I worked a retail management job where they wanted me to have loads of apps on my own phone. Showed them my £20 Nokia 105 (still going strong 5 years later) and they didn't know what to do. Turns out I could still do the job very well without all that pointless garbage.
I am a truck driver. And more and more trucking companies are requiring that you add work apps to your phone. At one point I had to devote an entire page or 2 just for the work apps. Then there are the gps trackers on your personal phone. Meaning the company knows where it is 24/7.
I had to keep a texting/schedule app on my phone for one of my jobs so they could message you at all hours of the day. It was freaking McDonald's, paid minimum wage, and nobody got more than 20 hours a week.
The only apps I've ever been asked to have in retail is just their app anyone can download so I can look at inventory that the TC systems we use can't look up unless you scan and i have almost every retail app just for shopping so thankfully ive never had an issue with having retail apps even customers use
Corporate scam: providing zero information or criteria for reviews and bonuses and just randomly receiving a very small bonus without any math behind it.
Doctor's notes and late notes are ingrained into our education system. The train story reminded me of a childhood story: I was on a public transit bus on the way to school, that broke down. Seven students were on that bus and the driver took seven paper transfers and wrote little notes for all the kids explaining why they'd be late to class. We all caught the next bus and went straight to the Principal, who immediately slung accusations and threatening detention. The office secretary had to talk him down, he was ready to start issuing suspensions on the spot. Micromanagement isn't management. It's the pursuit of control.
As a doctor I also find doctor's notes very riddiculous. Cause there's literally no criteria where it says this person can or cannot work with the said disease, whether its flu, allergies or a broken bone... Sometimes peoples managers send them to the hospital to get a doctors report because they think their employee is too sick to work. Now this poor patient has to wait in a waiting room for God knows how long to get a doctors note. Like my job is to treat people not to accomadate for bad management.
The last line of your job description stating “ and any other duties deemed necessary by management” its routine in my field (healthcare). They own you.
Retail as well. I get hired as a cashier, but wind up as stock person, tech support, maintenance, janitorial, loss prevention, bookkeeper, groundskeeper... It never ends. And all for crappy pay, full time hours with no benefits (because listed as part time), abusive behavior from management...
Same goes for those who work in service industries. IE fast food, gas station, convenience stores, retail. Basically they're getting 1 employee to do the job of 10 but for minimum wage, and some, no true breaks.
The amount of job listings I’ve seen where the responsibilities portion was a bulleted list of no less than like 20 items only to end with “aNd AnY oThEr DuTiEs As AsSiGnEd” So you’re basically telling me that my responsibilities is “doing everything” for $14 an hour 😒😒🙄🙄
Yeah, the other duties as a signed stop me from applying for certain positions that I wanted because I knew that I would get stuck doing something. I absolutely did not want to do.
@@drea7474 Understand, I have a Masters Degree and Make a very decent Salary but they pull the same B.S. and also add and we pay you enough you should just keep your mouth shut... Usually respond with SO WILL THE NEXT COMPANY!!
The thing I hate about those team building events is how they often seem to involve drinking of some sort (at least in my experience). I don't drink. I can sit around, enjoying the apps, chatting with coworkers, but inevitably someone asks why I don't drink. I end up giving some non-committal answer but what I really want to do is tell them to mind their own business. Why I don't drink is personal.
I once had to point out to an employer that if they only served free alcoholic drinks and someone got drunk and got into a car accident, the company was liable. After that they FINALLY supplied free soft drinks!
Last time someone at work asked me why I didn't drink, I countered, "I don't know, why do YOU drink?" I got hand-waved off. Worked brilliantly - there's no good answer to that which doesn't sound like ass in the workplace, and it made the asker look like a douchebag with just 7 words.
I agree that using a pub or bar as a meeting place for the office is out of line.And at the end of the day, I don't WANT to spend an extra 2-3 hours involved in shop talk with folks with whom I otherwise have little in common.
I don't drink because I don't want to. My old coworkers couldn't understand why I don't want to. Then my old SUPERVISOR and her buddy 'joked' about spiking my drink because they 'wanted to see what kind of drunk I would be'. I told them that if I ever found out they spiked my drink, I would never speak to them again. They joked that that would be the way to shut me up, to which I responded with that I was being very serious. I went out to the pub maybe twice after that, but I felt very paranoid, even though it was 'a joke', I didn't take it as that. After that, nothing I did was ever good enough for them, even though I worked the exact way I did before. I do NOT miss that place
My son worked at a company that saw he was a hard worker and great leader. Put him in charge of the warehouse and promised a promotion. A few months later, he was moved to a different warehouse. Then they tried to do it again but my son said, ✋️put your money where your mouth is. They accused him of not being a team player. Then a short time later they laid him off. Yep, scam.
The "family" thing is a huge red flag. I worked for a small company that called themselves a family. Then the owner sold the company to a large corporation, which proceeded to lay off 12 people. Yeah...family.
From the perspective of working maybe 30 or 40 years ago, before the concept of a team became fashionable, if a group of people worked well together and they supported each other, that's when the term 'family' was originally used. The usage of the word nowadays has been corrupted from that earlier usage by other 'dedicated followers of fashion'...
