was offended and I'm like...well maybe someone should talk to her about constantly pushing religion on people. Every time anything went wrong, even little things, it was because we didn't believe in "the truth". Someone died and her response was 'you should be happy they aren't living in this world anymore.' Or she'd leave Watchtowers on desks. Ugh. Why do I need to be talked to again?
I've started reporting/filing complaints about overtly religious c**p in the workspace. It is not appropriate to tell me you're praying for me, and it is REALLY not appropriate to include prayer in any way at work. It is not appropriate to ask me what "church family" I belong to. I do not want to hear how important your faith is to you. Much like the details of your sex life, or your health, these are not things you share in professional environments unless under specific circumstances.
Load More Replies... There were a few for me 1. Our department got in trouble because we would all gather in one cubicle at lunch and eat so they made a no huddling rule. 2. I got in trouble for wearing shorts...I worked on a fish farm (in and out the tanks) and its 35°C.
I once got a written warning for wearing odd socks with a uniform. The funny thing is that I was also wearing company issues black safety shoes. I said hell no and called the union. The boss in question was not allowed to speak to me anymore without a representative present. Yes. He really disliked me from the start.
I got multiple complaints that I didnt say hello or smile at 2 workers. I stopped after they looked directly at me and ignored me multiple times. I'm not going to play your ageist ego games, sorry not sorry
Three days into working in a British international school I was brought into the principal's office. Been a teacher for 30 years and never experienced this. He demanded to know why, in a 'getting to know you' session with my Year 13 (17 year olds) tutor group I had told them that my family is mixed race. He repeatedly wanted to know what my 'motive' was. This white English man then claimed he was not racist but that the parents of our students (in Malaysia) would not understand.
Many jobs ago, when I was about 20 years old I was a bookkeeper for a small family owned gas company who sold acetylene and oxygen tanks, just to name a few products. The office was me, the parents, some pregnant chick who took phone orders, and their son was mainly did sales. Dad slept in his office and Mom just yelled at everyone to do their damn jobs. One day lunch time rolled around and we always ordered from the deli across the street. Mom placed the order, buying lunch for us for some bizarre reason. She orders Italian hoagies (that come with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions). I, ME, gets yelled at for stinking up the office with onions, by the woman who placed the order! All the hoagies had onions, but she singles me out. I quietly continue to eat, ignoring her, and get the day's deposit ready. I drove to the bank, made the deposit and went home. I never went back and was in the middle of payroll. Good luck b*tches.
I got fired from a job for only taking 28-29 min lunch breaks instead of the full half hour. I basically got fired for around 7 min of OT over a 2 week pay period.
I had a patient's adult daughter call to complain to my boss which ended up in my personnel file-- apparently I sat/kneeled on her beanie babies while administering emergency care to her father.
That's sad that she was more worried about her Beanie Babies.
Load More Replies... Worked at the biggest car rental company in the world. Was chewed out for allowing a female employee (who has four kids) to install a child seat in a car for a clueless new father. Was told, "only a manager can do that for liability reasons." Now, I get that, but I have ZERO kids, nor was I ever trained in how to properly install a seat... Who would you rather "install" it for your kid?!
I'm not completely clear here on one thing: YOU are a manager?
Load More Replies... I unblocked a fire door once and spent the next 6 month's dealing with the rabid manager who blocked it trying to fire me for making him look bad. He ultimately got fired instead. BuBye Kurt!
In 2006, I decided to go back to school for a Master's. Artistic Director of the theatre I was working for found out and *DEMANDED* I tell him which schools I was applying to. When I refused, he fired me. Found out he had a history of "cleaning house" and had promised my job to a kid less qualified than me. I sued and they settled. Finally went back to school in 2009. F*ck "At Will" states.
All of these are example that the work culture in the US is f****d up
This one is recent, but still baffling. I was last out, and when leaving for the day, I had closed all the windows, as per instruction. But I didn't close them HARD ENOUGH. These windows are 40+ years old, and close with levers that turn 90°. But, they're so old and tight that I *physically cannot turn it all the way even with all my body weight* (will not wiggle loose), so I only turned them 60°, which keeps them shut all the same. This was a two-day conversation. A middle manager (who is not my boss) complained to my boss about it TWICE. That the windows were shut, but not shut ENOUGH.
Got fired from a spa I had worked at for 2.5 years during the pandemic because I changed the music. No offense to the artists, but clients don't want to listen to loud pop music while they receive a skin care treatment. I felt like I was being held hostage in a 'Forever 21' store 10 hours/day. Also, when I asked for a raise (after my one year anniversary) the owner told me " you can give yourself a raise by selling more" F&@K that place
Happened recently - Working in a Fruit n Veg store, binned some apples that were way way past it. Manager comes in the next day, makes us pick the apples out of the bin, bag them, price them and put them back on the shelf 🤮 This happens constantly - I'm currently working out my notice.
This makes me incredibly grateful for my boss.. we were at work (on a TV show set) and my husband called to tell me our beloved dog had collapsed and he was rising her to the vet. I burst into tears and my boss asked what was wrong. I just said "Ruby" and he told me to drop everything right there and go to her. I was able to hold her while she died and I will never forget that. He is an angel of human being.
