73 Terrible Workplaces That Prove 2023 Was Not The Year Of "No One Wants To Work Anymore," But The Year Of "No One Wants To Work For YOU Anymore"
1.What a lovely Christmas bonus! That's sure gonna help them make rent!
2.Though this EMPTY BAG meant for you to use to GIVE GIFTS TO OTHERS at work is a far worse holiday "gift."
3.This workplace literally wanted you to PAY to wear comfier clothes.
4.Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're all working because we need money to survive, yes?
5.Why did I automatically know this was in America?
6.This person was literally forgotten about at work.
If you can't read this, it says:
"I was forgotten about at work again.
I work 12-hour shifts on the night shift. My relief in the morning had vacation, and supervision forgot AGAIN that I needed to be relieved. Got a text from my boss an hour after the end of my shift asking if I was still at the office. Even texted that he thought he was my relief and finished the text with LOL. Why the hell would someone check if you are still at work an hour after THEY were supposed to relieve you? Because nobody cares, that’s why. This has happened to me almost half a dozen times. No union, and if you leave without being relieved, you will be terminated."
7.And yet the reason millennials can't afford a house is avocado toast.
8.I don't know about y'all, but I have never trusted any checkout charity collection. I'm not giving a multimillion dollar company MORE money, then just trusting they give it all to people in need, without collecting any tax benefit for themselves.
9.This person was asked to come to a "cleaning party" at work with two hours notice, and got fired when they couldn't go.
10.This manager approved PTO then went ahead and scheduled the person anyways.
11.Clearly, some bosses reallyyyy don't understand the concept of PTO.
12.Especially the "off" part.
13.Is this even allowed?
14.This is not how this works!
15.This employee got in trouble for wearing a sweater AFTER their shift was over.
If you can't read this, it says:
"Got chewed out for wearing a sweater after clocking out.
It’s 30F outside. I’m a maintenance worker for a facility. I clock out and put on my sweater before heading out. My boss stopped me from leaving the building and told me that my hoodie isn’t part of my uniform and that I’m going to get written up if I continue to break policy. I asked why I have to be in uniform when I’m off the clock and was told it doesn’t matter while I’m on site.
Am I supposed to walk out to my car and continue to freeze until I leave the facility? Seems like a fucking stupid thing to expect of employees. It’s not a secure facility or anything like that. No fences. Like, when I’m out the door, I’m out in public. I assume it’s okay to not be in uniform at that point."
16.This workplace expected you to be unemployed before even interviewing for another job, because it makes total sense to completely give up your income on the off chance you may get this other job.
17.Look, I get that starting salary is sometimes a negotiation, but this person gave a clear range, and this recruiter's basically suggesting they could manipulate her into taking less.
18.This company basically told a (former) employee if they keep expecting their workplace to follow the law and pay people for work, nowhere else will hire them.
19.This boss also conveniently "forgot" the law.
20.And this one said "it's not illegal" not to pay an employee.
21.This person was fired after asking for a raise, which is definitely 100% unconnected!
22.This boss demanded an employee come in on their off day, and then — when the employee said they couldn't — insulted them.
23.This boss is frankly unbelievable.
24.As is this one.
If you can't read this, it says:
"Boss made me read her dad’s erotic writings as a 'work assignment'
I’ve been working as an assistant for a year and a half at a Fortune 500 company. I’ve had to report my boss to HR previously for verbal harassment, and they claim to still be investigating.
The other day, my boss approached me and told me she had a work assignment for me. When I asked for details, she informed me that her elderly father was writing a book and that she’d like me to read it and provide feedback. I felt this was a little strange, since that isn’t the scope of my job/the company I work for, but I agreed mostly because she’s my boss, and I didn’t think it was a choice.
She airdrops it to me (was very reluctant to email it), and when I begin reading, it’s a nonfiction story about her father’s ex-wife 'whoring' around the city. There was some incredibly offensive things in the writings besides the sexual passages, like homophobia and sexism.
I returned to my boss to ask her if she knew what was in this document, and she just replied, 'I know it’s inappropriate. Just make your notes and send it back.' I saved the doc in my Google Drive because she asked me to delete it when I was done.
I reported this to HR, and they told me they’re looking into it, but I desperately want to leave. Does this qualify as sexual harassment? I’m so lost right now, but I know my work performance is failing because of her treatment."
25.This list of rules made it seem a lot less like a workplace and a lot more like military school.
26.This workplace had appearance and age requirements, which is definitely illegal.
27.This poor employee tried to take some food that was being thrown out because he was struggling to afford food and got chewed out by his manager, and it's giving ✨dystopia✨.
28.This workplace considered charging your phone while at work "theft of electricity."
29.This boss tried to schedule their employee last-minute for a weekend shift because THEY didn't want to work, claiming the employee had the "last few weekends off." But according to OP, it "was ONE weekend, which was LAST weekend for my daughter's birthday! I worked Thanksgiving, the day after, that Saturday, AND my birthday. I’ve worked almost every weekend since September."
30.This workplace charged people to use the microwave in the break room.
31.And this workplace charged employees for coffee.
32.This employer gave out candy for a special occasion...and then threatened employees who might dare to take more than a single fun-size piece. Because nothing says employee appreciation like increased surveillance!
33.This workplace took screenshots every 10 minutes and counted mouse clicks to make sure employees are working all day.
34.This workplace asked other employees to donate PTO to a hospitalized worker instead of just giving them more PTO.
35.This workplace asked workers injured on the job *not* to go to the hospital, which is definitely illegal.
36.This workplace gave employees a single mint for generating an extra $6 million in sales.
37.This workplace put up this infuriating poster — and to make things worse, they added a minion meme.
