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Nobody likes a micromanager! Rules, standards, and discipline are definitely crucial in a working environment, that’s true. However, what’s equally essential is the trust that managers place in their employees. If you have little of that, you’ll only breed resentment in the workplace and have to deal with huge turnover rates.
Some of the employees of Reddit shared their most bizarre work stories on r/meirl. They spilled the tea about the most ridiculous reasons that they ever got in trouble for at work. We’ve collected the most interesting and frustrating posts for you to enjoy on your coffee break. But God forbid anyone’s 12 seconds late to get back to their desk!
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#1
Got in trouble for eating in my car during my break because I might be needed to come back early. I explained that's why I eat in my car.
RELATED:
#2
I was reprimanded for working too much, and for not working enough, within an hour of each other. I was the only person remaining in a team of four people, so I was sneaking into the office early to get some extra stuff done off the clock. I was caught and written up for that. About an hour after I had walked out of my boss's office she asked me to come back again to threaten to put me on my "final warning" for failing to deal with the backlog that was accumulating while we were understaffed.
#3
I was 12 seconds late coming back from break once
Was talked to about time management
Meowzers! 1 year ago (edited)
I had this happen at one job. We had to log off our phones with a break code if we were on lunch or needed the toilet. The ladies' toilets were 5 mins away from my desk, and usually there was a queue as there were only 6 cubicles for an office of over 100 (there were multiple men's toilet facilities but only one for ladies). We were allowed exactly 10 mins as toilet breaks for the whole day. Apparently, I was 3 mins late getting back from said toilet after having a p1ss and so got written up for it. It didn't help when I brought up the double standards of my supervisor who seemingly took cigarette breaks whenever they fancied it even though they were meant to be managing the paperwork for our calls and we needed them to sign off our work after each call. I didn't stay in the job too long after that, I quit after getting written up again after I was crippled with pain and needed an ambulance to take me to hospital for emergency surgery after I had an ovarian cyst rupture.
Employees value managers who value them and find ways to encourage them. On the flip side, micromanagers are a living, breathing, typing nightmare to be around. You know that you’re working with the latter if they never delegate their work, constantly pester you for updates, and don’t want you making any decisions without their knowledge.
Micromanagers can’t see the forest for the trees: they focus so much on itty-bitty details that they ignore the bigger perspective. They’re hardly ever satisfied, have a massive employee turnover rate, and get irritated if you don’t loop them in on everything that you do. Micromanagers are also very big on monitoring their employees’ performance to a bizarre extent. And they also tend to ignore others’ work-life boundaries, insisting that their jobs are more important than anything else.
#4
I got told I'm too sensitive and need to accept people have their own personalities or leave... After reporting a guy for repeatedly calling team members racial slurs and then assaulting me and threatening to kill me multiple times when I called out his bad behavior. All of which was in front of our supervisor...
F**k Home Depot.
#5
I got written up for taking 4.5 sick days in a calendar year when we had 12 allotted. The company average was 4, so they wrote up everyone who had more.
#6
Suspended from my waitressing job for a week for having overly bushy eyebrows. Not poorly groomed, just very full. Like Brooke Shield’s eyebrows. Manager said they were “distracting” to the customers. He wanted me to pluck them into the thin style that was more popular in the 90’s. I enjoyed my week off and, when I came back he asked me if I’d thought about what I was going to do about my eyebrows. Told him I was going to keep their natural shape and, if he didn’t like it I’d be happy to talk to a lawyer about racial discrimination at work. He dropped the issue and I quit soon after.
Any traditional working environment needs all of its employees to be on the same page on the stuff that truly matters. That means having a clear understanding of your responsibilities, knowing what kinds of deadlines you have to meet, how you’re supposed to treat your clients, and what your working day and potential overtime look like.
Rules are there for clarity. They also ensure that the projects that matter are completed on time and that your customers end up getting exactly what they wanted. However, no set of workplace regulations is ever going to be ‘perfect’: there’s always going to be some nuances, misinterpretations, and rules that simply do not work in real life. So it helps to see the rules as general guidelines that are meant to be followed, but not something to be worshipped ‘as written.’
#7
Leaving town and going to the lake because I wasn't scheduled for four days straight. My manager told me that just because I'm not on the schedule doesn't mean I'm guaranteed a day off. I needed to put in for vacation if I'm actually leaving town. Otherwise, I need to stay at home in case I'm called in. I lasted two months there.
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
In that case, the OP should've been paid for the entire time since he's considered on-call.
#8
I politely told multiple C level executives to put steel toe shoes on while on my production floor because it set a bad example that all the production workers had to wear them per the rules but the suits were in dress shoes and heels. So basically I was in trouble for following and enforcing the company safety policy.
#9
I was told I was insubordinate because when my boss asked me a question, I said "Let me dig a little deeper before making a decision."
Some managers (and even regular employees) take the rules far too seriously for everyone’s good. They’re overly zealous. They might berate you for being a few seconds late coming into work. Or they lecture you about minute details while never praising you for your accomplishments. For them, nothing you do will ever be good enough because they have unrealistic standards for performance.