Here's one for the list: being praised and love bombed in private by your manager for being efficient in your work so you end up with more responsibilities on your plate YET your results, accomplishments and role in major projects are downplayed and not always recognised in team/staff meetings or public settings. Manipulation on a whole level...
ooph, had that one. The reward went to someone I helped outside of my department. Wrote a salty email congratulating him and the team of two girls (that helped me put the thing together).
Retired Labor Attorney - horrified by the concept of business on a personal phone. Discovery nightmare. We had policies on off-duty calls. Employees were compensated & came out of budgets.
When a company says “we’re family and have your back,” I immediately know they’re full of crap. I lost my son years ago, while working for a major US retailer. Shortly after, my marriage fell apart and I needed support and encouragement from my employer. My direct manager 2 weeks after the death of my son told me, “you need to get over your problems and focus on work. It’s negatively impacting the store.” Mind you, my son was hospitalized from birth until his death and I worked the entirety of it whilst being cheated on by his mother as she processed her stress and grief as well. No company actually gives a damn. I’ve just accepted that I’ll work until my heart finally gives out.
I worl for a company that says we're a family and....m they actually mean it. It's been on the top 10 companies to work for several times and at least in the US has amazing benefits and very understanding. One of the best companies I've ever worked for so it's not a red flag immediately. Yes many say it and don't mean it but this company does mean it.
@@themasterninja110 You got lucky. The only company that ever treated me like actual family never said that "we are like a family here". But I will never forget the manager giving me time off when my mom spend the better part of a week harrassing me via phone and email at work with some pretty awful stuff. He said I could take as long as I needed to pull myself back together and address the issue, gave me some good advice on how to block her, and said that his door was open any time I needed to vent. Was it partially self-serving to the company? Sure. But it was also what I needed at the time. And I really felt valued - like a part of someone's family.
8 hour work days… there is a natural tendency of companies to try to do more with less. I’m in a position where I have more work than I have hours in the work day, so I have to decide what isn’t important enough to work on today. The standard work day length helps me to figure out when it’s just time to say enough is enough.
Agreed and also where I work the workload seems to be based off what is possible for the most efficient workers to achieve in 8 hours. No matter what I do I just can’t work that fast. On a normal week I work about 2 hours a day over and if I have a bad week with lots of complex stuff to deal with I’ve worked about 30 hours extra a week unpaid.
I got 9 hours (10 am to 7pm) and honestly, when I'm back home, I dose off to sleep. I really want companies to understand hybrid models or remote models, specifically for marketing position. My whole day's wake, go to work, sleep, sudden wake up at 3am and not able to do much cause family members are sleeping😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
@@CherylLimeI used to work extra time unpaid at a doctors surgery. I’m never doing it ever again. They never recognised me for my extra work, and said we don’t know you actually stayed behind as there was no one there to verify (even though all of my coworkers were there with me). Since that day when I was 18, I vowed never to work one second over my contracted time ever again.
I worked a retail management job, and I had given them my phone number. Biggest mistake of my life. I ended up blocking many of my superiors due to the level of harassment I would receive
I know a guy who, whenever a boss asks for his personal number, hands them a contract. The terms are as follows: If he's called more than once in a day, or called on a day he had already been approved to be off duty on (either PTO or just his regular break day(s) each week), he'll be logging an extra hour of time per call, which is to be paid out at the end of the pay period. If he is texted after he says the conversation is over or has refused the request he's texted for, or if a text is sent where the apparent purpose is mostly getting a response to a prior unread message (eg "hello?", "check your voicemail", "you there?", or "I need an answer" kinds of texts), the same applies, one hour of pay per additional text. His number is not to be spread further, if calls or texts start coming in from others in the company, the one who signed the contract will pay $500 per new number, and those new numbers will be blocked immediately. If anyone else in the company wants the number, they must approach him and ask to sign the same contract themselves. If the company attempts to weasel out of paying by saying the one who signed it doesn't have the right to agree to that, the one who signed it will be personally responsible for any payments. In return for the above terms, he'll give the one who signed it his phone number. That's it.
Im a trucker and i can't tell u how mad they get when u explain to them, "when im on call, im on the clock, u can't have me on call for 4hrs then expect me to come in and work 10-12hrs"
not being able to work remotely when I can prove that I would be more productive if allowed to that, even hybrid remote, doesn't make any logical sense to me.
100% agree. This was part of the reason I left my last job. And when they don't take WFH/remote work's benefit to those with chronic health issues and disability into consideration, that's even more of a red flag. To that, I say "toodaloo". ✌️
@@bizarreflower138 omg, this is happening to me. I am dealing with a chronic illness and WFH has been a blessing. Then I got a new manager and she's basically forcing me back to the office in a sneaky way; if I don't go more often I'll get a bad review (and basically no salary increase ever again). I even got scolded for getting in a little later than usual because I was still vomiting an hour before, DESPITE still being there.
For me I'm the opposite. I do NOT like the the idea of work-from-home as it's turning what I consider to be a safe, relaxing place into yet another reminder of "work". If people are productive as remote workers, cool, but I know a few people who exploit it to where it ruins it for everyone else.