38.This workplace texted an employee who was in the hospital facing surgery telling them they'd have to come into work anyways, because they'd "already paid for an Airbnb in Cleveland."
39.This workplace hired people based on attractiveness — which a prospective employee realized when she saw her job application.
The interviewer wrote: "Found on Facebook. Fits our look when she puts on makeup."
40.This workplace gave a pregnant person absolutely zero PTO or maternity leave when they had a child.
If you can't read the above, it says:
"My wife is returning to work with zero sick time or PTO after giving birth to our child. USA is backwards.
My wife’s employer (healthcare) does not offer any sort of maternity leave. So she was forced to go on short-term disability to get six weeks at 60% pay to deliver our child. She then filed for FMLA and got another six weeks unpaid for a total of 12 weeks. Her HR generalist led her to believe that going unpaid was possible, however we learned today that they cashed out all of her sick time and PTO during her FMLA. Now she is returning to work with literally zero sick time or PTO. I just can’t believe that I live in a country that is going to put my wife’s job and my child’s livelihood in jeopardy in the event that she gets sick. Or god forbid, needs a day off. F*** every politician that voted against mandatory paid leave for new parents."
41.This awful restaurant has its employees pay a "tip refund" every time a customer pays with a card.
42.This workplace changed their schedule and put an employee on the day of the week that they said they could never do, didn't tell the employee about it, then got mad when they didn't come in.
43.This job gave employees their tips via rolls of coins.
44.This boss asked their employee to work 17 hours on the Fourth of July so that they wouldn't have to work a 12-hour shift.
45.This hospital made ICU workers say why they didn't receive their legally-mandated lunch break, but really only gave the option of "I chose to work" (since you can only click "manager request" if the manager actually requested it in writing, not if you were forced to keep working because a patient was dying and your manager was nowhere to be found).
46.This person got fired (along with 80% of the workplace) due to budget cuts, then saw the CEO post this that same night.
47.This employer gave employees a literal rock as an appreciation gift.
48.This employee appreciation gift was literally just air.
49.This person just didn't get paid because their boss was on vacation, which their boss thought was totally fine and normal.
50.And this person didn't pay employees because it was "slow" at work.
51.There's no way this is allowed.
52.This company gave good employees "work bux" (with cringey bitmojis on them, no less) that could be used to redeem top ramen and granola bars.
53.This workplace decided to completely return to the office with no warning.
If you can't read this, it says:
"Office going back in office 5 X a week with no warning.
Exactly what the title says. My company (in which I work pretty much completely remote; we have an office that people go into maybe once a month) sent an email Saturday morning that starting January 1st, we are back in office five days a week. There was no warning and no transition at all. I've been working from home the past year and a half and cannot even fathom going back in office completely. Guess I'll add 'new job' to my Christmas list this year."
54.This workplace posted this whole rant about tipping your server and how the servers deserve the money, when they could've just, y'know, paid their servers more.
55.This workplace got their employee's name wrong on their uniform, then told the employee they'd have to pay for a new uniform if they wanted it fixed.
56.This elderly employee injured their foot AT WORK, and their boss's first reply was if they'd be in the next day.
57.This boss refused to let staff take certain days off, then took them off themselves.
58.This workplace's toilet paper literally looks like tissue paper.
59.This company gave their employee an extra 10-minute break as a reward for work well done...but the 10 minutes had to be asked for a day in advance and could not be added to existing breaks.
60.And this job gave out Monopoly money that could be used at the company's "store" of random items...which were "prohibitively expensive" according to the original poster: "There's close to 400 Bux in the picture, and I couldn't afford anything but free snacks," they wrote.
61.This employee got a coupon for being a loyal employee who never missed a day of work for five years.
62.Though I gotta say, these prizes for Employee Appreciation Day — which include "a head of lettuce" — are even worse.
63.This workplace gave their employee a "party" for 15 years of employment, then started it early and let everyone else eat all her food so she didn't get any.
If you can't read the above, it says:
"Fifteen years for this...
My daughter has worked 15 years for J*w*l F**ds. They told her they would give her a party to celebrate. She arrived to find that they had started early without her. All the food was gone. All that remained was an empty room and a huge mess, which at least they did not make her clean up. Fair is fair, though — they did allow her an extra break. I wish I was surprised."
64.Instead of getting raises to, y'know, afford to buy food, NHS workers apparently got advice on how to access a food bank.
65.This person got a voucher for £2.50 for a job well done.
66.This workplace tried to schedule an interview, then asked for a more enthusiastic cover letter.
67.This workplace required a doctor's note but didn't give employees health insurance.
68.This workplace used some backwards logic to explain why they could legally pay someone below minimum wage (they can't).
69.This boss bragged about being cruel just for the sake of it.
70.This boss also bragged about clearly having a toxic workplace.
71.This workplace was *definitely* not toxic!
If you can't read the above, it says:
"Got asked in an interview if I was 'sensitive.'
Had a phone interview, and the lady was hostile from the get-go. Toward the end, she asked me if I was 'sensitive,' as the 'team' like to 'joke around.'
I’m not what I’d consider a 'sensitive person,' but this to me screams a work environment where management allows core staff to sort of shit on new staff — driven by the fact that she also mentioned she didn’t really want to bring me on board as I’d 'take work away from the main guys.'
At least she made the decision for me. 🤦🏼♀️"
72.This workplace accidentally ended up with more keyboards than they ordered, so they literally threw the extras into the trash instead of giving them away — and cut the cords so no one dumpster diving could use them.
73.And finally, this workplace — and every single other workplace that does this — needs to leave this stupid requirement in 2023.
