To ask for stupid reasons you've been told off at work?

[chailatte123]

I once asked a member of the Senior Team if she had dyed her hair.
Apparently this was very rude.

When I was training to be a TA, I got told of for using the word ‘outwith’, in an essay, apparently it’s Scottish and not used in England. (I’m Scottish but live in England).

I had a stop gap job in a call centre where the manager and her pa for some reason took a dislike to me (I think it was because my husband was a manager in another department, in another building and often had to make decisions about the call centre), I was told of by the PA for wearing cream coloured chinos whilst she was standing there in more or less the same outfit as they weren’t ‘professional’. I’d worn them with a heel and nice blouse. It was a call centre in the middle of a town centre where we saw no one.

Talking about my lunch before lunchtime 😂😂😂

I once answered the phone to someone who I apparently should have known who he was. Let's call him James Reed. I queried whether e.g that was Reed as in rushes or Read as in book. He clarified with 'Reed - as in your boss's boss. Just get him to call me.'

I told my boss who, being very easygoing, just laughed rather than bollocked me.

Sent a jokey email, below my pay grade apparently. Didn't give a fuck as it was proper funny and numerous people told me so 🤣

HR were deciding behind my back whether to fail me on my placement year because I had a poor sickness record. I had had a debilitating condition that required a visible correction device and I was struggling to manage the pain so wasn't always able to make it into work. My boss spoke to me about the situation. Given the conditions of my placement year were that I had to work a minimum of 30 weeks and my boss had extended my placement to the end of the summer because I was so good I had in fact worked 60 weeks, less annual leave and sickness which of course didn't equate to 30 weeks! HR shut up after that.

I used to work at a large NHS trust and the head of service was absolutely batshit, strong Amanda from Amandaland vibes.
She told me off for:

Sitting at a wrong desk even though we didn't have assigned desks, because "the senior managers didn't want to sit close to the regular staff" in case they needed to discuss us

Coming into work late at 9.04am because I'd been stuck in the Trust's broken lift. I had to make sure I made up the time by not leaving till 5.04pm.

Going out to get a coffee on my break because they had "perfectly good" instant coffee in the kitchen and it was ok for everyone else?

When I was new, asking a question at a meeting (to the effect of what did a specific abbreviation mean) because it made the whole team look "stupid".

I gritted my teeth and stayed till my mat leave started and never went back. I have endless examples of her megalomania.

For turning up to work on time. Apparently I should get in early not 9am exactly. We were actually dead for the first few hours so we would all sit about anyway. I was told I should get the earlier bus which got me in 40 minutes earlier.
So I did, but then I started leaving exactly on time. Previously I had stayed until 5.20pm to wait for the mail and drop it off on the way home. A massive contract didn’t go out on time. Not my problem.

Massive telling off for not answering emails sent after 10 pm on a Sunday, for using my lunch time to volunteer, for my OH not stepping in to help me with my work (completely different sector and unrelated fields). So many examples of why it wasn’t the right fit for me, despite being actively recruited into the position

I got told off for wearing expensive suits, apparently I was showing off and making everyone else feel bad. I’d bought them at a boot fair for a couple of pounds each 😂.

Had a hair clip in - ex cabin crew, this was against uniform policy as it had a stone in it. When I see what crew wear now I laugh at what we weren’t allowed

I got told off by my line manager for bringing my kids to the office on the last day of half term holidays. He was away but was told the kids were in office by the CEO. They were very quiet on their devices all day and I got through my work. My line manager said that the CEO was really angry and their public liability insurance did not cover kids visiting the office. I get all that but if it was so risky for the kids why wasn’t I sent home with them? I can. Just as easily WFH.

