/r/antiwork

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A subreddit for those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on anti-work ideas and want personal help with their own jobs/work-related struggles.


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3

I'm a 108lb teenager and not at all strong, another teenager and me were told we should be grateful for "a paid workout" when I was shaking and couldn't breathe and nearly crying after spending 45 minutes carrying and repeatly dropping heavy picnic benches

Me and a teenage boy on the smaller side were carrying heavy picnic benches part way across a field, down a hill, through a large car park, round the back of a farm and up another hill. I have an eating disorder so even though I'm far from skin and bones I probably don't really get much protein, especially since I'm autistic so eat mainly grapes, porridge without milk and chocolate. So yeah, my arms are noodles. More context, I was meant to be making and serving food in a cafe beside a farm, so I didn't sign up for physical labour

I kept accidentally dropping the benches, probably about fifteen times, because my arms kept going numb. I wasn't lowering the benches down beside I was tired, I was genuinely unintentionally dropping my side of the bench. I could hardly breath and my arms and legs were shaking. This sounds dramatic but it felt like my fingers were being pulled out and without meaning to I was almost crying because we'd been in constant pain for forty-five minutes. I was so scared because I knew eventually I'd drop the bench on my foot and it would break it

The farm is also open for families to look around, and toddlers are running everywhere. They're always interested in what farm workers are doing so they run around your legs and follow you, so it wasn't just us two it was endangering, it was the children visiting

The boss was teasing us about how we needed to "Use our muscles!" and saying we should be grateful that we were "Literally getting paid to do a work out!"

Eventually I physically couldn't hold the bench up even for a few seconds. My arms were completely limp and numb other than that they were shaking like crazy, and my legs were shaking so much I had to sit down because I was scared my knees would give way. I could hardly talk I was struggling to breathe so much. At this point I'd asked twice if I could stop or swap out with someone else temporarily, and I got told to push through and even more benches were added on to what we had to carry. I found another boss and explained to her that I really really tried but I genuinely couldn't, I'd been trying all sorts of psychological tricks to distract from how much my arms hurt and the fear of dropping the bench on my foot or someone else's foot like counting and naming everything I could see, but I physically couldn't anymore

I'm not lazy, I wasn't trying to stive off, I physically could not pick up the bench at that point. When I did after a few seconds I would drop it again

So I was put behind the counter and my arms and legs kept shaking for an hour and a half, I couldn't write or scan barcodes properly. I still kind of hurt

They gave my job to a girl even younger and smaller than me, she was about five foot and very thin, and I felt so bad for her

Someone who was looking round the farm with his kids asked me if I was okay and he said he'd seen us really struggling with the benches and said he was shocked there wasn't an accident, and our employers were breaking the law. I told him they'd swapped me out when I couldn't do it anymore, and he said there should be at least three adult men carrying something that heavy, especially back and fourth for forty-five minutes, not two smallish teenagers

I feel like I'm not the most competent worker anyway, I do my best but I need very clear detailed instructions (probably the autism) so even after a year of working there I spend a lot of time confused about what I'm supposed to be doing and making stupid mistakes or asking for help too much or taking to long to do things. And earlier this week I had two days marked unavailable because I was out of town, and got in massive trouble for not being at the emergency training that was arranged while I was away. And my last job promised they'd pay me everything I earnt when I turned 16 then when I turned 16 they fired me. So all of that combined made me feel like I couldn't afford to complain. But, as melodramatic as this sounds, it was kind of a scary experience today

0 Comments
2024/11/01
21:44 UTC

4

My husband was fired because he’s injured

So my husband was just let go from his full time job because he has been out of work for 4 weeks due to back problems. No, not a work injury. The first week he took off, they asked him for a letter of resignation and then dropped off his work things from his desk (he never insinuated he was quitting). I said do NOT resign. Fast forward to the next week he gets a doctor’s note for a leave of absence for 4 weeks. We were waiting to get imaging results and a consult with a neurosurgeon for next steps and so then would have a timeline of when he’d be back. They seemingly agree to this leave and then after about 2.5 weeks email him he has been terminated. He’s the sole provider and we have 2 children. They know this. They had ZERO issue firing him because he doesn’t know when he will be back (but intended to come back). It’s a smaller business so no mandated FMLA for him. The cherry on top was at the end of the email they go “when you’re feeling better and if the position is still open we’d love to have you back!” Like wow, thanks so much for your charity. I am not naive, their actions do not shock me. I know employers do not value their employees whatsoever. But I am just so angry. The lack of compassion, the lack of respect, the lack of THOUGHT that this person was supporting himself and others and the fact there was zero regard for that. When he got this job the owner BRAGGED about the amazing healthcare they had, yet didn’t end up paying my husband enough for us to afford said healthcare every month. We are all on Medicaid right now. I truly just don’t have words for the state of things in this country right now when it comes to employers/employee relations. Makes me sick. Thanks for reading :/

0 Comments
2024/11/01
21:40 UTC

4

Mentally exhausted, stuck in a toxic job, and struggling to find a way out

I’m feeling totally drained, and I need to leave my job so badly, but after a year of searching, I still haven’t landed anything. The job hunt started last year after my coworker’s behavior became unbearable. She was practically harassing me—always at my desk, following me to the kitchen, even to my car, and bombarding me with inappropriate Teams messages. She once even said, “I wish I didn’t know how to do anything so I could just sit and watch you.” The messages were non-stop, especially when I worked from home, and she’d throw a tantrum if I worked remotely. One time, she even showed up an hour early, pretending it was a “OneNote error,” and I’m not even sure if I’m imagining things, but I swear she’s tried following me home a couple of times.

