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Original poster

Strangest thing you have ever got into trouble for at work?

264 replies

NoEffingWay · 21/05/2022 21:04

Not 'looking like I was listening in a meeting'- I was actually listening and was able to recite information but apparently that wasn't good enough!

For 'not having a degree'- I was a Saturday girl in a shop, I was 16 at the time. Confused

For 'being tired'-I had a baby at home and was getting up at 4am to look after them so wasn't feeling well rested but was expected to pretend I was energetic Grin.

OP posts:
eenymeenymineymo · 21/05/2022 22:12

I was given a disciplinary by my LM because I hadn't wanted to talk about my (v.private & serious) upcoming surgery with another colleague. She was pressuring me to tell her how I was feeling about it & so I told her to lay off. She cried & reported me.
LM & colleague were friends outside work. Go figure.

SpeedofaSloth · 21/05/2022 22:13

For throwing away the cream cakes which had been out of the fridge all day. Apparently they should have been kept to serve the next day instead. Confused

DilemmaDelilah · 21/05/2022 22:16

I got hauled into a disciplinary meeting after a complaint was made by the office bully, who I happened to report to, for not doing something she hadn't asked me to do that was, apparently, very important (and coincidentally made her look inadequate). For context - she had previously actively discouraged my taking any iniative whatsoever and had told me off for doing anything she had not specifically asked me to do. I found and printed off copies of ALL the emails she had sent me and provided a full timeline off events. Although nothing was said I believe she received a bit of a dressing down for the way she had treated me and I was given somebody else to report to after that. I've never been so pleased to have kept all my emails!

MeanderingGently · 21/05/2022 22:17

When I was in my very first job, years ago, the manager called me in one day and said, "You know what the real problem is? You got married". At the time I thought he was a misogynistic git and left the company.

Twenty years later I got divorced, and did wonder whether, actually, that boss had been right after all......

CorneliaMarie · 21/05/2022 22:19

Me and a colleague were asked to interview someone, together. Interviewee started describing themselves things like “a unicorn” (!). It became difficult to understand what they were actually talking about in response to questions as it was like all the words from bullshit bingo mixed in with a few conjunctives in an attempt to make a sentence - but made no sense.

So we got fed up and cut the interview short to avoid wasting everyone’s time - theirs and ours. Except someone senior/equal level but another dept thought they were ace, got very pissy and tried to tell us off. I take copious notes and relayed to them all the gems they’d said and why my time had been wasted when they clearly shouldn’t have even got through to the next round.

Sidisawetlettuce · 21/05/2022 22:20

For not wearing my pyjamas.
It was a pyjama day at school. I refused to comply.

MagnoliatheMagnificent · 21/05/2022 22:21

I used to come in at 9.15 every day for a few years. Out of the blue I got told off for not going to a daily meeting at 9.00. This had never even been part of the job before and not discussed!

SBAM · 21/05/2022 22:24

I was a department admin, we had two dept managers with the same role but one was officially my line manager. She asked me a query, I copied both managers in the response as the outcome could affect both of them. Got told off because she was trying to pull a fast one and shift a problem to her colleague.
(to be fair, I had an inking that she was trying to do that which is why I copied them both in)

MarmiteCoriander · 21/05/2022 22:28
  • For not going to work 2hrs earlier than my contracted hours because they had booked someone in at 7am and not told me!
  • Claimed that I'd left work early to attend THEIR Christmas party, despite me being the last to leave the office and was an hour later than everyone else as I needed to lock the office up!
  • For taking a single day off 'sick' to get a scan when I'd miscarriaged on the bathroom floor whilst at work. I never told them any details at all and left very soon after this.
Dexionmagic · 21/05/2022 22:30

School based.

Several years after the event….. buying Apple computers for the school rather than PCs. Not my sole decision, it was a joint decision involving deputy head, HODs, tenders etc
Head wasn’t having it.

henkon · 21/05/2022 22:32

For being on time.

Doorhandleghost · 21/05/2022 22:32

Talking to a colleague early in the morning before anyone else was in the office.

Another staff member complained about it and said it wasn't fair because people wouldn't be able to listen in to what we were saying. The manager actually had a word with me about it.

