61 Workplaces And Bosses So Terrible They Should Be Banned From Hiring Anyone Ever Again

1.It takes true creativity to twist “employee appreciation” into “we force you to buy donuts and desserts on your own dime to feed your coworkers.”

Flyer invites office staff to celebrate fiscal year end with shared donuts or desserts on Friday, September 27th, but asks the employees to bring them

2.SMH. Ex-employees really don’t understand the value of company t-shirts these days!

Text conversation about an ex-employee bringing a work shirt back in; ex-employee explains their house collapsed and it might take three weeks to fix so they can't get to the shirt, and the ex-boss says they'll be charged for not returning the shirt

3.I will never understand why cashiers aren’t allowed to sit.

Notice to cashiers: No sitting allowed without a doctor's note. No exceptions. Thanks, management

4.Fighting for your life in the ER? Don’t forget to call into work personally!

Text message about job termination due to absence and lack of communication, with caption saying the employee was in the hospital and had her mom and grandma call

5.This kind of holiday generosity brings a tear to my eye; it really does.

Message on screen telling employees they could win a $2 snack pack for working on Easter

6.Kudos to this employee for this sassy response, but this employer deserves far worse.

text message from employer saying "sorry for your loss" but asking employee to come in; caption explains the employee just lost a friend to suicide

7.This workplace was supervillain-level evil.

Reddit post discussing a friend laid off after 24 years for calling off to care for their dying dad

8.I might be tempted to hit them with the “Wow!” suggested reply here.

Manager tells employee they had two tardies; employee asks how late they were, and the manager says "around 2 and 3 minutes"

9.I know every former retail worker knows this feeling.

Tablet screen showing a playlist titled "Easy Listening Soft Rock Mix" captioned "my boss at work has played the same playlist every day for the past six years"

10.Better pull out your time machine…

Email inbox showing multiple new tasks that are past due, with text reading, "my boss just assigned a bunch of tasks for me to do and made them due two days ago"

11.Here’s another wildly generous company!

expired hand sanitizer with text noting it's an employee appreciation gift they've gotten 3 years in a row

12.I’m starting to think jobs give their employees “gifts” to get rid of things they can’t get rid of otherwise.

Boxes of expired juice as "treats" from work

13.You gotta love a job that treats its employees like children…or indentured servants in a post-apocalyptic society.

computer screen displaying multiple thumbnail previews of web pages with activity stats below each preview, with caption noting employees activity is tracked every 10 minutes

14.Nothing says appreciation like a corporate social media post!

Employee Appreciation Day post on social media with text noting this was the only appreciation employees were shown

15.Or free onions!

Free 3-lb bag of yellow onions offer captioned "we didn't get an employee turkey or ham this year for thanksgiving, but here's our December free item"

16.This cake says it all, really.

Cake with icing that reads "Happy Employee Appreciation" in messy handwriting with misspellings

17.I don’t care when this decision was made — it’s still evil.

Reddit post about a coworker being fired after a cancer diagnosis, with comments expressing disapproval of the company’s actions

18.Do managers get sent to Evil School to learn how to be dickheads, or does corporate just make sure only to hire evil minions in the first place?

Overflowing trash bin filled with wrapped cookies with caption about manager making them throw out 55 cookies rather than let employees take them home

19.I don’t understand why companies won’t let employees take home extra food that will be thrown out otherwise. It just feels cruel for no reason.

Notice from boss about not taking leftover food home unless paid for

20.Like being ghosted by your latest Tinder date? Then you’ll LOVE being ghosted by your boss after asking them an urgent question!

Text conversation where one person asks boss for day off and boss doesn't reply until the person follows up asking if they got the message; the boss replies "yes I did," still not giving an answer about the day off

21.What a fun environment to work in!

Chain-link fence installed in an office hallway beside workstations with caption about office being "prison chic"

22.This boss wanted an employee to come in directly after having surgery because it’s a “really easy procedure,” and they’d already booked an Airbnb for their vacation.

Text messages discuss a person's upcoming medical procedure, scheduling time off work; boss is pressuring the employee, who is in excruciating pain, to come in very soon after

23.What a kind way to thank hardworking employees!

Workplace informs servers and bartenders of their gratitude then announces a cut in pay

24.Disappointed with the way you’re treated at work? Sorry, wrong answer!

Screen showing two questions about if you feel that your manager takes an interest in your training and if you feel like you're treated as a valued employee — both are answered "No," and both are marked "incorrect"

25.Wow, a ten-minute break! So generous! Maybe this workplace really is a family, after all!

Certificate congratulating someone for perfect attendance last week and offering a reward of an extra 5 minutes on morning break. Caption notes that the employee rarely ever gets their full break because their boss calls them back to do a task

26.I wonder why this workplace is dealing with workers quitting without warning. Maybe it has something to do with nonsense like this?

Text conversation: Boss notes someone quit and asks employee to come in over thanksgiving. employee says their thanksgiving break was already approved and not to ask again or they'll quit. Boss says it's a command not a request and the employee quits

27.This terrible boss gives evil insurance reps a run for their money.

story about a boss criticizing an employee for helping an overdosing employee because it opens the company up to liability

28.Congrats! You’re getting paid less than you were before!

Employee receives an announcement of a pay cut from $21.99 to $20 per hour, framed as if the employee is getting a pay increase

29.Imagine being so lazy and incompetent that you can’t even be bothered to tell your workers they’re fired.