I reported all of this to management, and all they did was move her seat. Other coworkers have also filed complaints about her, but they say she’s “hard to fire” since she’s past her probation period. It’s like they’re not taking it seriously because she’s a girl (I’ve seen male coworkers dismissed immediately for less). And it’s not just her behavior; she actively sabotages our work by leaving crucial documents in “read-write” mode, which slows the entire team down.

On top of that, this job doesn’t even align with my career goals. I took it as a stepping stone to gain office experience (I studied fashion business), but now I just want out. I’m interested in buying, design, product development, ecommerce, and content creation. But we haven’t had any new hires for three months, and I’ve been overwhelmed by extra work with unrealistic expectations from my TL and manager.

The constant stress and lack of fulfillment are wearing me down. I cry myself to sleep and sometimes have to step away just to cry at work. I know some people will say “suck it up,” but juggling all this on top of my mental health struggles feels like too much.

Since March, I’ve interviewed with 17 companies, made it to the final round with four, yet it always ends with “we chose someone with more experience.” It’s exhausting, especially since quitting isn’t an option right now—I’m trying to move out by the end of the year to ease things for my mom, who’s supporting my sister and me on her own. I feel stuck, exhausted, and out of options.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you cope, or finally make that leap to something better? Any advice would be really appreciated.

TL;DR: I’ve been trying to leave my job for over a year due to a toxic coworker who has harassed me and made work unbearable, while management has done little to help. On top of this, I’m overwhelmed by an increased workload, unrealistic expectations, and a lack of fulfillment in my current role (merchandise management). I’ve applied to 17 jobs, reaching final rounds but always losing out to more experienced candidates. I need a stable income as I’m planning to move out, but my mental health is really suffering. Just feeling stuck and exhausted from it all.

1 Comment
2024/11/01
21:03 UTC

2

Paid Time Off

Leaving a long time job. Will still be doing a little pickup work for them. I was full time 18 months ago. Then PT now starting tomorrow just one or two hours a week supervising. Social Work feild.

I have 22 hours of PTO saved up. I live in Hawaii. Should I bring it up today in some way? What are my rights around unused PTO? I know what I want... it's mine. But what 8s the law?

2 Comments
2024/11/01
20:47 UTC

10

Declined after an interview where they admitted I’d be training the whole team for entry-level pay

There were already some red flags. This was a team where the hiring manager admitted that most of them had been shuffled over from another department after layoffs cleared out their original team. They openly admitted they didn’t have much experience in this area and hoped whoever took this role would basically help everyone else—including the hiring manager—get up to speed.

Then came the pay. They wanted to offer $24/hr for a role that typically pays between $70K - $100K, depending on the region. It was a little unsettling, considering they’d need me to practically train the whole team.

But hey, I need a job; it’s been months since my layoff. Plus, it was remote—had to count for something, right?

In the interview, I mentioned how I saw the hiring manager had advanced within the company and asked about their development culture. Usually, managers like this since it shows interest in staying with the company long-term.

The hiring manager just smiled and said, “Well, gone are the days when people advance here like I did!” (For reference, they had consistently moved up over the last five years). Apparently, the company no longer rewards with raises or career advancement—just “resume building.”

According to them, over time, my role would get more responsibilities, and I’d even get a fancier job title to help my resume for future opportunities! 😃

Oh, and this is an established, publicly traded FinTech company.

The day after, I got an email declining me for the role, and honestly… I wasn’t surprised. The look on my face during the interview probably gave everything away.

1 Comment
2024/11/01
20:47 UTC

51

Boss' boss emails everyone about astrology and Mercury in retrograde

Got this email yesterday from my boss' boss about how Mercury is about to be in retrograde and how that applies to work, I... guess?!

I don't know how to react. On the one hand, he's not telling us we have to do anything with this information, so it's pretty innocuous. But on the other hand, it feels really strange for someone in a position of authority to send out this kind of info in a serious manner, especially in the more technical kind of field I'm in (medical communications).

People have the right to believe in astrology if they want. I dislike when anyone claims it's a science, but as long as it's not hurting anyone, it's their business and not mine. Still, this email feels really inappropriate in a professional setting that isn't related to astrology (or even astronomy) whatsoever. My partner said I should give HR a heads up about it, but I'm still undecided.

Also, the "Astronomy ↔️ Astrology" not made me want to drop-kick my laptop.

