Here's what they shared:
1. When they make you do weird shit like this:
"We had to walk across the building after every shift to personally say goodbye to the CEO. It was to ensure people didn't leave early."
2. When family tragedies are disregarded:
"When you call in because your dad died and your boss called you at lunchtime to ask if you're going to bother showing up for work. NOPE."
3. When they forget and then blame you:
"I worked at a diner while I was in college and told the manager two weeks in advance I couldn't work a shift because of my final nursing clinical. Sure enough, two weeks later, he forgot I couldn't work, and when I texted him I couldn't make the shift, he fired me via text. The best part was the diner texted me later that week saying they needed me to come in and work my normal shift."
4. When they disregard basic courtesies:
"Had a job where the CEO walked straight past my desk every day she was in the office. She said 'Hello' and 'Good morning' to everyone, but purposely would ignore me. I was told by the directors that she wouldn't acknowledge me for three months because she didn't think I would last."
—ssdm
5. When they have bad character:
"My mom worked for Kirby Vacuums for a hot moment. Her mentor told her that during her demonstration, she should throw the vacuum cleaner that they currently owned across the room to make a point that their vacuum sucked. She asked what would happen if she accidentally broke it, and his response was 'Then they'll be more inclined to buy our vacuum because theirs is broken, won't they?' She left.
6. When they don't care about your growth:
"When you ask for guidance and growth and they say we are too busy to help you — you're on your own."
7. When they reward 100% attendance:
"I started teaching at a school and on the first day, the boss gave out huge chocolate bars to members of staff who had had 100% attendance the school year before. Free chocolate sounded great at first, and it didn't initially indicate that it was a problem."
8. When they sarcastically joke about employees' well-being:
"My friend had a meeting at her workplace which was basically a 'check-in' to make sure that all the staff were doing OK physically and emotionally after the stress of the pandemic. Sounds good, right? Except the boss started the meeting about 20 minutes late, sighed and said, 'Right, well, I guess this is where I have to pretend to care.'"
10. When they do any of this:
"The boss refused to do direct deposit and would write handwritten checks for us every two weeks. But anytime she was on vacation (which was a lot) that fell on a payday, we had to wait until she got back to receive our checks. Anytime she got in a fight with her husband or would get mad at one of us, she literally wouldn’t speak to us for days."
11. When they don't respect pregnancy:
"Worked at a call center when I was newly pregnant. I had awful morning sickness all day, and they told me I wasn’t allowed to keep going to the washroom to throw up. They’d get me a bucket for my desk."
—0621
12. When they micromanage:
"Worst boss I ever had was the dreaded MICROMANAGER 😱 Truly a thing of fucking horror. If they can’t even trust you to do your own job without incessant needless intervention, run for the hills. My best bosses by far were the ones with a well-balanced management style — the ones who make you feel confident and trusted but still supported (rather than isolated or exploited)."
13. When they say this toxic cliché:
"‘We’re a big family here’ means you have to conform to their work culture, they will not take well to someone different or someone who questions the norm."
14. When they only care about reviews:
"My manager and general manager never had our backs when we were yelled at and treated like shit because they only care about reviews."
15. When they comment on appearance:
"When they make comments about your appearance or how you are dressed. I don’t mean things that the company makes clear via policy that are or aren’t acceptable, but when you are individually picked out to be harassed about how that ACCEPTABLE clothing looks on you. I wore the same outfits as all of my coworkers, and was the only one in my very small workplace that was told it was unacceptable. In reality, it was actually due to my body shape and having large breasts."
16. When they talk bad about other employees to you:
"I worked for a carpet cleaning company once for a few months. Within the week, the owner/boss was trash talking all the previous office managers to me."