Was working a second job evenings and weekends as a server in a restaurant. Late one night while at home, I got a call from the owner/manager asking me where my cash & receipts were. I said, "I swear, I put it in the vault in the floor of the accountant's office downstairs like I always do." He came back with, "uh we found an uncoiled wire coathanger down there." I didn't elaborate how the restaurant basement always had young male and female teens hanging around down there, at all hours. I was fired. About three months later I read in a local paper that the owner had been charged with some unsavory offences, including serving drugs and alcohol to minors!
Manager called me out because my "desk was too tidy" ... she was adamant that I couldn't be doing my job properly because my work area was neat and everything stored in drawers or trays. Actual WTF moment
I got called into the office today for refusing to sit at a table with a coworker who has a history of causing trouble for me, and I promised my boss I would stay away from her and not speak to her. I guess he didn't remember that conversation because he said I put him in a bad spot and also hurt her feelings 🙄
Used to work in an international airport in NY. Walked in on my boss having sex in a supply room with someone who wasn't his wife. It was his wife's brother. I believe everyone has a right to make their own decisions and live their own lives. Unfortunately he was worried that I was going to out him and give his wife ammo to divorce him and take everything, so I was apparently let go. Showed up the next day and my security card didn't work. Was told it was because I had been working too many "unapproved" overtime hours. The hours hadn't been "approved" but the flights were still scheduled to arrive with no one else on shift... 🤨 Riiiiiight..
I got an Article 15 once (military punishment, goes on your record, can include lost pay and/or rank) because I cursed. At myself. I had just totally bombed a 2 mile run and my commander heard me say a bad word, so he wrote me up for insubordination, saying I had cursed at an an NCO who was standing at the finish line.
Sometimes I think most of the courses in business schools are about how to be a nitwit and/or @sshole and still get a management job.
Maybe I'm the bad guy here and I'll admit most of these are stupid reasons for getting fired. However some of them are legitimate reasons, like making a weed pipe out of carrot while you're at work or not kicking out a homeless person for using drugs in a shelter as just two examples. Sometimes IT IS your fault.
I don't think these companies would like me... "do we count the abbotiors among our steakholders?" (got a groan).
I was working customer service in a mall. A lady came up to me and asked if I had a band aid. She had cut her finger. I went around the other side of the counter to get her one, and my boss started lecturing me about it. Boss: "You can't give her a band aid!" Me: "Why not? She's cut her finger and we have plenty in the first aid kit." Boss: "Because that's giving her medical treatment. And I already told her she couldn't have one." Me: "Well, I just told her she could. Also, would you rather she was bleeding all over the food court?" Yup, I was working in customer service and got yelled at for doing good customer service by helping out a customer who was bleeding.
Because I made the day shift manager “uncomfortable”. How? I started crying while she was yelling at me because they didn’t have a certain product that day… because the delivery people didn’t deliver it the day before (I didn’t work for the delivery company and it was day shifts job to check that everything got delivered each morning)
A few weeks after a colleague quit, we got a call for him at the office. I got in trouble for telling the caller that he no longer worked there. Apparently I was supposed to lie about his whereabouts.
Got sent to HR for "being condescending" Years before COVID, we were implementing work from home in my department. our training included learning how to connect to the company VPN, which was only necessary outside of the office network. We tested all our WAH equipment in office to confirm we were familiarized with it. first day of work from I forgot my 2 factor auth code that was needed as part of connecting to the VPN. So I go in to the office, flustered because of messing up my first day at home. Anyways, a coworker that I've clashed with since day one asked for help saying she couldn't connect to the VPN (she wasn't ready to go home yet, hence being in office). I said you don't need to connect in building since you were connecting to the internal network. She didn't like my response and sought a second opinion on my boss, who said "if you had taken the wah training, you would know." Queue speaking to HR who definitely thought it was ridiculous. And told me to watch my tone
of course i'd gotten this job after being fired for calling the abuse hotline when the previous assistant director hit one child and threw a chair at another. suddenly they "couldn't afford me" .... my first week. and saw the same job listing the next day (they knew it was me because DCF interviewed everyone out in the open)
I wonatioch a national chain that has a Childcare Network of facilities across the state. I got in trouble for encouraging a co worker to call the abuse hotline because she was telling me she witnessed something. we are mandated reporters, by the way. the REGIONAL MANAGER OF THIS CHILDCARE NETWORK of facilities told me that I was creating a hostile working environment and that since someone else overheard me say "ive called the abuse line before and i'll do it again in a heartbeat" she didn't want "her girls" to feel they can't trust me. Regional director of a Childcare network of facilities sanctioning me for .... following the law.
I got told off because I stood too straight. Apparently good posture made you look proud.
In my teenage years I worked for a sales company, hacked into the phone routing system and directed myself all of the juicy calls. I got caught and still wasn't fired (though I absolutely should've been).
Worked as an advisor in service department at car dealership; was written up for "fraternizing" with a heavy line tech. That fraternizing was not accepting his offer to go on a date. TF?
It's kind of baffling for me to read these post, living in the Netherlands. USA sounds like a terrible place to live if you read the Bored Panda posts. Yet most TV shows, movies and even Americans are all Yay USA.
We'd been away for about 5 years, and came back recently. It's gotten even worse, and it wasn't a barrel of joy to begin with. Too many simple-minded mouth-breathers who think their beliefs are more important than, oh, actual facts. Not to mention anyone else's beliefs.
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