I also don't drink. Attending a work dinner where everyone is 2-3 drinks in and I'm sober is torture. I decided at some point just not to attend anymore.
Im right there with you, I cant drink due to the medication im on. Dr tells me if I have a drink it will kill me. So I dont go, better to spend the time with the grandkids.
Fuck the carrot of forever promotions. Had one of those where finally I called them on it and they stared me in the eyes and said "Oh that's not coming and you'll never get it" even though, by then they'd offloaded all the responsabilities on me by then
I actually was "made manager" of a brand new team. It was my first leadership position. However they never changed my job title or salary and I was the lowest paid person on the team. It took 13 months for them to finally give me the title that I had been working for more than a year. Senior Management will use you as soon as look at you.
I have never understood people who base their whole personality on their job. It’s what you do, not who you are. I know there are those who will berate me for this but if your job is who you are, especially if you don’t own the company, who are you when you get let go?
This is a totally valid point and I agree completely! I also have never been able to understand those people who seem to just… NOT have a life outside of work - no hobbies, no interests, like nothing. And they’ll even be proud of it! I’ve worked with people like that before and they were always the same: very, very corporate “lizard people” and very, VERY unhappy.
Exactly 💯.... This Lady that works with us refuses to retire. She's on the Job 33 Years already, her Adult children have been begging her to retire. She is an absolute Monster at work, just annoying the Shit out of everyone she comes in contact with. I ignore her. I walk right past her like she's not even there. She's a Narcissist to the end Degree, I refuse to give her my Life Force.... These People are Everywhere..... And the Tattle Tale to Management every chance they get. Management Loves it. So Pathetic
My Mom would just tell them to take notes as she won't be there. I was always proud of her doing that. There was NOTHING in that job that made any meeting mandatory. No emergency, no one's life was at risk.
You nailed it. On overtime, companies think people want to work overtime. I will not ever so I've gone into interviews and asked the overtime policy. If it's mandatory, I don't even finish the interview. No amount of money is worth wasting my time at a job.
I respect that. Overtime at my old job (and current one), can mandate overtime. I’d just shrug after someone left if they didn’t like mandatory. What I can’t stand are the two instances where I hired someone (after explaining OT policy), and they fought me every time I told them to work overtime. One guy held on until he found another job, the other one I got fired.
I think it's more about having a proper mindset that help us deal with that bulsh*t. But in realistic ways, paper trail and email every two week or once per month about the progress on that promotion. I would say that 3 month is the deadline of ''do it's a real promotion or bulsh*t''.
All I can say is I am so glad to be retired: No Bully bosses, No long commutes, No short paychecks! And if an employer had ever told me I had to be available 24/7 or whatever, anything on my own time, I'd have told them to find another fool.
One job I worked at made us have emails, but no one used them. And when I asked for an email address of my boss to tell him I am sick I can't come into work. He told me no you can't get my email address, just call into the shop and tell me. You know how long I had to wait to get a hold of him, 1 freaken hour. Customers call, and other employees call to say the same thing or to ask when they next work. Like they have the system to put schedule online why not use it. We have emails lets use them, lets be professional and use them.
My old workplace had a yearly charitable donation period. One year they made the mistake of having a bunch of us in the room with the donation organizer (someone external to the company). Someone asked about overhead costs and was given an answer. Later, someone asked about what the donations go to support and was given an answer that the donations are pooled and divvied up among multiple charities Then comes the question if we can choose the charity that our money would go to, and the answer is yes. So why would we donate through you as a middleman and have you take overhead off the top? The final charity will get more if we donate directly. The representative was caught so off guard and stammered out some sort of answer that seeing other people’s donations encourages others to donate as well. But everyone kept pressing them about being a middleman and taking overhead off the top, and this presentation quickly ended. The company kept doing the donation thing each year, but didn’t make us go and listen to the sales pitch again.
I think it’s so they can officially track the donations and get their tax cut as a corporation. In my company in Germany; we can make our personal donation through HR and both get tax benefits as employee/employer.
I have a little less cynical view. I see the United Way as primarily a fund-raising organization for other charities. Yes, they do their own stuff too, but they do fund-raising so other charities don't need to spend the resources on it. My company also matches 100% everything that we donate through the United Way, so it's a way for me to make my donations go further, even if UW takes a little off the top for overhead. I am able to donate to any charity I specify *through* United Way, and then my company also matches my donation. So it's a win in my book, even if the corporation gets to pat itself on the back.
@@adamrbuchanan In our case, I don't recall any company match. This is one of the reasons why it was hard for the representative to say it was better to go through them instead of directly to the charity.
Germany here, I had an interview for a job as internal auditor for a big company with many branches all over the country and had to travel a lot for auditing on location. While travel expenses of course were paid by the company, my working time should start only on arrival at location and also end there, which means I had to travel for the company in my personal time. When asking why that is they told me like "well, we're offering you the jetset lifestyle for free - our employees usually appreciate that a lot" 🙄🙄 I didn't take that job.