Years ago I was a teaching assistant and I was told off for asking the teacher if I could help someone who was sitting under the table because he didn't have the confidence to get started on the task on his own. I knew the child a lot better than the teacher, who was just covering for another teacher that day, and I knew it would just take 5 minutes of my time to get him started. The teacher didn't want to know and just shut me down. He later gave some horrible feedback about me to the usual teacher so she had to administer the telling off, although she crammed it as just paying on a comment from someone else. She knew the child well too and I always wondered why she didn't just tell the other teacher where to get off and either not tell me at all or just tell me "oh you'll never guess what that silly Mr X said!"

I wouldn’t have said that rude - in 2014 whilst working for a small yet billionaire type company, the one man brut of an IT man who would swear outright and my nickname for him was grumpy, say to me what the hell have you done to your hair, instead of red it went kind of orangery/cooper - never occurred to me to tell him outright he was rude or start filling grievances.

Unsure how but I got a devoloping in my last one to one for a line I’m not even on. The team leader acted as if they had gremlins in their system and at one point acted as if another team leader could have such an effect on my one to one.

I’d rather people be direct I think.

I have a few but are ones I've complained about in real life! But when I was 18, I had a really nice figure and wore shift dresses, blouses with pencil skirts etc. to look professional and I took my appearance and job seriously - I was told I dressed too provocatively.

In a call centre, I should have finished my shift at 6pm. About 5 mins before I had a phone call which took 25 mins including typing up the note on the account.

I got told off for over staying my hours. What was I supposed to do? If I said to the customer at 6pm, “well my shift has ended” then ended the call. I would have got told off!

I did ask could I finish earlier one day. Wasn’t allowed. If that happened every week. Those twenty minutes added over the year is two full shifts!!!

At least in my civil service job, if I finish work 20 mins late as needed to finish off working on a case, I get it added to my flexi time.

The supermarket I worked for has a car park under the store and has lifts from there to inside the store. We had a lift for going down and one going up. Barriers between the two. Plus a entrance on foot for those who walked in.

Had to communicate with walkie talkies with how many people are queuing up at both the car park and foot entrance. A colleague for each one. The walkie talkies should have been placed on charge overnight. Colleagues including myself got told off for letting us being the middle person in running up and down the stairs between the car park and outside. We couldn’t ask everyone to queue in one place as disabled people couldn’t use the stairs.

A few shifts I finished after the store closed. We were allowed one colleague per lift- a few colleagues live(d) together - partners, mother and daughter etc so could share lift. We parked in the underground car park

I went in the up only lift to go downstairs. I got told off for that! The store is closed, makes no difference

Did you ever discuss with her? To tell an adult off, especially in front of other adults, is a very delicate thing.

I love the idea of working somewhere where I have a colleague who's poised to write poems for me. May I ask (if it's not too outing) where you work?

I reported a colleague for mis-appropriation of company goods. A junior colleague reported it to me so i followed process, I investigated and it turned out to be true. I was accused of starting a witch hunt by the manager.

I didn't, unfortunately - I didn't have the confidence at the time. I would if it happened now, but it's a long time ago - over ten years.

In her defence, she has mellowed considerably and I don't believe would act like that to anybody now.

@SapphireSeptember I wonder if we worked at the same place!

I got told off for bringing my lunch to work and not buying my lunch (from the overpriced canteen) at work. Apparently it was rude not to support the chef.

One winter the hill that I live on was undrivable and no buses were running , I walked 30 mins to get a tram to the nearest stop then walked a further 30 mins to the company . I rang my boss to tell him what I was doing and he said he had planned on wfh but I'd made him feel guilty so he drove in ( no snow for him ) I did this for 3 days and then got asked in my weekly meeting why I was 15 mins down on my flexi time !

He soon backed down when I printed a report out that showed over the last 6 month's I had done about 30 hours extra with no payment

I got told off for asking someone not to do their own work at work and eat lunch at the same time as serving a customer!

I got threatened with disciplinary action unless I went back into my office of 8 colleagues and apologised.

I'd been on annual leave, was my first day back in and when asked if I'd had a good trip away, I'd responded with "oh yes, I didn't want to come back!'
Apparently I intentionally ruined team morale and made everyone "down"

Hmmm. And no, I didn't!