15 Subtle But Often Missed Workplace Red Flags That Everyone Should Keep An Eye Out For
Recently, Redditor u/BackgroundChapter970 asked the very important question: "What is a red flag from an employer that people might not immediately recognize as a red flag?" Here are 15 subtle but significant workplace red flags people shared:
1."When an employee quits or gets fired from their job and the company doesn't hire anyone new to replace them. It can be hard to tell it's a red flag at first. But, the 'temporary' workload they added to your own that used to be the ex-employee's slowly becomes your new permanent workload, without any changes to your pay or benefits to compensate for the additional tasks. The further out it goes without the position being filled, the larger and more obvious the red flag becomes."
2."When management talks poorly about the other employees. It might make you feel included or special at first, but I guarantee they’re going to be talking about you next."
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3."When you check out their Glassdoor and there's a bunch of overwhelmingly positive reviews from 'anonymous current employees.' Bonus points if they say 'no cons that I can think of!' under the cons list. Even the best place in the world to work has SOME cons."
4."Want to find the red flag fast? During your interview, when the employer asks if you have any questions, ask this: Can you tell me about a recent time one of your employees really excelled? A good employer won't have any trouble celebrating their team. A crap employer will struggle to answer. It's a perfectly reasonable question."
"It'll also teach you what they really value. If they promote work-life balance but their favorite employees are those who 'put in the extra work to get things done,' it means they will not, in fact, respect your work-life balance. I learned this the hard way."
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5."A company that offers to pay you a lot less than market rate because you will 'learn so much; or 'be working with a great team.' Sorry, but my bank does not take IQ points as a mortgage payment."
"I work in games. A lot of job postings end with 'Must have a passion for video games.' Translation: Your pay is gonna be garbage, there's going to be a lot of overtime, and we don't care if you like it because there are hundreds of applicants."
6."When they say, 'We're a family here.' Especially if it's a smaller company. No, you're a business. And we're employees."
"'We're like family!' can also mean 'we'll ignore all of your personal boundaries, make unreasonable requests of you, and steal your money!'"
"When you hear 'We're like a family here,' run and don't look back. The only 'family' traits that'll come from that job is the dysfunction, gaslighting, and lack of accountability."
7."If a long term employee tells you the place sucks, believe them."
"I remember starting a new job and, on my first day, walking past an employee who jokingly said, 'Get out while you still can.' Within six months, every time I saw a new hire I thought about doing the exact same thing."
8."Things like game machines, foosball, air hockey, beer, and/or hip hang-out spots at the job. They want and will expect you to spend every waking minute there."
"Can confirm. I worked for a company that had a golf simulator, an arcade, Xbox, and more in office. It was probably the most toxic job I ever had and I'm glad I left. After working extremely hard for an entire year, were only met with the same false promises and 'pizza parties' for how good we were doing."
9."Regular mandatory overtime for salaried workers. If you end up working like 60 hours per week, you're really not making a whole lot over minimum wage for your time."
10."Management who is willing to risk it and cut corners. I had an interview with a company and the interviewer would've been my boss if I got the job. He said he liked his teams to be a strong and cohesive group and that, because he values us, we would all give input. Maybe three questions later, he asked me, 'If you had an unstable load that I told you had to be loaded this minute, would you do it?' I told him, 'No, if it was unsafe and could potentially kill someone, I wouldn't allow it out until the problem was sorted out. I would tell [him] of the issue and try to fix it.' He then said, 'What if I told you it must be loaded as is?' To which I said, 'It still wouldn't get loaded and I would bring it to the health and safety team.' He immediately told me that I was not the right type of person for that company. I consider myself lucky to have not even been offered the job."
11."Sporadic and slow responses during the interview period. It signals that they either don't value the potential new employee's time, or that they are so disorganized, they can't even keep their own interviews lined up."
"My boss had me schedule interviews for a position at my company and I had to reschedule every. single. one. I’d always check with her beforehand to make sure the time would work and she’d say it would, but then not show up to the interview. The interviewees would message me like, '???' and then she'd have me cancel them altogether. It was embarrassing."
12."When you don’t get a review until you ask for a raise. Then, all of a sudden, your work is being questioned and you’re being berated."
"I almost lost my job because I asked for a raise. They said they noticed 'performance issues' in November but didn’t say anything until I asked for a raise. I received a verbal written warning which basically said if I fucked up again in the next year, I’d be gone. Up until now, my bosses were telling me how good of a job I was doing, so I literally had no idea there was a problem.
I brought up how I’ve been basically begging them for support and how I don’t feel appreciated. The CEO and CTO’s response was 'we tell you all the time how much we appreciate you.' I wish nothing but bad things for employers who do this."
13."When a company tells you you're required to be 10 to15 minutes early for your shift. In previous jobs that I've quit, any time I remind a supervisor it's illegal to require that, they clam up. If they are not paying for that 15 minutes, you are not required to show up then."
"Once I had an employer like this. When I asked why they required this, they said people have to be ready to work at 8, not people coming in at 8 and then going into the changing room to get ready. I told them I came into work in my work attire and clocked in at 8 and immediately started working after clocking in. Apparently, that meant I'm 'not a team player' to them."
14."If the interviewer is negative and nitpicky but hires you anyway, either decline the offer or, at the very least, keep looking for something better if you absolutely need the income right now."
"My theory is that such an employer would only be hiring you out of desperation and would never really warm up to you as their employee. Also, bear in mind that if an employer is that desperate to hire, there may be a good reason nobody wants to stay there. I base this on my recent experience."
"People often forget that an interview is usually a two way street. The interviewer should be trying to sell you the job, too."
15.And finally, "When they say stuff like, 'We're definitely not a 9-to-5 place, we stay until the work is done.' What they mean is that there will be lots of overtime, possibly due to poor planning or overcommitment by leadership. It could still be a good job, but negotiate for equity, not just a salary."
Are there any subtle, often overlooked workplace red flags we missed? If so, tell us about them in the comments below or via this anonymous form.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