35 Comments
2024/11/01
20:41 UTC

4

DOL salary increases

So the DOL increased minimum salaries for exempt employees in July, with another increase to happen January 1st to just over 58k/year which is about a 15k/year increase. My company is thinking about moving my position to hourly to avoid the pay increase (across the company this would be hundreds of people in the same position). 15k would be quite a huge relief and honestly I would finally be getting paid what I feel is a fair wage for my job. I knew they would pull something to avoid the increase whether it's this or downsizing how many people have this position but it still just feels bad to avoid paying a fair wage. I hate it here

1 Comment
2024/11/01
20:36 UTC

3

Is this normal?

In my company, which is service based, I work as project coordinator, but do everything, right from documentation, client coordination, development team handling, testing and even help in deploying. The company doesn't hire experienced people and most of the work has to be outsourced to freelancers, some of them do not work as expected, and I'm answerable to the Client. I get several panic attacks when it is close to due date and I have nothing to show to the clients. Apart from that, they expect us to manage very extensive project management board and also log each and every task of ours in what we do in 8 hours. Also I'm handling 12 projects at the moment each of considerable size and complexity. There are days in which I had to lie and listen to the clients yell, get angry and even curse me. I still try to be nice to the engineering team, but it has been so stressful, that I fear reaching out to the clients, my head start paining with a terrible headache, and can't sleep several nights, my body heats up and I feel like resigning but my marriage is in 1 month and I need money to expense it. I'm 24 y/o only.

1 Comment
2024/11/01
20:30 UTC

2

PTO questions

I work as an Amazon delivery driver, and my company that goes through Amazon doesn’t allow us to take days off unless we have the PTO for it. Is that normal? I’ve never worked a non-career job before that requires you to use PTO to take any days off. I’ve tried to take non-PTO days off and they won’t let me. The rate is 0.04 hours of PTO for every 1 hour worked. We have 10 hour shifts, so it takes about 6 1/2 weeks of full time work to get enough PTO to take one day off. I hate the job anyways, but this PTO thing is about to push me over the edge of quitting because I’m finding different jobs in different fields of work that pay more. Am I over exaggerating about the PTO deal or is that some total bs?

2 Comments
2024/11/01
20:19 UTC

141

My company f- around and now they’ll find out!

My job has always accommodated me to work remotely for in-office days when I'm injured. It's worked great for 2 years until management started being difficult bc of appearance . Actually from the moment I submitted an application to the job I've let them know I will always choose my health bc I don't have the Luxury to not.

Well they decided to not accommodate me anymore so I'm going the official route. Turns out that in my state I can get a full days pay for 3 months out of the year for every 1 hour of my sick leave and I have over 100 hours. And I'm getting official accommodation bc I have several disabilities one that makes me prone to dislocation. I called my union rep and they are ready to fight for me bc of pushback. I called my doctors and they are ready to fight for me. I'm calling my vocational rehab counselor as well. Also just completed a program for people with disabilities so I'm contacting them too.

I dislocated my shoulder and instead of accommodating when literally 100% of my work function can be done on a computer. In fact sometimes we gather together in a room for a meeting that is online and we all go thru zoom. My company found the right person to cause trouble with tbh. I've lost everything in the past and this time I'm fighting.

Moral of the story is that you cannot fight a company or system alone. We need to fight as a village!

17 Comments
2024/11/01
20:16 UTC

89

The Company isn't doing well enough, so we all get a 5% pay cut.

I just received my first check with my pay cut. Hurray!

The loosely defined company policy regarding annual raises is that it maxes out at 3% per year. This year I was not given an annual performance review, and my raise was 2.25% with no explanation, bringing me to $21.268/hr. They refused to round up to 21.27. Now after the cut, I'm down to $20.20/hr, not 20.2046, so they were cool with rounding down... so MY cut was 5.02%

I hate it here.

24 Comments
2024/11/01
20:13 UTC

7

In support of the people who cook food.

I cooked for a living for ten plus years. Almost my entire life post college. I've done everything from dish to line to management. It's fucking lame that you have to work 60 hours to survive. I just walked out of a bar for a cigarette and saw a man in the parking lot in an apron, leaning into the window of a car giving a kiss to a little girl who I know is family but am assuming was the daughter from other context. It's a terrible industry that prioritizes killing yourself over any kind of life. The amount of times I sautéed someone something with a 110 degree fever because of coverage is vile. If you're stuck in that position, find a way put dude. The grind isn't as important as seeing your family or friends. It ain't no kind of life. Sorry, that shit just kinda triggered me to see. Stay strong culinary bro's, but also get out of the life.

2 Comments
2024/11/01
20:04 UTC

30

Don’t even get to retire

Hello all,

So my mother just turned 59, and she has heart failure. All the improvements she’s made, hours she’s slaved away at her job, family events she’s missed because she was so worried about missing work and making sure work was covered have left her with nothing.

She might hit 65, maybe. Either way, just remember, you may not make it to retirement age, so enjoy your life now, fuck Dave Ramsey, yada yada yada

7 Comments
2024/11/01
19:44 UTC

0

Are staggered breaks legal?