Gut gemacht. Nowadays, most "decent enough" companies consider travel time as work time or at least half of it as work time. It's not like you can do some hobby gardening while you are sitting on a train...
@Bogeyatyour6YT Yes. While I found a better job, the position at "D....z AG" is still vacant despite being filled twice for very short periods of time. In times of "Kununu" employer rating and shortage of experienced applicants you better don't rip your staff off that way.
Oh, you are so right with the titles. And it's not just management to looks his titles is important it's the employees also. I don't understand it. You're also right about promotions. It's like telling the kid that maybe they're going to get a bike for Christmas. And then they don't get it. That's sort of disappointment hits adults also!
My old boss was leaving and secured a promotion for me as I was doing the work of 3 people. As soon she got in her vehicle and drove off the property for the last time, leadership revoked the promotion. All they needed from her was the positive exit interview because of what they promised to do after she left, and then reneged on all of it. Talk about trust issues.
One of the best things I learned from a prior boss was that your employees aren't family. It's a team. You can't fire your sister Sally as easily as you can fire that quarterback who isn't performing.
This really makes me happy for my tiny office. No contact out of work hours, do what you can in the time you can and always feel open to ask for help from a team member or to offer your help if you’re free for time, never referred to as a “family” but always as a “team” or a “collective”, salary and promotion progression discussions annually one on one, CEO will run to the coffee shop with an apprentice and share ideas and experiences over a drink at each others desks, always out of office trips on work hours WITH EVERYTHING PAID ON A CORPORATE TAB! Overtime taken back in longer breaks or early finish/late start on salary basis. Love my wonderful office, such an environment to learn and flourish in ❤️
Funny - I have a team building event coming up and it’s outside of work hours and most definitely NOT paid. The attitude is we are taking you bowling….
Anyone who uses public transportation to get to work is forced to abide by the transit schedule. This is important to realize because not all public transit schedules match an 8 or 9 hour work day. What this means is that the employee might be able to arrive on time in the morning, but may be forced to leave up to an hour early to catch the evening train or bus. It they stay late due to a morning delay, they might be forced to wait several hours to catch the next one. What this means is the person may be unable to stay late due to the transit schedule. Companies need to understand the pitfalls of hiring staff who must utilize public transportation.
Frankly my work phone stays at work with the rest of my work devices. Only exception would be when working from home and even then if i’m done for the day the phone is off.
Bring your own device is definitely a red flag. I'm a tester and need my phone to take pictures of any bugs and collect timestamps, I'm trying to convince my bosses to provide work phones to either keep on site or give to employees. The case I'm using is that we are permitted to have pictures of unreleased products on personal devices which can risk early leaks. A work phone to take home is fine I feel, just switch it off outside the office. Use it for business during working hours only.
^this And similar situation. After one big outage, they realized, as I am the only employee in that country, that I should have a corporate phone. Also taking pics of passwords and things with my personal phone is ......dicey, to say the least.
I’m British living in France When working back in U.K. Doctors certificate required after 5 days. HR requirement but included weekend non working days which was wrong in my mind as wasn’t part of my payed hours Seen living in Japan RU-vid channels. Train companies supposedly provide proof of delay certificates there as standard Toodles
I had a boss that wanted to know what I was doing in 15 minute increments. She would try to get me to go check the bathroom on agents that were gone from the phone for 10 minutes. She hated that was a negative for me to do.
I left a major benefits management company because of constant abuse from leadership. My friend had to stay while she finished school. They flew her in from 1000 miles away to meet the team in person and essentially try to convince her not to quit. When her travel plans were finalized, she and I made dinner plans to finally meet each other in person, and she was so excited she told her coworkers in the office- so management made an after-hours "company dinner" for that same night, told everyone it was optional, but told HER it was a requirement for her to be there. When she reminded them she'd already made plans for after work they said "we didn't bring you up here for a vacation" and threatened to terminate her if she didn't go. So she essentially went from being an 8-4:30 employee to a 24/7 employee for a week because of a spiteful, power-tripping manager.
Expectation, not a requirement for keeping your job. If there was one day in the whole week you didn't want to have one meal with your boss, that shouldn't be used as justification for termination.
The unpaid overtime thing is kinda funny for me. Work in IT. Nothing crazy for my position (I'm non management, non creative, don't make decisions, just fix things basically) and were required to be "on call" one day a week, sometimes more. Owner thinks on call isn't the same as overtime...however our SLA time for ticket response is 5 min or less, so essentially I have to be glued to a computer or get written up...which sounds like unpaid overtime with glitter added to it.
Tell them on call with that SLA is double rate or 1 additional paid time off day per on call day, non negotiable or movable. "You are not indispensable" until everthing falls apart, they dont realize why your role exists and try to make you feel disposable. Those are their own feelings. One will stay because getting used to another workplace sucks. But don't stay complacent, start looking for better pastures and ask for the money you deserve. Ask questions to all the things that annoyed you until now, so you have a heads up or can make an arrangement.