Reddit post titled "My boss fired everyone and didn't even tell us" with a story about a boss deciding their business won't reopen and announcing it over facebook

30.It warms my heart to see companies reward loyalty in this way.

$20 check with text: "My dad's only Christmas bonus over 20 years: A $20 off coupon for a frozen turkey. My mom got a Christmas ornament"

31.This is a little better…but not much better.

flyer announces rewards for employees with 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years of service, offering $100 to $300 as appreciation

32.Wow, what a reward!

Sheet showing four "Freedom Pass" coupons for things like: skipping non-essential tasks, taking a 5-minute break, getting a free snack, and having an executive title of choice. Caption: "buddy got this for hitting all target goals"

33.Maybe I’m going out on a limb here, but I’d be willing to bet employees forced to wear an “I <3 my job” shirt do not, in fact, love their job.

T-shirt with "I [heart] my job!" captioned "maybe it's just me, but forcing employees to wear a shirt that says 'i love my job' seems a little degrading"

34.Is it legal to not let your restaurant workers get food on the job???

Chalkboard message: "Do NOT order food!! for one week"

35.Buying a 15-minute break also feels illegal.

Flyer offering an extra 15 minute break if you donate $5

36.If it’s not already illegal to deduct credit card fees from servers’ tips, then it 100% should be.

Letter telling employees they're taking credit card fees out of server tips

37.And this is DEFINITELY illegal. We have a minimum wage in the US!!! It may be like $7, but we do have one!

Pay statement showing gross pay of $100.21 for 100 hours of PTO, because the company changed the $20/hr rate to $1/hr after an employee quit

38.Ilegall!!! So, so illegal!

Text conversation: Ex-employee asks for last paycheck, boss says they're working on it; ex-employee says they'll have coworker grab their tips for them, and former boss says ex-employee won't get them for their last pay cycle (june 1-19)

39.“The customer pays your wages.” Actually, the company does! Hope this helps. 🙂

Notice about increasing breaks and cutting hours due to decreased business; notes "the customer pays your wages." Caption: "Place I worked at posted this with zero heads up. the franchise is bloated with nepotism and supervisors who won't take pay cuts"

40.This is just ridiculous.

job training suggests that if a coworker leaves to work for a competitor, you should proceed cautiously with the friendship

41.What do they even expect the employee to do at this point???

Email showing a declined vacation request. Caption notes it was approved then re-opened after the employee was already on vacation to reject it

42.Nothing like doing hard physical labor just to get to your workplace.

View from a porch showing a neighborhood street covered in heavy snow, with cars and houses partially buried. Caption notes boss said they still have to come in and to "dig themself out"

43.“Stop the attitude” about not giving your employees breaks??? No thanks, I’m gonna have attitude, because that’s unacceptable.

Notice saying Missouri doesn't mandate breaks, but 15-year-olds require them, so they'll be short-staffed during those breaks. Also says there will be no set schedule this week and to lose the attitude

44.Imagine quitting your job and being told, “Nope! Can’t do that! :)”

A message informing a teacher that a replacement has not been found, and they are expected to return to school on Monday, 8/26/2019

45.“It’s not how it works.” Uhh…pretty sure that’s exactly how viruses work? No one wants someone with a stomach bug making their food!

A text conversation where a worker discusses being sick with a stomach bug and a boss wants them to come in anyways, saying they're not still contagious because "it's not how it works"

46.The fact that this is some kind of achievement tells me all I need to know about this company.

A gold pocket watch in a box with an award card recognizing safety achievement of one full year without injury captioned "how a company celebrates not disabling an employee for a whole year"

47.This seems fair.

new attendance policy states you'll still receive write-ups when you call out sick even with a doctor's note if it happens more than twice (twice is still a verbal reprimand), and five times will result in termination even if there's a doctor's note

48.Don’t let companies guilt you into not striking when THEY’RE the ones who are causing the issues!

Poster with negative messages against striking, including "Strike is NOT the answer," "patients first," "act like a professional," and "You are neglecting all disciplines in the hospital"

49.I hope this employee sends this response.

Boss asks employee to come in last-minute because they messed up the schedule; employee says no but the boss says "See you at 7 p.m." On the top of the screen, a list of employee traits including "communicates effectively" is visible

50.Requiring this whiteboard for your employees? It’s giving micromanagement!!!

Whiteboard with phrases indicating an employee's status: working, on break (with start and end times), not at desk (with "where am I" stated), or gone home (with time listed of when the employee will come back)

51.PSA to companies everywhere: the answer is always money. Just send your cash.

Survey card asking staff how they prefer to be recognized, listing options like food and swag. Handwritten response suggests cash instead

52.Make this make sense!!!

53.TWO WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS??? People have travel booked!

54.Maybe actually do something about the ice instead of leaving out a spare “wet floor” sign?

View from inside a car, looking out at a snow and ice-covered parking lot with a caution sign in the distance. Caption: "a coworker slipped on ice in the parking lot — this is how management dealt with it"

55.Just…why???

glued-down volume button captioned "my manager glued the volume button on the phone so we can't change it"

56.People have really taken “the customer is always right” to the extreme. If someone walks in a minute before closing, you can bet your ass I’d refuse to seat them.