What’s the worst thing you’ve seen in the workplace?

[chbahjng]

Mine won’t be half as bad as some peoples or even a quarter but -

I worked in about a team of 20 and it became very obvious that higher management wanted this team dissolved. At least 12 of us left within the space of a 3 months (no backfilling) because they made it so horrendous and then management shit themselves because all they had left were the lazy ones who did no work.

Another place I worked one manager (who was clearly miserable in life) would get people fired like it was a sport.

A two year old walking up a set of stairs holding a comfort toy. She had it snatched out of her hand and was shouted at by a senior manager. The girl was traumatised.
The culture at the school meant I’d have been ostracised had I reported - so I left.
I’m still angry at myself for not speaking out.
This was a top, fee paying independent school.

A long time ago, when I was new to the workforce, I got a job in a printing company, family owned. I should have cottoned on when in the interview they said they didn't hire 'clock watchers'.

What this meant was they expected you to work late, every day, for free, while paying minimum wage. They got pissed at me when they asked us all to work on a Saturday for free, to tidy up old paper files, apparently the business couldn't afford to pay (said the child manager who had just pulled in in their new luxury car). I said no. They then offered to pay, but included in their little speech, in a nasty tone, directed at me, 'because some people refuse to support the business'.

I remember then being dragged into the boss dad's office by their kid manager, for every tiny mistake, the manager of my dept was demoted for something tiny.

They let me go during probation, thankfully, as I then landed a job where I had a fantastic career at a uni. When I met the manager of the printing dept he remembered me & was a fellow escapee!!

That's interesting. I've just handed in my notice after 6 weeks of working for a MAT.

Totally unprofessional.
Expecting the earth (extremely high standards whilst management not delivering themselves).
Expecting me to work numerous hours without pay.
Absolutely impossible to complete all work in the hours allocated.
Other staff members also snowed under.

I would never work for a MAT again.

Their loss. Already got another job...

Sorry, but what’s MAT?

Multi Academy Trust I think.

i was working with a small team once and the person leading the team with me turned to tow of our colleagues who were working in that team, who happened to be black, and said “come on coconuts it’s time for lunch”. I kid you not. He breezed past me as I stood in complete shock with my jaw on the floor. The three of us just stared in disbelief! Still shocks me today.

At a different time, I worked for a small family business that was going down the pan. Aging director/founder, family infighting, his son who was mid 20s and an employee but couldn’t apply himself at all. Essentially I was doing the sons’ job as he never turned up. When he did turn up, he would make shitty comments to me like ‘you’re just a pretty face for the clients’, or ask me to be in meetings with male clients but not say anything!! Meanwhile, the company was going into administration and the directors wife was frantically trying to open a new bank account for the business as the original had been frozen. She literally took my order ‘book’ (yes it was old fashioned) off me (which had around 150k£ of orders ready to dispatch to prove we were solvent) and went to the bank.
When I left this job, they tried desperately to get me to stay and in the meeting, my boss (director) and his wife (also director) and the shitty son who never turned up, had their 14 year old son present who played Xbox loudly all the way through the meeting as I basically explained why I was leaving.

Worked out after I’d left that I had make them over a million £ in orders in the time I’d worked there. They’d paid me a very average salary. Whole thing was bonkers.

I'm not so sure about that, there are a few posts that I'm sat here thinking 'I'm glad that wasn't me'

Big virtual hugs all-round 💐
I was going to add to everyone that's been negatively effected but nah, just Big hugs to everyone

Wasn't there a woman not that long ago that got arrested from a care home because some people died because of some sort of carbon monoxide poisoning
Just found it a month ago it was https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/swanage-care-home-deaths-carbon-monoxide-b2634813.html

Manager telling every member of staff that I was pregnant before I'd told them because she was pissed off about it. Then later down the line, when I was 38 weeks pregnant and due to go on maternity leave in 4 days, same manager told me she "couldn't care less that I hadn't felt baby move, your unborn baby is none of my concern and to get back to work." We worked in a nursery so it was nice to hear how much she cared about children 🥴 I told her I was taking maternity leave early and never went back!

A manager who used to take a wee in the waste paper basket.
Her excuse was that she drank heavily at work and was too pissed to get to the toilet.
Charity sector (as if you couldn't guess)

So many. But one that wins for sheer petty stupidity by management was when I had a student job in a burger chain.
I had spent 4 hrs non stop working on the fryers in the height of summer. We were allowed a meal deal during our lunch break. Burger/fries/medium drink. I was so thirsty that day. I got a basic burger, no fries and filled up a medium cup of Diet Coke from the tap. No ice.
The manager interrupted my lunch break to tell me off for not taking any ice as it obviously meant I had therefore taken more liquid. I was a bit astounded so just mumbled sorry I didn’t know and he said not to do it again.
Humiliated in front of the other staff for the sake of 0.0000001p worth of post mix tap soda.
Didn’t go back.

