I think for me that it's the inability to think through how their policies will play to anyone who is not minded to snap at the honeyed bait. And a lot of companies (the ones who treat their employees, especially those in customer service roles, as battery hens) who are almost equally guilty of conniving in the deceit, in the interest of profit, deserve all they get.
I really don't like to bang on the successful small company drum, but we have one, and this evening's conversation has been about how much of a 13th month's salary every individual will receive on 19th December.
We employ 9 people, but their job is to make certain our customers are actively happy and satisfied with the service we give. So, we pay about the same as the public sector (in Cornwall, that means very well paid in local terms) plus an annual bonus, of approximately another month's salary, depending on what we have made for our year's trading. But DH and I own the company (he makes it work, I just go to jail for anything we do wrong). When times have been hard, we have been the people who went unpaid for 18 months, because it is our job to meet our payroll and keep the ball rolling. So we don't splash the cash that's in the bank or buy anything lavish, because it may be needed to pay wages. It's very different to larger business; ours is a family enterprise.