In the workplace I work at they do staggered breaks for a 14 minute break and a 24 minute lunch break, for one station with two workers. One worker gets to go first to break for that break or lunch, and then another worker for the same cycle as well. It causes a issue with more workload, and more parts of a order that gets stacked up, causing a lot more unwanted stress.

I feel like it sounds illegal, because that basically exploits more of the workers that really sounds unfair. All within a lower wage as well.

What do you think of it?

10 Comments
2024/11/01
19:13 UTC

31

Being asked to train my boss/replacement?

I’m a team lead. My role is fuzzy since I have been told that I am “not the manager” but all my duties are manager-level.

I will be moving to a different role in the company so they are looking to hire a replacement. This replacement would have the title of Manager and make way more than I have been making as team lead, with the exact same job description.

They want me to hold off on moving to my new role (which comes with a higher pay) so I can train the new Manager/my replacement. Meaning I would be:

  • delaying getting paid more because I’m stuck in my old role training my manager
  • training someone else to do the EXACT job I’ve been doing but they get paid more to do it

During this time I would also be a direct report of this new person…… WHOM I WOULD BE TRAINING……. WHILE THEY MANAGE ME??????

I also find it generally disrespectful since they’ve been so adamant that I’m “not the manager”. If I’m not the manager, doesn’t that make it inappropriate for me to train the new manager?

How do I deal with this?

19 Comments
2024/11/01
19:04 UTC

7

Fired Today

Well... I am back to looking for work after 4 months. It took me over a year to land that job, and it's a gut punch to be a part of the company-wide layoff. I was absolutely killing it, nailing it, and getting great feedback, including from the CEO and CFO. Was told it was due to "lack of work" on the client account.

I am in my mid-50s and I do not know what I am going to do. No one wants to hire someone my age despite all of my knowledge and experience.

I am completely heartbroken and I can't find the strength to do this all over again. It hurts so much!

The bean counters at the tippy top, sitting in their ivory towers, think about laying people off when the account was ramping up. They originally brought me on to help right the ship because things were bad.

I do not understand why companies do this, why?!

3 Comments
2024/11/01
19:01 UTC

95

Fired Today

Well... I am back to looking for work after 4 months. It took me over a year to land that job, and it's a gut punch to be a part of the company-wide layoff. I was absolutely killing it, nailing it, and getting great feedback, including from the CEO and CFO. Was told it was due to "lack of work" on the client account.

I am in my mid-50s and I do not know what I am going to do. No one wants to hire someone my age despite all of my knowledge and experience.

I am completely heartbroken and I can't find the strength to do this all over again. It hurts so much!

The bean counters at the tippy top, sitting in their ivory towers, think about laying people off when the account was ramping up. They originally brought me on to help right the ship because things were bad.

I do not understand why companies do this, why?!

29 Comments
2024/11/01
18:27 UTC

5

GM at pizza store is taking deliveries

Long story short I've been working at this pizza chain for almost couple months now due to being unable to find anything else that would give me an interview, Usually on Fridays we have two drivers, I come in at 10 and deal with all of the AM driver chores, other guy comes in anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours after me, just depends on the day. It's like this Friday, Saturday, and Monday. Other guy doesn't work Sundays.

Today is the first day he's ever been out for whatever reason, and we're not especially busy or anything but I guess the GM of the store felt it necessary to help out, and that made sense at the very beginning of the shift. We had 4 school lunch orders due back to back. After the school lunches everything typically dies down and we usually get 2 deliveries an hour. GM is still taking deliveries though, and it makes me want to walk out immediately but unfortunately I need this job even if deliveries are scarce and the pay is shit.

She's the type of GM who, during the interview process, told me she wants to make sure the store gets its value out of workers, as if we get paid a lot to begin with. And that drivers "sometimes make more than [she does.]" I've maybe walked out of the store having made over 100 dollars, AFTER tallying up hours, mileage, and tips like one time during the nearly 2 months I've worked here. Infuriating.

0 Comments
2024/11/01
18:11 UTC

9

[Publix] is not a good place to work for. (Warning, wall of text. Maybe Comical?)

[[TL;DR]]: back Injury at work, HR complaint, radio silence. Store Manager said they felt threaten by me. Fired me for not going back into the 4 by 15 foot room they call an office after They stated they felt threaten by me.

sooo... Honestly I need either works of encouragement or avenues to approach this dishearten situation I find myself in.

I work[ed] for Publix. almost 2 years. I was digging the place. The produce manager was fired 4 days or so after I was hired. I was hired part time. I only wanted some morning shifts to help myself out. Morning shifts.

My first shift on the floor was from 8:00am to 3:00 am. I showed up to work at 8am the next day; asking them not to do that again and that I am trying to avoid becoming the "key player" in a retail store.

(this is my first retail job. I didn't even know this is considered retail. thought that was just clothing)

from that point on I was the closing guy. I come in between 2 pm or 5pm and leave when the Produce department is completely done. We had no real management and ZERO leadership.

No one was doing their work in the morning shift. or rather they were doing what they wanted to do. I would walk in with most of the morning truck still waiting to be put on the shelf, the out of dates not scared out Banana's not filled. I don't want to bore you with the details but lets say whenever I came in, 5 people left, and I was the soul person to maintain that department.

the hardest part of the job was telling the Managers to stop asking me why X, Y, and Z arnt done. I explained it should have be done well before I even shown up to work.