At one company I worked for, during my annual appraisal I was criticised for the amount of sick leave I'd had in the previous two years.

One year I'd had meningitis, the next year I had a prolapsed disc which had left me unable to walk until I underwent surgery.

I was also asked what I could do to prevent a reoccurrence. I think I simply laughed.

I'm still pissed off 10 years later. (I don't work there now.)

Mine is more of a WTF than many of these but when I was working as a receptionist in a GP surgery, my first job since leaving school so I was 18, the other receptionists would give me, for example, a pile of papers to scan in but would hide pictures of pornography (eg 2 men fellating each other, a heterosexual pair having anal sex, threesomes with mild bondage themes etc) then fall about laughing and calling me a prude when I looked shocked. Happened 2 or 3 times but I didn't think to report it, it was "banter"... anyway I left there quickly enough, but it's only in retrospect I've thought how weird it was that a bunch of mainly 40+ women would bait a VERY naive and innocent teenager in this way.

A pay policy that explicitly stated employees who worked part time or took maternity leave might not be eleligible for annual progression because they won't have worked a full year.
Apparently that had been checked by lawyers and approved for use...

Please say you took them to tribunal for disability discrimination?

A staff member dropping his trousers and pants and waving his willy around at the work summer party. Seemed to get away with it despite being an offensive twat all evening culminating in the kecks down moment.

Management relocating an entire department to the Isle Of Wight for no clear reason.The department was almost entirely staffed by women who had gone part time after having children. Management were never shy to express their irritation at the part time staff and the move felt like it was designed to force them all out. It worked.

Currently, I work somewhere where the toxic culture of bitchiness and backbiting is so nasty, several people won't even go into the staffroom. I've never seen anything like it. It's one woman in particular. Nasty, bitter and determined to cut everybody down to size. Loud and "holds court" whilst her equally nasty minions enable her. Apart from that, I love the job!

Years ago when working in retail.

Manager (well not a proper manager but was too arrogant to realise they were using her as one without paying her accordingly) who didn't know my ethnicity, told me to watch out for people of my ethnicity because they're all thieves.

One of our team caught our line manager (female), giving her own line manager a blow job in his car. We had long suspected that something was going off because she had no qualifications whatsoever but managed to get promotion to 'invented' job roles.

The child of the company owner was made manager straight out of school, they had the most vile attitude which resulted in 15 people joining and leaving in less than 2years. It was blindingly obvious but HR did nothing.

Same company, a female worker was caught giving a male worker oral under the desk. She was forced to leave. The guy stayed apparently.

Just before I left said manager (child of CEO) pulled us into a late afternoon workshop and was explaining a new process where we were essentially expected to scam our customers. I mortified and wanted to report them but my mother told me not to. I wish I did…

Years later they were one of the many companies who profited from the Covid PPE scandal.

I work in A&E and this happens not infrequently.
Once when the BBC cameras were rolling!

Back in the 90s a colleague who was widely despised by everyone for being an arrogant prick got caught drink driving. He smashed his car into a row of parked cars and then ran away. The police caught him and it went to court. He told everyone in the office about this and the only thing he was sorry about was that he got caught. We were all hoping that this was enough to get him sacked but no such luck. Court date came and my manager got a tearful phone call off colleague's GF to say that the judge took exception to his behaviour and sent him down for 4 weeks. He did 2 weeks (early release for good behaviour) and was allowed back to work as he took those 2 weeks as annual leave! We were all called into a meeting and told if we discussed this with anyone we'd be disciplined. This was a big utility company.

That phrase just reminded me of something a workplace said to me when I took advice from my union; they were disappointed that I hadn’t gone to management over a matter but I sent them WhatsApp screenshots proving that I had previously reached out to 3 managers to no avail so with no trust I went elsewhere and not did they not like it!!

A customer dropped dead

Human turd in the customer area

Verbal sexual harassment from senior management and also changing our uniform size orders so the blouses were tight

Told we had to wear heels

No health and safety assessment while pregnant (worked till due date) so was lifting heavy stuff and pushing heavy cart around

Actually TOLD to miss sell PPI

If you were ever ill on a Monday it was assumed you were hungover so went unpaid

A team manager would come in every day absolutely reeking of booze and shaking

Major high street bank

Ah yes and basically had to start almost any sentence with "I'll check with the union..." otherwise they would take the piss left right and centre with regards asking you to overtime/weekends with an hours notice etc or go to another county

An elderly woman ( physically incapable due to previous stroke and unable to speak) allegedly being raped by her carer son. When the consultant spoke to the family it was decided she go into a care home, and not home to him, rather than the son be investigated by the police. This was many years ago, and I still think about that poor woman, so I hope it would happen these days.