Corporations that enforce different rules on a person to person basis. The law firm I work for has a rule in the employee handbook that states, effectively, if at some point during the day an employee leaves work without explanation and doesn't return, this is deemed Job Abandonment & is punishable by anything from disciplinary action to termination, depending on a number of factors such as frequency of occurrences, general employment status (ie: is the employee currently on any action plans), etc. Job Abandonment ALSO applies to "no call no shows". However, there are 2 individuals who REGULARLY leave during the day. We'll call them Linda & Stephanie (not their names). Linda uses other people as an excuse - if another employee says or does something she doesn't like, or asks a question she feels they have no right to ask, she becomes irrationally angry & logs out, leaves the building and doesn't return until the next shift (when she's at least 15 minutes late). Management's response to this is to assign the work Linda isn't completing to the coworker who ticked her off. Yesterday, her work became MY responsibility. She & I don’t even work in the same department. My offense to her? I asked if a particular coworker was planned out or called out (because if it was planned, earlier automated processes would have been planned off, and her being out doesn't add any additional stress to my workday. If she had called out, I'd have been in for a lot of duplicate work). Linda exclaimed something to the effect of "how DARE you ask that kind of question! What makes YOU think YOU deserve that kind of information!" She then shut down her system, left & didn't return. It was 3 hours into her 8 hour work day. Today? I get to work, and she's sitting there free and clear. Stephanie meanwhile, is supposed to work Monday to Friday, 4pm to midnight. She doesn't work Mondays. Doesn’t call out, just doesn't show up. Frequently, she doesn't show up to other shifts. Of the last 17 scheduled work appearances, she's been present for 3. And on 2 of those occasions was more than 3 hours late. And nobody bats an eye.
Paid time off.. vacation and sick time.. we're getting to the end of the fiscal year and our benefit time does not carry over, so use it or lose it... I have 4 sick days that i still have to use, other places I've worked at allowed me to schedule my unused sick time.. my micro manager is telling me i cant schedule it cause then it would be vacation.. really... Time to call hr to find out
It really depends on where you live but It is true, sick days do not carry over and cannot be "requested" in advance. I use to tell my team if they still have sick days by the end of year to just take them and phone sick and don't let HR know that I told them this :) HR would get suspicious that many members of my team would get sick in December but can't do anything because I set my rules since the start, anything concerning my team you go through me first... going through me first, well, good luck ;)
I don't work for my family. So I don't want my family to be my work. I totally agree with you that you're a worker, you're not a family member. You can say you want everyone to be friendly but not family. That's like Target stores that call you guests instead of customers. Hey Target, if I'm a guest I expect food and drink.
I had a work cell phone but worked in home care. Made sense for that scenario but otherwise I'm not so sure! 8 hour work day drives me nuts. If your work is done and it's 15 till the end of your day, leave! There are plenty of days in my line of work where you may carry over a little into lunch or after work. I like to say "it all comes out in the wash".
The corporate world is so out of control. I started when I was 16 and 48. I quit the corporate layoffs, the corporate micromanaging and underpaid scenario. Thankfully, unfortunately, with adverse background in sales to be able to jump into something on my own and you should too this is not the corporate America I put into. It’s all about top level, squeezing life out of you and getting every penny that should be going to you for work. don’t let these people fool you they’ve taken the Kool-Aid to the next level
I work for a company that some of the executives were allegedly let go from a previous employer for allegedly spying on multiple people at that job. This included a well-known executive. It also included people outside of the office. I won't install ANY software from this company on my personal equipment. Period. Full stop. They keep trying to make it a requirement, and I (and several others) push back and remind the company if they force us to install their software on our equipment that they have to pay us for it. They magically find ways to do things without our equipment.
Oh, I love this! I had not considered that this was an ADA violation. I have a "bladder issue", so when I have to go, I have to go NOW! I now know that them telling me to wait for my break is an ADA violation. Thank you so much for the reminder.
@@LKMNOP bathroom monitoring behavior also is a harassment issue and an HR no no as anything regarding what comes out of your body can be taboo and can also be seen as a hostile work environment.
The company I work for provides a stipend for having work apps on my phone, and they allow me to disconnect after-hours so long as I'm not on-call. Also optionally they can provide a company-provided cell phone if you request one. I'm glad I work for the company I do because anything that could become a workplace scam has big red guardrails to prevent anyone from abusing the employee or contractor.
What is this mythical "contract" of which you speak? Must be one of those Canadian things that didn't make it south of the border, like politeness and good maple syrup.
I had a similar situation with the promotion one where I requested remote work. It was "we need to hire and train someone first" because we were slightly understaffed anyways and my responsibilities would shift a little bit. Many months later, I eventually stopped bringing it up and am about to have a conversation about it with my boss letting them know if you wanna keep me, give me remote. If not, I'm moving either way so you're gonna have another spot to fill. We'll see how it goes.
I work in retail management. My past company I was salaried with a work phone paid for by the company. I probably worked every single day like 60+ hours a weeks. I slept,ate and worked. My new job is hourly without a work phone. I have told my team that when I’m off they are expected to try and solve problems on their own or leave it for me to fix when I’m back at work. On the rare occasion that I have had to answer phone calls on my personal time I will note the length of the call and add it to my paid time for the week. Petty? Maybe. But I’m not going to devote all of my waking hours to a company ever again.