Honestly the hardest part was coming home at 1 am every night. I wanted to avoid being wired up at 1 am and trying to sleep and wake up.

They were putting me on the schedule now for 40 hours a week, at night. I had to make a choice. Keep working my night gigs and make good easy money, or do normal work and make good constant money.

((yea. My only education is security. they paid me good money to train feigners in the way of combat also.))

Real quick, before I continue this rant. there are two very important things I do in my life. I think Safety first and third. AND I always am for de-escalation. Like, if someone is even remotely upset, I want them in a more relaxed manner. Hell, when I speak, I am making sure I am asking or telling something in a manner which doesn't alienate another's agency because I've noticed that dar Angncy is a cause of a lot of conflict. But I digress.

(also I'm not John Rambo. I'm only 5'4 and 143 pounds.)

Back to the story: This went on for a good year and 1/2. then we got a brand-new district manager. He ordered the stores to start hiring teenagers and focused on homeschooled teenagers since homeschooled teengers can work well past midnight.

Beyond the mortal arguments about that, that's when I discovered "Publix is not a great place to work for"

So my hours begin getting cut. but I am still on night shift. I'm like "no" and inform them of my intent to only do day shift from here on in, explaining that if I'm not working 40 hours at night, you work me part time during the day so I can work at night.

Fast forward a few more months. I'm still on night shift. my hours are all over the place. sometimes I'll get 18. sometimes I'll get 30, sometimes i'll work two 40's in a row. Why? cause I am the only one that does their job and it shows.

((by this time we finally have management in the department.))

Now, I have a trip coming up. sorta business sorta pleasure. My entire friend/peer group am I were meeting up in Las Vegas. Plans where made in February , and I paid for my trip(airline, hotel). Trip isnt til Sept. plenty of time to recover my coffers.

(I went cheap. they got hotels on the strip. I saved by staying in Da Hood. I'm raised in the south side of Atlanta. personally I enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy the 1 hour bus ride to the strip, it's only 4 miles away! lmao)

July 25, 2024 I'm picking up a Banana box. The manner in which Publix "leadership" wants the Banana boxes to be handled is like this:
All the Boxes get unloaded and put on the BOTTOMS of the two tier cart we use to put out product.

Normally you want heavy on bottom. but this is two teir, meaning you have a place at the bottom and another table like surface at hip/waste level which you can put heavy stuff on.

Once the banana boxes arrive you unstack all if them, spread them out allong all 13 of our carts. on the bottom.

During the day no one was filling the Banana's. Dist. magment thought having banana boxes on all carts would prevent that.

Well, I would come in, everybody would leave. Banana's need to be filled of course I have to hunt for Banana's. You won't believe how many boxes just go bad down on these carts.

To lift the banana boxes off from the bottom tier of this two-tier cart requires you to BEND THE LUMBAR OF YOUR BACK UNDER LOAD.

If you lift with your knees Straight up the box will hit the cart's 2nd tier. The only way to bring that box out is to kneel down, bend forward, lift 40 to 50lbs of Banana's my hands. now I have to take one or two steps backwards. before I can lift the box up onto the cart.

in that pose, I am supporting most of my body weight plus the Banana box on the fulcrum of my back. My body basically becomes a class III lever when the Fulcurm is on the lumbar of my back.

On the date above, I'm doing that and something happens with my back. It takes them 2 weeks to FINALLY understand when I tell them I need to go to the doctor, I need to go to the Fing doctor.

Now I'm going to some urgent health center. They think it's nothing. I'm hoping it's nothing. My back is physically swollen.

after X-rays they think it's still just normal wear and tear. after the treatments don't work they finally give me an MRI.

I have: 2 herniated disc, and between those two herniated discs; I have a fully blown out Disc. or what is referred to as a "slipped disc"

((I survived Las Vagas on my good looks. military discount; and 40 dollars in my pocket. Had a blast. I didn't gamble.. wanted to, but I didn't have the money. got lucky getting a hotel in old vagas. found a grocery store not a mile away. I think I may have found a maker's warehouse, I don't know. but I digress))

....Oh. I guess I should talk about me calling HR on the district mgmt when they asked me to come in while I was on A LOT of steroids. yea. they call me up I tell them this "I am on Stariods right now. I am quite excited. I am have hard time controlling my emotions. I do not feel it is safe for me, much less good for me to come in" They say it's just paperwork. They lied. District Mgmt said the words "You're making that up" calling me a lair. I explained to HR that while I was on drugs this is what Happen.

This was..the 2nd week of August. I think. I don't wanna look at the proscription date. was on the 3rd or 4th day, the HEAVY day. lmao. Anyways.

HR comes in. we have a chat. I basically tell him what I told you guys, with some extra stuff. (just giving y'all meat and potato's the best I can). I basically ask them..shit.. I can't remember...damn it. it was elegant and shit too. real buzz wordy without being buzz wordy.

