Recently, u/slipsbups asked people on Reddit to share the work scams that are so normalized we don't even realize they're scams. And in the comments, people brought up so many questionable practices that we've all somehow come to expect and accept (especially if you're working in America). Here's what they had to say:
1. "Discouraging talking about how much money you make. It's literally only a tactic to keep workers from comparing notes and establishing financial fairness. Punishing you for talking about your salary is illegal [in the US] by the way, as is discouraging you from it."
2. "Probably cellphones. Most jobs require a smartphone in some way, but you have to pay for it."
"People who download work apps on their personal devices and/or use their personal cellphone for company business without being reimbursed. You are subsidizing company costs, and they've convinced you that it's no big deal."
3. "'Be here 15 minutes before your shift starts.' Yeah bro. Normally, I would because I like to ease in, make a coffee, etc. But if you require it and don’t pay, I’m rolling in at 9 on the dot."
4. "Go above and beyond and we will reward you with...even more work."
5. "For the Americans in the crowd: Let's talk about tying proper healthcare to our jobs, shall we? It's become so normalized that we sometimes forget how wild it is that a huge chunk of our healthcare security is linked to where we work. If you or one of your loved ones requires ongoing medical coverage, you literally CANNOT quit your job."
6. "Unpaid lunches resulting in a 9-hour work day. Absolute fucking horseshit."
"Plus, the commute!
My work day is 10 hours long on days when I'm in the office instead of eight hours when I work at home (because I can actually use my lunch breaks and have no commute time)."
8. "'Team lead.' It really means you're going to get management responsibilities without management pay."
9. "'Do it for the team, others are counting on you' to try and get free labor."
10. "Attendance policies, like telling an employee who they can and can’t take time off to grieve for."
12. "When they start processing payroll days out from your check but won't actually show you the amount until it's paid. Show us the amounts in advance and we can tell you if it's wrong before it's too late! I can't tell you how many employers have an app that says the hours I should be paid but still screw up and get me late fees on my bills!"
13. "After work activities being 'not mandatory but advised' or affecting your standing at work. I used to have a two-hour commute, and at least once a month, my bosses would have the whole team go out for a few hours (after an eight-hour shift starting at the crack of dawn where every minute of our day was accounted for). I just wanted to clock in and then go home because I was just mentally exhausted by the end of the day, but would always get the stink eye when I would politely decline the three-hour detour for 'team building' with a team we couldn’t even socialize with since we were on the phone eight hours a day."
14. "Having to find someone to cover for you when you call out sick. That's the manager's job, not yours."
15. "Having to pay for parking just to go to work. This blew my mind as a New Yorker when I met people from other parts of the US. They’re forcing you to be at their premises, yet you have to pay for a separate parking facility, or worse yet, one of those corporate park deals where the employers there can easily cover employee parking, but they don’t."
16. "Promising growth and development (dangling the carrot) but not following through."
18. "That it’s 2023, but employers and policymakers still cling to the 40-hour work week model for knowledge work. It was designed for assembly lines long before we had powerful computers that fit in our pockets."
19. "The part where I make 100 bucks for my employer and he gives me 10 for my efforts."
20. "Being on salary. Salary is SUCH a scam that only benefits a company in that they can get free labor and not pay overtime. There is ZERO benefit to the employee. Why this even exists is something I find baffling."
22. "Being unable to leave early once you fulfill your daily/weekly quota. Must stay so they can exploit more of your energy."
23. "Companies offering 3% raises while inflation is 8%."
24. "I don’t know if it’s normalized, but it seems to be growing: 'unlimited' PTO."
"That’s because it’s proven that when companies go to that model, their workers use less PTO. And, in states like California where they got to pay out PTO upon the worker quitting or getting fired or laid off, they don’t have to because it’s unlimited and not earned like before."
25. "Time theft by computer. You clock in at 7:58 a.m. and it rounds you to 8 a.m. Over a year, that time adds up. The clock-in computer systems doing it to millions of workers over a year steals billions of dollars."
26. "Driving to the office so I can stare at my computer, when I can easily sit at home and stare at my computer."