The biggest problem is over educated oxygen conversion specialists who go from their masters program directly into management. No real important job takes someone who just got out of school and puts them in leadership. You don't graduate from med school and run a team of doctors, you don't get your pilots license and start flying passengers all over, you don't get out of basic training and sit in a commanders seat. This country is woefully short on leadership, there are a abundance of managers, but very few leaders.
Thank you ❤ It feels validating to have you outline those scams employers pass off as policies by gaslighting their employees. In both your videos, I recognized tactics and phrases at my own workplace.
Yeahhhh anytime an interviewer tells me "our employees are like family here" it immediately raises a red flag. Every job I've worked that says that has always expected me to stay after hours, off the clock, to help with some project or another. I'm good with all that. I actively avoid any companies who claim the "family" thing in their hiring ads.
Loe, #1 is SO dead on. My old company had us do everything on our personal cell phones, and the number one sales guy (who would never be fired) did actually bring it up to the boss and said the company should be paying his phone bill. Needless to say, the owner did not respond. But the whole "connected to work 24/7" thing that comes with the work stuff on personal phones is something I am SO glad to be DONE WITH. Great scam!
One of the phrases I absolutely hate is "Oh they are just a _____." The first time I heard that, the person was talking about a garbage collector, its a job, its a job that needs to be done, it is honest work, what would happen if the garbage collector stopped collecting???
Big red flag if someone has a superiority complex, just like you pointed out. A garbage collector or a plumber are more useful than a congressman in my book.
Being in the military you are on call “24/7” so it is what it is. Used to always getting calls even when I’m not on call to deal with stuff. Sucks that leadership can’t stick to the schedule as it is as the work I do not is not in any aspect “emergency work”
I totally agree with the 8-hour work day. Mind you I had a job that went by the work not the hours. Sometimes you were there for 10 hours or had to come back into work every so many hours. Medical research. So you had to go by what the research protocol you were working on needed and not your own needs lol lol. If something says it takes you to add something every 3 hours then you had to add it every 3 hours throughout the night. But you knew that going in. But if your stuff was done early, you could leave early because you had been leaving late at other times. But I worked for someone reasonable. The 8-hour work is probably to keep things even with everyone. There was resentment when someone wouldn't have enough to do and could leave early while others had to stay. Human nature is to resent that sort of thing. I believe that's why they have set hours for most jobs.
"Team building" outside of work hours. As you say, in your own time. Happy happy fun fun....until... Trevor who tries to cozy up to Debbie and next thing Trev' knows, HR are booking a documented conversation. Colleagues have a weekend at a beach house or a BBQ... A weekend. How far does the long arm of the HR Dept reach if someone crosses what would be in work hours a defined workplace behaviours line? Unpaid O/T. A topic that is raised in my circle. Hiding the problem. When you work in an under staffed dept and you automatically stay back to just get that report done or the end of month figures evened out. Senior management see the stats every quarter and lo, all this work is being accomplished with less staff. The message isn't getting past middle management that lower management are struggling. But you and your colleagues push yourselves because it isn't going to get done otherwise... So the inherent problem is being hidden by the very victims it creates.
I have a VP called me out for not looking in the camera when I talked but looking at the screen (of their face). VP forced me to take on other people's job calling it what if that person is not available and you need to know how to operate their job. This is absolute scam to me and I immediately pushed back and left the company (never looked back)
The promotion Carrot was dangled infront of me for 4 years, I was already doing most of the work, and it actually did get made into a position, I wasn't allowed to apply for and they had the audacity to expect me to train the person as well.... I have never quit a job so quick. I told them I will get things lined up in my actual role, to Hand off, But I will not train that person before I leave.
I think a work supplied device is properly left in the work desk drawer upon the end of the work day, just as you would leave other work devices (like computers).
The biggest scam I've seen originated during pandemic with the disappearance of work/life separation. My employer implemented full time work from home that shifted to work from home two days a week in 2022. The expectation became salaried employees are ALWAYS available via email and Teams on their personal devices with the threat that WFH could be completely revoked. That has since extended to expecting people to travel for work on their personal time in order to extend working time while at a different site.
Had several jobs now who will give me more responsibilities with wording like “you were the first one we thought of who would be perfect for this extra task” and “this could lead to new opportunities and potential raises” and “you would be a great asset at a leadership level” but then when you actually ask what your managers think of you promoting you get “well you used your PTO often…and while life happens management can’t just take the day off” and “you don’t have the experience or years at the company to promote yet” but you are doing the work of a supervisor for the pay of entry level staff.
some of these are annoyances as opposed to scams. (bathroom) Phone is iffy only if you are an hourly employee. There is an expectation if you are salaried that you are available outside of 9-5. You are salaried for a reason, there is no 9-5. But it does get abused all the time. "family" is an overused term, but in my mind it means treating people with respect beyond what a workplace requires. Yes you are supposed to work all day everyday - but I would let a member of my family go watch their childs soccer game. It is a blurry line, no they are not family in the strictest terms, but it does promote good will. Dangling promotions is just plain and simple unethical.