"He could have said 'i don't recall that' or 'you must be mistaken, yet he quickly cut me off and stated that i was 'making that up'. in Publix's leadership courses how do you train your leadership when being accused of something. is District mgmt.'s words and actions reflect the quality leadership Publix states it foresters in this owner lead cooperation"

But I forget the preamble, cause I prepared for the mental war with HR. When he said he was my friend I reminded him he was dealing with 2 friends who are accusing each other of lying; if he is my friend then he knows how truly trustworthy and loyal I am and reminded him that LDRSHIP is now permanently part of my soul now. ((Yea, my very soul. it sounds corny but it's the truth.. and corn is good for you. )). My honor and loyal, my integrity; if you are my friend then you should without a shadow of a doubt in your heart that I am not lying to you.

Mind you, I'm no one special. I don't have a very epic voice, i don't think. I also have a studder, which causes me to "use different words" from time to time. I simply hold my confidence; my heart is pumping peanut butter and my veins are flowing with ice water. I like to think I know a thing or two about words, the world, science, math. I don't if you'd call me educated but when you notice my articulation..to start to wonder what sorta idiot i am.

I was assured their would be no retaliation. On their end. I mean. it isn't like i'm the sorta fellow to use different forms of therapy to help themselves with their shellshock. Oh; yea. I'm Shell Shocked. all day long. I hide it well, I like to think. Stay off the meds cause.. I've seen others on them. Did you know that the act of simply writing stuff down helps? You can't sleep cause you're wired and tried. You're mind is amped up for no reason; or their is reason but nothing can be done? Yeaa. break out the pen and paper; well in my case the keyboard and mouse. Started making person videos when I got home. talking to myself. Real talk, how much money could I make if I just released videos of me afterwork trying to relax; then the crying about how a 42 year man like me is stuck working for a BS grocy store.. I mean. point out BS.. I mean, I was consulted for 5 mins overtime when I'm not allowed to cloak out at 11pm cause the manager has to come and check up on the place. They kept calling me in. if I were to show up at 5, I'd get a phone call at 1 pm asking if I can show up asap. WTF I have issues sleeping people. lmao. No really. Wonder if it would be AD friendly or not. I mean. I need money now.. lmao.

The store manager has only said 2 words to me since then. "Good morning" and that is it. That is it. She went from "I need you" to "oh shit" cause she didn't notice me the first time cause I said good morning back. I KNOW how to compartmentalize my emotions.

((real quick. I got hurt, they worked me 6 days straight until I finally went to the doctor. now I am lucky to get 13 hours a week. they started giving 6 am to 9 am shifts, 2 of them a week, lmao. ))

twoday, Nov 1, about 8:30 pm. I'm working 5 am to 1 pm (I need the money). I'm asked into the back office. the store manager begins to talk about my injury. then she gets called away. I'm starting to get the idea that she might be trying to write me up for something. I don't know what. but I'm assuming since they understand they'll have to buy a new back for me (yea, doctor spent 15 mins with me and said surgery.) and now want a papertrail of misconduct. on top of that, NO ONE ever gets WRITTEN up. store manager, when I said in the beginning "why don't you write up the morning crew" their response "we like to coach here"

Store manager comes back from being called away. I strike when she comes back I instantly ask about WHEN I'm going to have answers from HR about being insulted and called and leir. I attempt to remind her that she called me in while I was on drugs, and she instantly says thats why I you in this place and points to the camera and says

"I feel threated by you"

I'm a 42 year old white male. 5 foot 4 inches tall. I am 143 points soaking wet. I'm not stinky, I have a mild gut. I have two herniated discs and a slipped disc. ((oh, I tried to keep the gender of the people involved neutral. to late now) ) Now I'm in a small room, 4 feet by 15 feet ta best with a woman who feels threaten by me

As i type this. my hands are shaking. cause it hurts. I'm a friendly person. I did a job when I was young. It took something from me. I mean, I learned so much from it. but I did my job. Whenever I see people romancing about that sorta thing.. I retreat from them. try to change a subject.

I stand up and leave this room we are in cause in some way or another I am now threatening a woman in small room on camera?? I still don't understand how I am a threat to her or what, but she did say "I feel threaten by you, which is why we are on camera" (everywhere is on camera. GOD i hope they place records audio in that office. cause god if it does...well it'll help me. then it just won't be my text on a screen it'll be audio, lmao.

I stand up and walk out into the mall area. my eyes are tearing up cause she really said that I call out for someone, I call out for someone and state "somehow I am threat to her, can I have someone stand between us or witness for me, maybe a customer" cause I want a customer now. cause at this point, I'm being assumed of something.. and in this day and age. fuck. I'm a good boy even to the SWJ's before they discover my background, lmao.

