30 Unspoken Work Rules That Everyone Should Know, According To The Internet

It *can* be an opportunity to ask, make a deeper connection, or help an introvert meet coworkers. As a focused introvert, about half the time I used to eat alone in the work lunch area, I'd have happily enjoyed a 1:1 lunch with one of my coworkers. The other half of the time I wanted to eat in peace. So just ask and make clear that saying no is 100% ok.

We have a coworker here who, when he started, was trying so hard to get us all to take our lunch break together. As much as I understand trying to socialize or hang out with coworkers in a non-work setting, my lunch is very much MY time. I share my dinner time at home with others (and work it b/c I'm usually the one cooking it) but lunch is at work and nothing is expected of me.

Fúck that. Ask them directly. “Hello, would you like me to sit down and speak with you? Or would you like me to walk away?”

this. i once got in trouble with a former boss because i would sit in the cafeteria of my job, alone and read while i eat. they told me in a formal meeting that it didnt look good that i didnt interact with anyone while on my lunch break. so i started leaving the work area and taking lunch in my car. got in trouble for that too. so i started saying i was picking up food elsewhere then driving a few streets away to eat there.

That's why I hide in my car

That's the truth.

Most companies are run by greedy soul less money hungry fools! They will work you till death and not give a c**p about you or your family! And try to short change you every chance they get!

These articles are dumb! I don't work OT for the company. I work it so I can afford stuff for me and my family like you know, rent. Food. Clothes. Stuff like that.

I don't have any family in my state and my overtime makes it so I can go visit them. We all remember the visits.

At work I only talk about what I want people to know. I always assume people will talk about it.

Well ... DUH. Similar to the person that trashes other coworkers to you, is 100% trashing you to them.

lmao, no kidding

The corollary to this is "get everything in writing that you possibly can", and "get good at searching your email and documents; it pays dividends throughout your career." I work in consulting, btw, so this is about trying to remember past discussions, requirements, and other valuable details; it's not about being a jerk and squirrelling away "evidence".

Lawyer here, best advice I learned from my divorce actually.

Absolutely right and don’t call a meeting if an email would get the job done

Oh boy!

I was told this about 32 years ago when I started working and as much as it pains me to hold those fingers poised to write "fuckyou very much" at the end of my mails, I remember that early warning.

I have "unlimited". Which really == 0

Here in the states, especially here in Texas, a lot of companies use pto (and sick leave) as a carrot and stick. They dangle the possibility of pto or sick days in front of you as a perk or reward, the stick is that the companies will often 'discipline ' an employee by finding creative ways to strip away that same pto...add to it, the carrot, as often as not, is poisoned - you have to beg to use it in advance, if you use any at all, management tends to look down on you and label you as a slacker, and gods forbid you use it /all/...say you have a week and take vacation - you're expected to be available to take calls/answer emails, and in more than one case I've seen - told to cut the vacation short and come back, or retroactively changed the days off to schedule the person to be back midway through. If you /do/ manage to get it used, (or make use of sick days - they HATE that) expect to see a p.i.p. (performance improvement plan) as soon as you come back. Dismissal often follows.

I have two mandatory summer holidays to take ( it's by law here in France) between 1st of June and 30th of Septembre. Also the organisation closes between the 20th of December and the 3rd of January in order to let everyone having time with family. Overtime is stricly forbidden, you get written if seen after 4:30 pm (4pm in autumn/winter) at work

Kentucky here. at the job i have if you call in sick, even with a doctors note, they dock you points. enough points can lead to a write up or even dismissal. we have zero PTO as well. we dont get anything if we take off for any reason, sick or not. so many people come to work sick because they cant afford to miss a day. ive seen some workers get the flu and even covid multiple times bercause someone sick who needs to call in, cant. and asking for a holiday? man forget it. no one can afford those unpaid days off.

Depends on where you live and the timeframes we're talking about. In Australia if you don't take your vacation days they should be paid out when you leave the job. So it's not like you lose them. Depending on the job you may have to take some/all the days during a timeframe, or more likely you'll only be able to keep carrying a maximum numbers of days. In my old job you got 4 weeks holidays a year but could only accrue a maximum of 8 weeks leave before you had to take some. So, if you want to have a big holiday then save your leave. Similarly, it's worth keeping a week of holidays up your sleeve because you never know when you'll want to use them in an emergency. Doesn't have to be a medical emergency, it could be a holiday emergency - like taking a few days for a friend's surprise wedding.

I'm there for a paycheck, not to make friends

Only when you're being asked to do a favour.

In a family there is no privacy but a lack of truth and lies paired with messy rooms and (accidental) sharing of underwear......For me this annoying »we« is actually the flag painted in the deepest red because it prohibits any impartiality by order......there is only one single exception and that's a poem by Muhammad Ali which goes like, »You. Me. We!«

Hell no, I couldn't get away fast enough.

I remind coworkers all the time: This is a business relationship, period. They will fire you when it is no longer advantageous for them to have you work for them and it's okay to move on when it no longer benefits you. Why make it more complicated than that?

Neither are exit surveys.

Our workplace has this massive campaign annually about completing the staff wellness and workplace survey. They bang on about it for about six months a year in regards to completing it and then the other six banging on about it being analysed and then reported and "actioned" with stressful, useless changes suggested by a select few management freckle-kissers. They stress "It'S aNoNYmoUs" constantly except you have to log in with your work login details to access the survey site and when I have (never) completed it I get constant (daily) reminders "hey you still need to complete the anonymous staff survey" until they close it. If it is so anonymous how do you know I have not already completed? I know they do not keep constantly sending the reminders regardless because another colleague who ignored it for three months worth of daily reminders finally did it to "prove to you it is just a system message until it closes" except they had no more reminders once they completed it...

And I totally like to push that envelope bc I have a union and I would love for the employer to say something, anything....lol!!

I know that by don't care standing for myself and the team if asked. Had enough s****y jobs in the past to let a situation going down again

Also (and someone’s gonna hate me for this) quit bumming on smoke breaks! If you can’t afford your own cigarettes, that’s your cue to quit smoking.