The no paid overtime for salaried employees is an old mindset. In NY and CA, laws are now in place for some salaried exempt employees to be paid overtime if they work beyond 40 hours. Nonprofit organizations and some government jobs have traditionally offered comped time to employees who work overtime (aka instead of being paid overtime, they earn more PTO). The unpaid overtime for salaried employees thing is a very outdated mindset and I hope the rest of the country catches up to more modern ideas about work life balance.
I'm in IT and being oncall is part of the responsibilities. The thing is, you have to predict the amount if oncall after hours work before agreeing with the salary. A lot if people agree with it blindly and get burned out and unsatisfied. HR or recruiter,all of them do not understand the workload. They work 8 to 5 thats it. That's why mangers who understands this, and sees the work performed after hours,will agree to make it up by giving you uncounted paid time off.
Thank goodness I am retiring this fall from my federal job. I was going to wait another two years, but i met my Waterloo, but I ain't Wellington. They are the worst and a micromanager to the 10th degree. Ever be forced to go to 29 hours of meetings in one 40 hour work week and be asked why you weren't doing your job? Just recently, one of my direct reports had to go on one of her boondoggle TDYs and when they submitted the three hours spent at the mandatory dinner and 'drinks' as comp-time, she denied it on his timesheet. 5.5 months and counting - I'd rather go to old doctor with the cold hands and long fingers for the yearly oil check than another of her two-hour long 30-minute managers' sync (btw, they are three times a week minimum). I will be the fourth manager under her from her different assignments to have taken early retirement than stay with an agency that doesn't curb crap like this. Love the See You Next Tuesday coffee cup. I need one. 😂
last job dangled me my up in pay for 4 years. Finally called it quits after a bad burnout during covid (where of course I covered for 3 other workers while being sick). The boss' comment was: "So are we too late for a promotion?" Honey, even if you give me a promotion at this exact moment, I wouldn't trust you for the future.
Well, in Germany we have the 'Arbeitszeitgesetz' (a law regulating the max hours per work day), so if the shift is over. work obligations are over. Company phone goes offline, power switched off. Private phone time then.
I've had the promotion dangled at me a few times, and only once did it actually happen. I've also had the "title issue" where as one job I was doing X, but I knew all about S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z. Yet the boss never acknowledged me for anything other than X. The company donation in my name thing? Been there done that. The only good thing there was I got to pick the charity.
Oh story time related to team building: (you’re gonna love this!). So in my last job I was working for the state and there was a bunch of shady stuff going on but I kept calling it out and making them send up reviews to a higher level as my name was on these documents. Of course they would come back in my favor. I figured out that there was compensation for the amount that didn’t have to be done. Anyway. My team attempted to get retribution on me by writing me up for not reporting a second job. Of course they had known about it from the moment I took it 5 months prior. They decided to document the write up stating that they had to move around the team outing (not on company time, not mandatory and not paid) due to this. Not only that but they documented all the dates wrong. Now I keep very detailed notes of everything in a non computer log book and on my calendar. So when o responded back I would not be signing the write up as it was incorrect and gave all the correct details along with texts and dates to prove it they were unable to actually follow through with the write up. 😂 I might have also made my manager cry. Ironically I was putting in my notice that night anyway as I was moving back to my home state. But seriously. Always - Always document Everything!!!!!!
The paper slip in delayed trains is in Japan. As for doctors note… it is obligatory in Poland, but we get paid for sick days and it is not limited. So people can abuse it, get 20% pay decrease and go on holidays. That’s why it is required here. It is an issue with like “one day sickness”, do I have to go to doctors to explain that I had not fresh fish yesterday and I cannot come to work?
How do we feel about our vacation time being accrued over the year, even though it's part of our contract? We have to work a certain number of hours before we have access to it... shouldn't that be specifically spelled out in the contract, since it's now conditional? Idk. Something my work started doing that feels icky.
I am an executive assistant and I am supporting two c-levels and I noticed that during my 1:1’s one of the c-levels will zone out while I am asking her questions and then later claim I didn’t tell her something so I get in trouble with my manager.
My husband works remotely, whereas most of the company is at an in-person location in Texas and we live in Minnesota. His job gives him a monthly stipend specific to cell and internet charges to cover the need for him to use his phone and home internet during work hours. I'm sure he would prefer it to having to go into an office every day!
In all honestly I did see my coworkers as family. We used to be such a small group. We got to know each other well, we were there for each other in difficult times. We hung out outside of work. They became like my mom's, brothers, sisters. We spent a lot of time together so yes to me they were and still are family. Just like my friends that became sisters or brothers. I don't see anything wrong with that IF those in the group are comfortable and also see it that way. Of course if it makes anyone feel uncomfortable that is or would be respected.
My company has at least quarterly mandatory meetings after hours. We compensate hourly time for our hourly staff but not for salary staff….we who are salary work 50+ hours a week without comp time or financially.