Here, the store manager (female, feels threaten by me) is telling me to come back inside the room. my mind is like "WTF, is this malice or is this incompetence" a moment later in my brain "Both? now that's worse. exit situation"

I respond "if you feel threaten by me lets be out here and not alone in an office. maybe we should talk sometime later?" she basically tells me if I don't come back into the room I will not be working in her store. "am I fired" "am I fired" ---- at this moment. I don't feel safe. I don't think she's going to do anything to me, but I'm feeling emotionally manipulated. my ATP is flowing though my body. Yea guys, I'm shell shocked, so my ice water in my vains and my mental rhymes I play in my head to make me laugh and joyful while my body is getting excited ((cause that's what it is. Your body is in that mode. You're mind isn't; You're the rider, it's your house. Ride it))

I do not remember what was said or how the event was exited. I went back to my department. Grabbed my pack and coat. told people I was just fired by store manager for "being threatening" or something. I have tears in my eyes. I clocked out and walked home.

oh yea. Luckily when I got injured I asked the doctors about my ability to walk and if my distance walking will cause further injury. Luckily the doctors/PA/medical people told me that as long as I don't start feeling some sort of sharp or throbbing pain my LEGS, it may be okay. then I told them it's 3 miles to work, 3 miles back....yea. I don't drive any more. I hate driving. I can drive. I'm a pretty damn good driver, i think. very safe i can tell you that. Just, feel safer walking on the side of a street/minor highway. that and I fell in love with public transit and this area has *ZERO.

Sooo yeaa... Thats the story so far. for anybody that read though this wall of text. Thanks. Hopefully it was somewhat funny. I had to take a few breaks while writing it. honestly writing for yourself helps a lot. helps you process it, I guess. I reckon this time around I should just put this out for people to read. Oh; and point out where went wrong at; or what I am doing wrong. cause even if I feel like I'm doing everything right, I've been wrong before and criticism/advice does help a lot if you don't know what you're doing wrong, but I'm pretty confident that, outside of not holding back the tears in my eyes (anybody else get tears in their eyes when they get angry? not mad, but feel angry?). but that hurt. Being told that another person feels threaten by you in such a manner. even if they were just gasping at straws trying to regain control of the conversation, that's a dick move to play. Publix; is a mid place to work.

2 Comments
2024/11/01
17:59 UTC

204

Had an interview today and they were absolutely rude for no reason

I was called to an interview with an oeganization today. They were really nice over email and it seemed very promising.

The moment I walked through the doors the atmosphere felt off. They didn't really come to greet me. There was 4 women waiting in a room for me. I felt I was being stared at up and down. I'm not sure if they just didn't like my look..or felt they were better than me. It was very off putting non the less.

The interview was more of a police interrogation. Was barely finished one answer and they were already asking me the next. I felt like I was a criminal trying to defend myself to cops 😂

The one lady then looks at my resume and goes "you've worked at a few places in your lifetime"..yea. no shit lol. She then goes "if you don't plan on staying here for the long term don't bother coming back". As she says this she then asks for my references.

I told her I'd have to find the references. Walked out and plan to ghost them from here on out. Fuck that. Stay long term at a company that already treats me like shit before I even start.

32 Comments
2024/11/01
17:56 UTC

793

You should know there is a nationwide wage reset going on.

The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates after Covid ended as a way to force companies to layoff workers in mass. But it didn't work the way they wanted. The only companies that had major layoffs were the tech industries. Everyone else held onto their workers for the most part.

A few weeks ago the Fed cut interest rates, sending the signal that the hiring slowed way down and the companies aren't competing for workers anymore. This means the workers have to compete for jobs, which will bring wages down.

So now all of these companies that held onto their workers need to get rid of their higher paid workers and start hiring new workers at lower wages.

Instead of layoffs, the companies are implementing policy changes to inconvenience workers enough to force them to quit.

This is why there was a major push to get rid of Work From Home. They force everyone to return to office. The ones that's can't or refuse will have to quit. Then the company can hire new workers at lower wages.

You're going to see policies like this at your workplace. They're going to increase quotas or productivity goals, implement Return To Office, change your benefits and step plans, and reduce your ability to promote up.

A 2023 report on pay trends from ZipRecruiter showed 48% of 2,000 US companies surveyed lowered pay for certain roles.

"There is now less competition to hire workers – and therefore less need to boost wages," says Nick Bunker, US-based director of North American Economic Research at Indeed. "Job postings have dropped quite a bit, while the supply of workers has grown."

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240306-slowing-us-wage-growth-lower-salaries

114 Comments
2024/11/01
17:42 UTC

24

Boss Asking About Work Stuff on Sick Day

We get 80 hours of sick leave a year at my job. I take on average of probably 3 sick days a year and I use a bunch for doctors/dentist appointments. Yesterday, I called out sick (I haven't since April) and my boss texted me an hour later asking about the status of a work assignment. Nothing we do can't wait until the next business day or even the next week. He creates this false sense of urgency when there's really no deadline. I called him and said: "You were out of line for messaging me on a sick day and it's crossing a boundary." There was an awkward silence for about ten seconds, then he apologized and said "message received". I told him it's something that will be done the next day I'm working and it was almost done. Additionally, this work was initially something my boss was supposed to do. He procrastinated, then dumped it on my plate a few hours before he took a week long vacation. It was two weeks worth of work. Then he was needling me when he got back about the status. "I'm working as fast as I can, I'll let you know when it's done". My boss is a nice man in general, but he SUCKS as a manager. And DON'T EVER CONTACT ME ON A SICK DAY.

