These Bosses Were Being Jerks, So Their Employees Shamed Them On The Internet
Relationships between bosses and employees are tough to navigate. It's an awkward power dynamic that never really feels comfortable. Some employees get lucky and their boss is their best friend, but most of the time, if things are uneventful and neutral, that's good enough.
These employees got the short end of the stick when it comes to bosses, and they decided to take their frustrations to the internet. Keep reading to find out what they have to put up with on a daily basis.
That Doesn't Add Up
Apparently, a six-pack of macarons costs more than six individual macarons. When questioned by their employee about the glaring mistake, this boss just said, "You weren't supposed to notice."
Ummm, maybe it's just us but it seems like you'd rather that a mistake like this be caught by a fellow employee and not by a customer, right? This boss is a serious jerk. Even macarons can't sweeten this employment situation.
A Hurt Feelings Report
There are few things in this life worse than paperwork. This boss created extra paperwork when none was needed, so that's already his first strike. This employee received a "hurt feelings report" after complaining to his boss about something.
When sharing on Reddit, this person said, "Complained to my boss and received this minutes later." Under "Reasons for filing this report," options included "I am thin-skinned" and "I am a crybaby." Wow.
You Can't Park There
This boss parks like a real jerk. That's not even a legitimate parking spot at all! And with a car that fancy, he's pretty much just rubbing everybody else's noses in it. This is so not cool.
The employee just had to share this one with the world, but wanted to be somewhat sly about it. "If you park like this...you are my boss, so I can't say anything," they wrote.
A Long Afternoon
"My boss ordered a box of 6000 pepper packets instead of a shaker, so now I get to spend my Saturday cutting open packets for our burger seasoning," shared this Redditor.
Six thousand. That is a whole lot of pepper packets. If I made an ordering mistake that big, I'd probably feel more comfortable dealing with it myself than forcing someone else to do it. At least he wasn't allergic to pepper (that we know, at least).
A Shiny Ring
This is a man who goes to work in style. He is the boss of a construction company and he wears this $50,000 green diamond ring to work when he's laying asphalt. Bit of a show-off, if you ask me.
There's no need for this kind of bling at any job, really, unless you're in the jewelry sales industry. But manual labor? This is just a ludicrous display of ostentation.
They're Melting!
This boss likes to keep her office toasty. This thermometer doesn't even register how hot it is in that office. Everyone is sweating, and she doesn't really give a hoot.
You can always put on a sweater or more layers of clothing if you're cold, but what are the employees who are too hot supposed to do? She's not exactly going to like it if they start stripping down to cool off.
That's Not Free Water
This employer refused to pay for his employees' water, so they all pitched in and bought a water cooler. They left a note on the cooler that says, "Please do not assume the company pays for this 'office' water cooler. We know it sounds ridiculous, but they do not. If you would like to contribute, it's $5 per month."
This is about as low as you can get. Keeping your employees hydrated and happy for $5 a month is about the least you could do.
We're Sure She's Joking
This boss asked her employee to order more pens with this lovely note. Is that a veiled threat at the bottom of the note? Nope, that's clearly a blatant threat.
We hope that the recipient of this rude, threatening note has already been looking for a new job and will actually be able to use the special pen to resign very soon. No one deserves to be talked to like this.
He Refuses To Fix It
This pole is kind of important to the structural integrity of this entire warehouse. As you can see, it's on its last legs. The boss of this warehouse refuses to get it fixed.
Our guess is that if something bad happened, like the ceiling caved in, the boss would immediately blame employees for the accident. That's how bad bosses operate. They don't take responsibility for their mistakes but blame others instead.
Merry Christmas
This is the very "generous" Christmas gift that employees of this very successful company received this year. Just some Post-It notes, a pen, a couple of Santa shaped chocolates, and a coupon giving them permission to wear casual clothes for a day.
If that were me, I'd make about 100 copies of the "one free jeans day" coupon and pretty much wear nothing but jeans and t-shirts to work for a few months.
That's Not Safe
This boss of a trucking company thought it would be a good idea to play Drag Racing on his iPad while he was behind the wheel of a large truck. Boss or not, this is the opposite of a good idea.
Anyone who would endanger themselves (and other drivers, and their own company) to play a silly game while they were driving probably doesn't have what it takes to be a good boss.
An Unwelcome Replacement
This employee came into the office one day only to discover that his boss had gotten rid of all of the desks in the building and replaced them with glass sheets on top of old dressers.
The employer obviously knew this wouldn't fly since they did it while their workers were out of the office. So why did he make this decision to force his employees to work on top of dressers instead of desks?
A Strong Stance
This woman's boss took a strong stance on visible panty lines. What does he want the ladies to do? Just not wear underwear? This is a conspiracy. We will not stand for this.