She didn't like my response.

Doorhandleghost · 21/05/2022 22:35

Ooh also another manager formally complained that a particular dress of mine made his eyes go funny.

Complaint wasn't taken seriously. I wore that dress lot more often after that, he was a real nasty piece of work.

He also complained that there were too many Irish people in the office (1).

wallpoppy · 21/05/2022 22:35

@Nevergoingtobemrsjones that sounds awful, you dealt with it exactly right and I'm sorry you had to deal with other people being idiots.
Take care of yourself - I had a very similar experience (was sat at my desk and saw someone complete suicide by jumping off the multi-story car park opposite my office building) and even though I didn't feel anything but surprise and sadness at first I realised later it was more traumatic than I thought, I ended up having nightmares and anxiety for a while.

Forgothowmuchlhatehomeschoolin · 21/05/2022 22:35

Got put on a disciplinary once as our night shift was meant to do a certain job but they never did it and when they did it was always wrong so it kind of became my job. And on one particular day through no fault of my own, one little parcel got missed.
Took great pleasure in printing off the company operating procedures where is clearly said it was a nightshift duty and telling them l will no longer do it. Fucked em right up.

Honestly too many to mention - there are some awful bosses out there.

Doorhandleghost · 21/05/2022 22:37

In a relatively new role at the moment - have recently been spoken to about my propensity to share appropriate information with relevant stakeholders. This is, apparently, unacceptable.

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 21/05/2022 22:37

For referring half my case load for a job order. I work at a jobcenter (not UK) and I deal with unemployed public sector workers. A job order came in for 3 teachers, a pædagog and 3 helpers. Half of my case load are teachers, pædagogs and helpers!

Outwiththenorm · 21/05/2022 22:38

Told to stop typing so fast (as a typist) as I was showing the others up. I was only there working in my summer holidays but had honed my skills on video games 😆

TitsInAbsentia · 21/05/2022 22:40

PronounMadness · 21/05/2022 21:25

Having “unprofessional boobs”.

I'd love unprofessional boobs 😂

barneymcgroo · 21/05/2022 22:42

Getting too excited when one of my colleagues had made Wagon Wheels. From scratch. They were sublime. Too exuberant, apparently.

motherofawhirlwind · 21/05/2022 22:44

For making the office smell of bacon when I ate breakfast at my desk.

I'm veggie.

SunshineLollipopsAndRainbows · 21/05/2022 22:44

I wasn’t told off exactly but there’s a silly rule about hair colour where I work. Mine was dyed red ( not pillar box red) & I was really pleased with both the colour & the cut. However, I was told it was too bright & I needed to tone it down or I could face losing my job! I’d spent a fair amount of money & didn’t want to change anything so I had to wear a wig. Yet I’d seen other members of staff with various hair colours which were about the same “ brightness” as mine if not more so & a lady started with partially green hair & nobody batted an eyelid!

PassThePringles · 21/05/2022 22:44

Working night shift in a private family run care home. Was on a night shift when I got a message 30mins before my shift finished saying my brother, who was babysitting, had been called to go to work so I'd have to come home or risk the toddlers being in the house for half an hour alone. The lady who was coming in to start morning shift was already there, she'd ok'd me leaving. I rang my boss and left a voicenail explaining I needed to leave (by now) 20mins before my shift was due to end, next shift was already here to cover. Left to make sure my kids weren't awake and left alone at home. Got bollocked by the boss because I left 20 minutes early without her ok'ing it... I was in my late 20s and wasn't getting spoke to like a child when she'd put her phone to voicemail and never went back again. I'd understand her being miffed if next shift weren't there/they had an issue with it but it was fine.

BrunoMadrigal · 21/05/2022 22:45

I congratulated someone in HR on their pregnancy. I was told she’s pregnant by someone else. Apparently I breached confidentiality so was investigated for it. The person who told me though, not an issue for her.

DelilahBucket · 21/05/2022 22:48

For saying "I'll just get him for you" to a building contractor rather than "I will just get him for you" 🙄. I kid you not. They actually fired me for it. I was 17 and an office junior doing an NVQ with an interior design company.
They've gone bust now and I'm still running my own interiors business so 🖕