/EndVent

2 Comments
2024/11/01
17:32 UTC

2

How to give my notice/Advice on quitting?

Also posted on r/work

For context, I (23) started working at this place when I was 19, worked there for 2 years and left for a while because I wanted to explore other options. I’ve maintained a good relationship with the owners & have always looked back on the job fondly. Fast forward to this past July, I had been unemployed for a few months due to a company shutdown at my retail job, so I reached out to the owners of this one to see if they’d re-hire me. Obviously they did, and I’ve been working here for a few months now, but a lot has changed. There’s new management, and it isn’t all that great. I keep feeling like I am being taken advantage of, worked to the bone, and guilt-tripped every time I can’t bend over backwards for them. It just isn’t what it used to be, so much different than I expected, and just not a good fit. I’ve tried everything I can to be able to sustain my position, tried to work with the manager on options to best accommodate both of us, but to no avail. So now I’m seeking other opportunities, but I’m having so much anxiety about giving my notice when it comes to that, given the previous context. I just feel like it’s extra-awkward since I left and came back, and I don’t want to completely burn the bridge. I also feel that I’ll be asked a million questions by both higher-ups & coworkers alike about why I’m leaving, and I’m not quite sure how I’d answer. I’m not good with any sort of confrontation so that also makes this tough. Any advice on this would be really appreciated. Sorry for the long post, I just feel like it’s a pretty specific situation!

2 Comments
2024/11/01
17:07 UTC

4

Must be nice…

I work as a low level leasing agent. My office coworkers all have kids, S/O’s, and family in the area, so constantly they leave early, take half days all the time. My boss works from home one day a week too due to FMLA. At this point of the year, it has been literally around 100 hours where I was the only office worker.

Meanwhile, I work the good noodle shift, work Saturdays by myself, never really ask for PTO. I feel because of the normal work grind I feel 1 of 2 things. 1. I feel like I’m undervalued for the work. I get paid less than 20 an hour but essentially doing work for 2 other people, one of which is salary pay. Or 2, I’m missing out on those life events they get the liberties of.

I don’t have any dating prospects, no kids, I live in an apartment onsite, but it’s not a home I’m owning.

Now granted I enjoy my team and my job; but I feel like if I bring it up, I’d get ostracized since my boss and her boss are super close. Plus the maintenance team would more than likely be on my bosses side because “family” and the amount of time they’ve been with the company. I’m already kind of the black sheep of the team so how do I bring this up with the best results?

5 Comments
2024/11/01
16:58 UTC

108

HR just re-assigned me with no notice

I started a role as a first-time manager earlier this year. After about 4 months I started feeling really comfortable. I knocked out a huge project and the staff really got to know me and rely on me. Felt great. Been on great terms with everyone since.

Additionally, I (thought) I befriended the HR director. I was talking to her numerous times a week about my department, my experiences, making sure there was nothing left to accomplish each week. We even discussed personal goals together.

I walked in this Monday and was asked to attend a meeting with her, our CEO, and an assistant executive who’s been here longer than me.

Completely out of no where, I was told that this executive will now be supervising me and my department. All our PTO, decision-making, and emails to the upper-chain must go through this individual instead of through me. I was also re-assigned to another unit of the same department, meaning my daily work duties have changed. 9 months of hard work for nothing. My staff is not happy and a few have already told me they aren’t looking forward to this change, and have began looking for new jobs.

What really pissed me off wasn’t just the re-assignment, but the fact the HR director didn’t say a word the whole time. Just sat there, stone-faced looking forward even when I was refuting their comments and asking questions. The word got around the rest of the company pretty quickly and I’m now being warned to be weary about how HR acts here. Might need to re-consider this place myself.

30 Comments
2024/11/01
15:46 UTC

1,457

Quit my job yesterday but HR keeps calling me

I was working at a corporate dealership as a technician. I left my previous dealership because of the bad pay and they pretty much taught me everything they could, it was very amicable and they threw a party for me on my last day. This new dealership was just way too corporate for me, and I was surrounded by lazy people. First day I was called the new company fleshlight bc im the only female tech. Couldn't shadow anyone and they really made me feel like an outcast. Yesterday was kinda the last straw and I just rolled my toolbox out of the shop around closing time. Didn't tell any management but 2 of my coworkers knew and told them when then the manager asked where I was today. I am absolutely a coward for not telling the manager.

The HR lady keeps calling me and I haven't picked up, I start my new job Monday and I just wanna forget about that entire experience. My uniform is being dropped off today which im hoping is why shes calling to get them back.

Do I have to pick up? I'm not legally obliged to anything, correct?

Edit: sorry for not replying to many people - it's been a busy day!!

191 Comments
2024/11/01
14:49 UTC

8

What are you supposed to do if you find yourself in a totally toxic workplace dead end job? Basically a corporate sweatshop

I’ve tried applying for other jobs. This economy is horrible, I never hear back

7 Comments
2024/11/01
14:47 UTC

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