The tax write off things is not fraud. You're right that the company gets the tax write off and they get the PR of saying they give to the charity. But your average worker doesn't get a tax write off for donating to charities. You have to donate so high a percentage of your income that most average people don't come up to that amount. So it's not fraud but I don't understand why it's done in the first place. Why are they getting involved in this sort of thing?
Whenever I get a call from my boss outside of work, I put an extra hour on my time sheet. Even if it takes 2 minutes. It's never been brought up as a problem.
On the chair issue, that might not be an issue of classicism, but maybe a tacit expectation and reassurance of having assigned seating; something that you know is yours. That need for structure is very important for people on the autism spectrum.
I'm pretty sure the words "We're a family" in business came from when businesses were family owned and family run. And while these businesses try to say they look out for each other like you would your family members, most of my experience throughout my business career has proven just the opposite. The places I worked at when I was younger that said that to me, oftentimes were the most toxic environments I had ever worked at. In fact, if they had been my true family members, I would have requested to be an orphan.
IME that line always means they have no boundaries or proffesional standards, and therefore your boss can get all up in your business and make all sorts of unreasonable demands. Because you're a faaaaaaamily. But only as long as they benefit. If you ask for the same kind of loyalty or sacrifices, suddenly they couldn't possibly and also you're a terrible person.
The train giving reports as to why a person is late. I read years ago that the Japan it is quite common for the train company to offer notices as to why a worker was late
Careful. I had a mgr push me to make mgnt decisions. I did. It's fine and I still stand behind it. Mgr complained about it and still tries to but like I said the decision is fine. I feel set up and won't fall for it again
Experienced most of this. Got locked into a Government job that provided generous PTO, family health insurance, a pension and job security. And after over 30 years of a toxic work environment I broke mentally. Never knew what "A broken man" meant until it was me. Had just enough extended sick leave to make it to my 55th birthday and retire early. The reason I stuck it out was that if I quit or was fired one day before retirement, I wouldn't get health insurance post- retirement. My counselor tells me I have PTSD from my career there. At first, I was like "No way! That's for trauma victims and combat vets!" But at the same time I was thinking ((Shrek voice))"That explains a lot." She told me "Dripping water wears away stone." FYI my counselor's husband is also a career government employee, so she totally understands what I had to put up with. SO: Don't let a toxic workplace destroy your mental health. Sometimes you're better off living in a studio apartment with six roommates than staying in a toxic workplace. Granddad told me "Life is too short to do something for a living you don't enjoy." Wish I could have figured out a way to make that happen.
Ehhhh... If they're truly taking advantage, then that should be reflected in their work. So if they're not completing work or not to the standard expected, you're still completely able to fire them. But if someone is doing everything you ask, why does it matter where they are when they do it or how long it takes them?
We use two-factor authentication to login. We had to buy a bunch of security fobs for people who had flip phones or wouldn't put it on their own device.
So if you're given only enough work to take you 4 hours, you think you should only have to work 4 hours. But then if you're given work that will take you more than 8 hours, you say "No, because I clock out at 5pm." You don't get to have it both ways. The "I don't want to be in the office" but also "I won't put my camera on for remote meetings" is another one that irks me. I'm all for more class consciousness and setting boundaries with employers, but I'd also say that if you want people to take you seriously, you need to be reasonable. It's a give and take.
There have actually been a lot of studies showing that after about 36 hours a week, you hit a point of diminishing returns. So it's actually in the company's best interest to not require you to work more than 40 hours a week. You NEED that downtime. And if you're the type of employee who has found a way to do 40 hours worth of work in 30 or even 20 hours, why should you not be compensated with extra leisure time? The company is still getting the work done. They're not paying any extra for it and they're incentivizing a really good employee to stick around. Why is that unreasonable? As far as in the office or cameras on... Why? I know my face is delightful, but why do you need to see it every day? For a request to be reasonable, there needs to be a reason for it.
We have a law in France which is basically the right to be disconnected. put it simply, outside of working hours my boss cannot expect me to be available
Back in the day, if you had your email on your personal phone and used it for company business, they gave you a small monthly pay bump of $20-30. With remote work its just expected to use you personal phone with no compensation. Companies really need to step up and outline internet and phone use compensation in the benefits.
I prefer the work phone. Your coworkers and supervisors should know your schedule, and should not be contacting you out of work hours. I set my work phone to Do not disturb outside my work hours, and ive taught all my coworkers how to do the same after they were voicing that they dont know how to disconnect. Im in healthcare, so the only time i check my work phone out of hours is if i know theres a situation going on regarding one of my clients that is severe/urgent.
Just started watching your short clips about a week ago...love your content! I worked in manufacturing management for almost 4 decades. Consolidation of industry lead to a less family culture, less focus on continuous improvement and a sole focus of cost avoidance. The things I heard senior "leaders" state about the employees of the company made me wonder if they actually knew who their competition really was...seemingly thinking they needed to beat everything out of their own employees for competitive advantage. No longer miss those annual "budget" review meetings...just do more with less!!! Reminds me of that scene in Caddyshack where Ted Knight's grandson is at the hamburger stand...I want, I want...to which Judge Smails responds "You'll have nothing and enjoy it!" Keep up the great work on your videos!