It gets so graphic too. "Change the style of your underwear to a THONG" or wear a top that covers your bum. It is NOT SEXY when it looks like you are wearing a BABY'S DIAPER!" Someone needs to report this person to HR, pronto.
A Tiny Monitor
This employee posted this picture of his workspace online with the caption, "leave work for one day and my boss replaced my large monitor that I use to make prototype models and engravings on products with this tiny one."
Certainly, this boss is smart enough to know that productivity is about to go way down, right? You can't just replace someone's equipment like this and expect them to keep up the same amount of quality work.
That's Just Gross
This is the drinking water filter at this employee's place of work. It is getting darker by the day, but his boss still insists that it's in good working order.
The person who shared this also wrote, that the discoloration "accumulated in a span of about a month suddenly, it was perfectly fine for months prior. There's clearly oxidation and the water has a distinct metallic taste that wasn't there before." Yuck.
The Reason She Quit
This employee quit her job the day before she received this text because she wasn't a fan of being in an unprofessional working environment. Clearly, she was right to get out when she did.
Too bad for this person's niece that she has such a horrible aunt or uncle. Hopefully, they weren't able to make the birthday party, either, and had to cover their own closing shift on Saturday instead.
Working Over Thanksgiving
This note looks like a joke, but this employer was deadly serious when he posted this note on the bulletin board in his office. It looks like everyone is working over Thanksgiving.
Nice way to "ask" for volunteers, too: "If I do not receive volunteers for the holidays, I will schedule people and fire them if they do not show. Please step up and help the situation." There's not even a mention of holiday pay or bonuses or anything.
Getting Back At The Big Man
This boss installed a security camera in the workplace so he could keep an eye on his employees. One clever employee decided to beat him at his own game by sticking this picture of Nicolas Cage right in front of the camera.
Installing cameras because you don't trust your employees is definitely not going to instill any good feelings about you. If anything, they're resent you more and more with each passing day.
That's Probably Illegal
These employees found a hidden camera in their work washroom, so they all decided to quit at the same time. Now this boss has no employees. That's what you get for being creepy.
We sincerely hope that the employees also called cops and reported this incident. There's no way this is legal, and this guy "Don" has no business being the boss of anyone if he's doing nasty things like this.
No Chairs For You
This boss didn't like the color of the chairs in his office's break room, so he just took them out. Now nobody has a place to sit. What color chairs would be acceptable in this situation?
Amazingly, this Reddit thread got lots of people sharing similar stories about not being allowed to have chairs in their places of work either. Lots of bosses think that "no chairs means shorter breaks" or that chairs "look unprofessional."
That Was Fast
The shift manager at this place of work was diagnosed with colon cancer. One day later, the store manager put this sign on the door. That's a little fast, don't you think?
We sincerely hope that this company has a good HR team because this is just terrible, and the employee with cancer deserves to be treated respectfully. We also feel bad for anyone applying for the job, because it's surely not going to be a fun one.
Theft Of Electricity
Now, this is just ridiculous. Is theft of electricity even a real thing? If you work in a place, you should be allowed to charge your phone in that place.
"Nobody is entitled to 'charge up' any mobile phones or other electrical devices on these premises. It is theft of electricity and you may find a deduction has been made from your pay. Phones should be switched off." Wow, this boss isn't messing around.
A Horrible Tips Policy
This one almost sounds like a joke. "Notice to the public: All tips or gratuities given by the patron are not the property of the employee, but instead belong to the employer."
Well, it's a good thing that this employer posted this sign in his restaurant because now patrons know that they're better off just not tipping anyone. This is not how tips are supposed to work at all.
That's Perfectly Good Pizza
This guy works in a pizza shop and there's always pizza leftover at the end of the day. His boss doesn't let him take any of it home. It all ends up in the trash.
This Redditor got some good advice from others, at least. "Throw it away in a clean trash bag. Take the trash out to the dumpster aka the trunk of your car. Eat like a king," wrote nicksplosion. We agree that it's a good idea.
A Good Reason To Quit
This note was left in the front door of a restaurant after an employee quit on the spot. It says, "I was attacked at work by a drunk employee and my boss won't fire him because he's too lazy to work the open shift. So... I quit!!! Someone will (probably) be with you shortly.
When you start getting harassed by drunk coworkers and your boss isn't on your side, you know it's a good time to call it quits. This employee made the right call.
That's Not Suspicious At All
This employee found a recording device hidden under a table in his break room at work. That's not suspicious at all... Just kidding. That's very suspicious. Run away as fast as you can.
Is it just us, or does this feel like something that Michael Scott would have tried to pull on The Office? It's crazy that someone thought they could get away with secretly recording their employees' break room conversations.
Goodbye, Pie
This very nice employee made a pecan pie and brought it to work to share with her coworkers. Not too long after setting the pie down in a communal space, she walked into her boss's office and saw this.
