Colleagues breaking down into tears in meetings

[Givenup2026]

I have never experienced this before. Yes out workplace is chaotic, but I didn’t think it was that chaotic or toxic.

It definitely has left me speechless and I don’t know what am I supposed to do beyond offering my support.

I didn’t want to jump ship, but I think I might to actively start looking.

has this happened to anyone before? And what ended up happening?

I'm in one and used it twice, once for advice when I was (wrongly) accused of fraud (it wasn't that I was fraudulent in any way, i followed company policy and there was a dispute on the policy which i was scapegoated over) and once on potential redundancy while pregnant but dismissal would also apply. They can be useful if you're working in a toxic environment and you find yourself a scapegoat. They also often offer incentive packages for members such as advice on mortgages/ will writing services/ health benefits and different training and resources. Really they just keep you right on your entitlements, will manage a grievance case etc for you and will attend any meetings as a third party and take their own minutes.

This happened to me multiple times at my last company (not me crying though). The most senior person in the company cried in a meeting when she was being asked questions about timelines she was delivering on. It was awful

That place sounds toxic.

I'm another angry cryer. I very rarely cry out of sadness, but my work cry was when I pretty much burst into my boss's office having discovered that she'd blatantly lied regarding a confidentiality issue. It was so bad that had it been uncovered it would have hit the local rag's front page.

She started off trying to justify it, which made me even more angry, and I ended up angrily crying (though more the voice breaking kind of crying rather than floods of tears) and telling her that she made me ashamed to work there.

Within the hour, she'd backtracked and sent an apology for 'an error' to everyone concerned. It wasn't an admission that she'd deliberately been deceitful and dishonest, but at least those who would otherwise have given info that would not have been confidential, as she originally claimed, were saved from doing so.

To be honest with you, it’s for this reason that you should never stop applying for jobs. When you get too comfortable with a certain employer then things go south and your skills/cv aren’t up to date, you’re trapped in a shitty situation for longer than necessary. For me personally I’d be searching for other jobs tonight, it’s all about risk and employee environments are a fickle thing. You might be ok with it now, but in 6 months it could get worse and take its toll on your health. So I’d just want to leave due to the potential of it being worse.

When I (very, very rarely) break down into tears, you can be certain it's nothing to do with that situation, as is more than likely something happening at home.

See I’m the opposite. I think most professional people are able to park home matters at home and not bring it to work.

The only 2 times I cried at work were due to being treated like shit by management. The first time, I didn’t bother complaining but I went off sick and secured a promotion by applying for it (within same company). So it was a sweet fuck you when said manager was scrambling to get my work covered as I was leaving to earn more (so she couldn’t block my exit).

The second time was in said promotion when my manager was trying it on with me & I put in a grievance.

on both occasions the work issues were literally the thing that brought me to tears as opposed to anything else, my home life was irrelevant- the work issues were just that bad.

I cried in a meeting (well, my voice wobbled, I turned bright red & just about held it back but it was obvious I was upset) but it was due to frustration and shit management. I work as Senior nurse in the NHS (PICU) and I don’t know how much longer I can continue - I am great clinically but the petty mangement structure is just too much.

I did that once. Workplace totally and utterly toxic. I’m so much happier now

Gives you access to legal advice should the toxic environment be turned on you.

Half the team I work in would leave - Local Government can be horrendous. Slowly slowly all the old style nasty bully bosses with the funny handshakes are retiring though.

I think a lot of people seem to get stressed easily when having to do something even slightly different.

This happens in all types of working environments.

So many people buckling under pressure.

It's really awful. ☹️

It happens a lot in teaching. Some schools are better to work in than others though.

I’m under 2 years…. and realistically they’d hit make my role “redundant” (like they have for others) and I’d be ok with that as I have redundancy insurance.

I think it happens more with younger staff these days. We have TAs in their early 20s who seemed to get incredibly stressed by events that older staff cope with. I wonder if it that is ongoing as a result of COVID and the time that they missed out on in life.

I haven't noticed that at all. Older people definitely cry more than younger because they have more responsibility. I certainly haven't noticed any lack of resilience in the younger staff. They still manage to drag themselves in with a hangover and don't let things get to them. There is one 1:1 TA role where everyone leaves (young or old) but that is because the child they work with really doesn't want a TA, so they tend to find a job at another school.

My union were brilliant when I was made redundant, and when I was wrongly accused in a disciplinary.

I’ve cried at work many a time, but not in a meeting. Frustration is the killer for me - not
being able to do my work properly due to other people’s issues usually, while being under presssure to deliver. I had a colleague so breathtakingly rude that I went to the loo and cried once or twice out of shock, but even that was because of being tired, overstretched and having a relentless workload. I’ve left the role, mainly because I couldn’t cope with her on top of the workload. It doesn’t have to be an objectively stressful or challenging work sector for this to happen, but even one ‘toxic’ colleague can really fuck things up!

I work somewhere where we resuscitate people for a living. The stakes and the stress could not be higher. The only tears I’ve see in meetings are in debriefs about the deaths of children.

If your job isn’t life and death and it’s still making you cry, it’s time to leave.

I’ve never been in a union but I’ve been made redundant three times, and all three times the advice was that there was not a lot more that could have been done.

which is why if it ever happens again, at least I have insurance.

@JLou08

I am an NHS nurse working in emergency care.

@ JennyWren5

Exactly. At work, if we have had a difficult, upsetting case to deal with we are actively encouraged to take a little break, it's normal for us to be teary at times. However if someone is brought to tears because of a toxic workplace then yes, I do think that someone should consider leaving. I have been that person crying on the way to/from work because of the toxicity of the working environment. Funnily enough that place had a very high staff turn over.

Mixture of both where I am - the young teachers cry due to the conduct of some pupils and the older middle leaders cry due to pressure from SLT and being promoted into roles they just don't have the skillset for so get overwhelmed very easily.