What's the strangest thing you have been told off for at work?

[NoEffingWay]

I once got told off for leaving on time, I had done my contracted hours, all of my work was done but apparently leaving on time was frowned upon .

The same job told me off when I left 'for only working my 4 weeks notice'. I think they genuinely expected me to stay even after leaving .

@Badgerstmary

I used to have a Saturday job at a restaurant within a department store. I got told off for not making mistakes when I was on the till.

Eh??

@bloodywhitecat

I was told off for talking to a body. I used to work in a children's hospice and we sometimes cared for children who had died, I was checking on a little one before the family came to spend time with them and was telling the child what I was doing. The nurse in charge told me off for doing it because it was unnecessary and "freaky". The nurse in charge didn't last long in a hospice role and I continued to talk to the children whether they were alive or not.

This really touched me ❤️ thank you for treating those little ones with such respect x

I worked in a restaurant with a filthy disgusting bloke for a boss. He never washed his hands, ever. Even after having a pee or pouring wine through his fingers. Why did he pour wine through his fingers? Because that's how he chilled a glass of wine when we ran out of chilled and the new lot wasn't cold enough. He'd put ice in and pour the now icy wine into another glass, through his dirty fingers. He told me off for refusing to do it, or using a clean fork instead. He also told me off for putting a small glass in the ice bucket to scoop it out. Apparently I was to use my hands.

I used to be an event manager. All our travel arrangements had to got through our admin assistant. Had a meeting about the upcoming events and hotel/flights. I said I would follow up with an email with all the information.

I started the email with 'as discussed, please could you make the following travel arrangements' list hotel bookings/flights.

Pulled into HR, the phrase 'as discussed' was too aggressive' I apologise.

After the next meeting I follow up with an email with 'to confirm, please could you make the following travel arrangements'

Pulled into HR, email was still too aggressive' I apologise again, ask how I should follow up. HR stumped, they can't tell me what to write so not to upset her. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Having a "naturally disinterested" face 🤷🏼‍♀️

I sent a very cheesy joke about democrats vs republicans around the department. This was about 20 years ago and sending jokes around was a daily occurrence.

The (newly promoted) manager of one of the teams who received my joke came over to tell me off because there was an American in his team and no-one knew if he was a republican or a democrat so I shouldn’t have sent it.

For letting my DS look out of a window after school (teacher obvs)

Oh yeah, I was told off for my clothes when I was working in an office as a student. Apparently, my skirts were too short and distracting and my blouses were too busy and trendy.

I was once marked down during my probationary meeting for poor time keeping because I arrived at work 20 minutes before my start time

A single exclamation mark was construed as being aggressive.

For starting an email to senior colleagues ( incl a director) as ‘Dear Colleagues’. Apparently as I was not their peer I was not a colleague 🙄

This mental woman got taken to a tribunal for bullying by someone else

I got sworn at, at shouting volume, because I couldn't come to work to a hugely physical job, as I was in A&E having my leg stitched up from a random incident involving a smashed shop window (something fell against it) and a massive triangle of glass embedded in my calf. Was lucky not to do major damage, and got away with 8 stitches and a bit of hobbling around for a few days. This made me a 'fucking cunt' apparently. I quit the next day. They tried to withhold my pay too.

Taken aside at 8 months pregnant and told off for making the team look like shit as my productivity was over 90% and the rest of the team was around 30%.
Didn't do a drop of work for the next two weeks until maternity. Took great delight in telling the team leader I didn't want the team to look bad anymore. It helped I knew I wouldn't be going back after maternity leave but they didn't.

Rescuing a pigeon that broke its wing, in my own lunch break...and taking it home, before coming back to the office on time...that was a proper control freak boss and I walked out of my job months later. I learned to not tell anyone what I did at lunchtime after that...

As a junior staff member years ago in my early 20s. Confided in my boss that our senior boss had tried it on with me and told me he could ‘make my career’ if I went out with him. I got told off for ‘gossiping’ .

This was 2001, not the dark ages, and at a large, well known organisation.

Typing/writing during a team meeting. I was writing notes for my colleague who was part time and always missed the team meetings.

I once failed my probation because lots of money went missing from the company safe that I had a key to. I had nothing to do with it (swear!) and to make things more mysterious they gave me some money when I left, I got the feeling they felt bad. Was young and naive but I still have no idea what happened there and now I'd be questioning it a lot more! Really weird

Our whole team once got a stinky email about the use of paperclips - apparently we should staple things as paperclips were too expensive. This was from the same manager who gave me a row (as an adult woman in my late thirties) for using a regular envelope instead of an internal envelope.

I hated that manager and her utter pettiness with a passion.

I had to work late one evening. Financial institution before computerisation and a task which was completed manually once a year though we had prepared as much as we could before this specific date. I phoned home to my DM to let her know I would be late as I was driving myself as my usual lift home was on annual leave. Also my journey home of approx 16 miles involved a very lonely bit of road through high mountains. This was before mobiles. The boss tore a strip of me in front of all my colleagues. My call couldn't have been ,longer than 1 min. It was very upsetting. I also had made a mistake in the totting up which was found quite quickly. Got a bollocking for that as well I'm front of everyone.

For people liking me.......... Apparently you can't be a manager and 'liked' 🤔

@dashoflime it was still like that in the 1980s.

Being too polite

My boss had been away in India for a month. Our company’s position moved up in position (most amount of stores). I was talking to a customer about how good things were going, that we were in X position. Boss was listening in.
After the customer left my boss pulled me to one side and berated me for telling the customer the wrong information. I didn’t argue, just said I’m sure that information is correct. Lo and behold next day she apologised to me. Our working relationship was never the same again as she kept trying to pick things up, but just wasn’t getting anywhere with it. I used to help her with writing letters to customers, she’s one of those people that piggybacks on others.
I left not long after as I was fed up with it all. It was a fuck you/up yours. The customers were quite upset I left and always asked after me.

Not told off as such but just informed when I was doing a piece of work to use Roman numerals instead of numbers. Did make me chuckle.

For getting hit by a brush when I was a student temping in a food factory. Apparently the lady in question was known to have mental problems and under no circumstances were you to borrow her work tools. I got set up by the other workers, twatted around the head and ended up with a verbal warning for winding said lady up. To be fair though she might have been psychotic but she was the fastest most efficient worker I ever met. I would have picked her over me.