There were some humorous comments from other Redditors. One person suggested that the employee go in and ask for a raise, and someone else said that they should bring in a glass of milk when they did.
Asking For Vacation Time
This employee asked very nicely to use the vacation time that she is entitled to by law. Her boss said it wasn't a good time. It's never a good time. So she quit.
You can tell that the boss never expected for this employee to finally find their backbone and stand up for themselves. They were probably stunned, and might have even begged them to take their job back. We hope the employee left for good.
Merry Grinchmas
This employee got a $50 Walmart gift card for Christmas from his boss. He was pretty grateful for the gesture until he saw that it had been taken out of his pay check.
This post on Reddit turned into quite a lively discussion about company gifts and tax laws, but most agree that this isn't the nicest way to handle holiday gifts for your loyal employees. Many found this one insulting.
When You Get To Arrange The Meeting Room
This employee got called into a meeting on his day off. His boss asked him to set up the meeting room. This is how he set it up. Take that, boss.
The best thing about this is that unless the boss wants to point out what the problem with this layout is, he or she can't really complain. We're guessing that they ended up rearranging the meeting room themselves after the employee left.
"But We Just Got New Tools!"
The employees at this mechanical shop told their boss that they needed new, updated tools to use, but he said they had just gotten new ones. Sir, these tools were made before the Soviet Union became Russia again.
I mean, this is completely covered in rust. How insulting to try and claim that this is a brand new tool. This boss clearly doesn't think much of their employees and doesn't care what they think of him, either.
I Am Speechless
Can you imagine undergoing major surgery in order to help save the life of your boss only for them to get angry and fire you when your post-operative complications slow down your recovery?
According to Snopes, "[a] woman donated her kidney to the National Kidney Registry as part of a "paired kidney exchange" that allowed her boss to be paired with a kidney donor. The exchange occurred in August 2011. The woman was fired in April 2012."
This Person Spent Way Too Much Time Making This Sign
This boss really expects their employees to prefer working to taking vacation time and never wanting a raise. I hope the employees countered with a similar sign that said: Just Once I Wish My Boss Would Shut Up.
Wow, there are some winners on here. "I'm coming in early tomorrow!" "I just love your meetings!" "Of course I don't mind working late!" Sounds like this boss is a psycho with way too much time on their hands.
Great Thank You! I Will Not Show Up
I understand that, as the person in charge, sometimes you need a little extra help from employees to keep things running. However, if they can't make it for a shift you're asking them to pick up, don't try and force them to come in. That's just not how it works.
"No. 11-7." "I can't work the full shift. I'm sorry." "Great thank you I will put you down." "What? I can't work." This is a perfect example of a boss who's terrible at communication.
Make The Employees Pay For Your Mistakes!
At this coffee shop, the boss absentmindedly poured a large batch of unroasted beans into a container of roasted ones and then made their employees hand sort all 10,000 coffee beans back into the right categories by hand.
This is similar to the pepper packet one we saw earlier. Apparently, it's pretty common for bad bosses to make their employees clean up after their mistaken orders. At least coffee beans have a nice aroma.
This Boss Wants To Bring Back Slavery
Picture this: you're the boss of your company trying to hire some new employees. Things are going great until the new hires demand that they actually get paid for the work they do. Should you consider not being the worst person ever?
The boss at "Muffin Break" really sounds like a terrible employer. "Says unpaid work is dead because Insta-obsessed Gen Y have 'inflated self-importance.'" Good luck finding new employees after this story came out.
Pro Tip: Talk About Your Salary
This scumbag boss really thought that he could get away with underpaying his female staff member by $10,000. However, we support this male employee who made sure his coworker got the salary she deserved.
"Not discussing salaries only benefits the employer." Many of us have had it drilled into our heads that we shouldn't talk about pay with other employees. This example shows why it's not always a bad idea to bring it up, at least with co-workers you can trust.
Wouldn't An Email Have Worked Better?
Abby definitely should have shown up for her shift, but publicly shaming her by using the sign out front is definitely unnecessary. I'm sure an email or phone call would have sufficed.
Abby must live right up the road or at least pass by every day. We wonder if this obnoxious sign changed her mind about her job at DQ or if she continued to be a no-show every day.
I Would Like To Apply To Be A Pirate
Pirates are often painted as negative characters in history, but they actually might have been pretty good employers (at least according to this silly meme).
Being a pirate was just a boat full of friends from all sorts of backgrounds going on an endless cruise, drinking rum, and hanging out. Not so bad after all, unless you're forced to walk the plank.
Always Look On The Bright Side!
Pros of being self-employed: you get to set your own hours, decide on all company policies, and make all the big decisions. Cons: you have to make all the big decisions.
It's really OK to publicly make fun of your boss if you're self-employed. Mike Elgan, the person who posted this humorous commentary on Twitter, is a self-employed journalist, blogger, columnist, and podcaster.