Someone shouldn't be lectured because they're a few seconds late (unless you want to start keeping track of all the times they've been early). However, if there's a genuine issue with chronic lateness, it's something that needs to be addressed in a friendly but firm one-on-one meeting.
Here’s the thing, though. Having standards and aiming for quality is essential if you want to do well in business, however, you get there by having a capable, highly motivated, and empowered team. If you’re constantly criticizing your employees, writing them up for nonsense, and failing to find ways to praise and support them, you might soon be putting out job ads—looking for new coworkers.
For some more ridiculous work stories and micromanagers ruining everyone’s day, check out Bored Panda’s previous article.
#10
I got fired from McDonald's for looking at the prices when I had a customer ask how much a new menu item was. It was my second day on the job.
#11
I got a stern talking to because I took credit for my idea in my annual review. The head of the department had said it was her idea and been touting this as something great she did that year. Our reviews did pass over her boss’s desk, and he saw it. So I got in trouble for accidentally outing her lie and taking credit for my work.
Jennik 1 year ago
I've had multiple managers take credit for ideas/projects of mine. Some overtly, others sneakily in discussions with the CEO (not realising I could hear every word from my desk). Then there was the manager who insisted on a certain project direction despite a colleague and I (both experts in that particular field) strongly advising against it. When it failed she said (in a meeting, with lots of people around), "I cannot imagine why you thought it was a good idea to do that."
#12
The lines of my excel charts were not thick enough, I was following the company design guide
DB 1 year ago
When I sent paperwork to the main office it was slightly out of alignment, and it triggered someone's OCD. A co-worker was reprimanded because he didn't put the paperwork package together properly. The next time he included the example of how to put it together which was a photocopy of how he had been doing it right down to his name and employee number.
#13
I was told I wasn't a team player because I didn't want to go to the waterslides on my day off.
#14
Not smiling enough. Written up and coached every morning on smiling, how to smile, when to smile, how long to hold a smile, etc.
Cat Palmer 1 year ago
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say OP is female (presenting) and the subject was never raised with anyone who presents as male.
Marcellus II 1 year ago
OOoooh this will backfire so badly, them holding the client's gaze with a creepy fake smile...
Captain Awesome 1 year ago
And now I can hold a radiant smile and tell you to fûck off with aplomb
Meowzers! 1 year ago
I had this whilst working in a sh1tty pub that always had trouble and the police called out to daily. I got told I needed to smile more. There was nothing to smile about; all the staff were more interested in trying not to get threatened or stabbed, or hit by bullets from the multiple drive by shootings that happened there. I lasted 3 weeks and quit. At 18 I hadn't quite reached the despair of adulthood and certainly didn't want to die in a stupid bar fight.
Annie Persson 1 year ago
I would do my very best to follow the instructions to the very letter, I would practice at home in front of the mirror until I had perfected the Uncanny Valley grin. You know, the one that looks like an (almost) perfect imitation of a human expression. Where they can't put the finger on what is wrong, they just sense vaguely that something is off
Ralph Watkins 1 year ago
I knew a girl who the human version of Grumpy Cat. She worked at Disney Store. She got written up for this too.
#15
I once got a written warning for my attendance record. Their policy was to take the number of days of work you missed divided by the number of work days in the fiscal year so far. If it was below a certain percentage, they would write you up. Mine dipped below the "acceptable" percentage because I took two weeks off at the beginning of the fiscal year for the birth of my son.
#16
I was a top producer at this company and went “out of policy” to correct a mistake someone else made on one of our largest accounts. A new director wrote me up, and I refused to sign the corrective action arguing I did what was necessary to retain their business. I was placed on a PIP until I would sign the write up. I was number one in sales and was on a PIP. I received another job offer and left a couple weeks later.
That account dropped that company when they learned I was leaving.
#17
Not me, but my student (a woman) who was on a year in industry and I was helping supervise got yelled at by my boss (also a woman) for wearing a pink dress to the office once
A pink dress wasn't appropriate for a woman in engineering, apparently
#18
I once got in trouble for making too much money. I worked a straight commission job.
#19
I once got fired because when we came back from our mandatory Christmas break they asked if I was glad to be back at work and I said no, said I had a bad attitude.
Cat Palmer 1 year ago
Yeah, that's just one of the polite little lies you have to tell, like answering "fine, thanks" when asked how you are. No-one on a work context wants to know your inner trauma.
#20
Drinking free water at our beverage station, that’s free to everyone… even us..
#21
Was told not to copy the VP. Should go through the "chain of command."
My boss didn't know the VP had asked me to find that info and send it to him. I was copying my boss so she wasn't out of the loop.
#22
Got in trouble because the finance director bought on of those fake titles from online, the ones where you buy a tiny bit of land in Scotland, and get to call yourself a ‘Lord’ (even though it’s b******t). The finance director sent out an email to all the staff stating that we had to address him as ‘Lord….name) and all emails had to have the honorific. It thought he was being funny, that it was a joke, and that he was being ironic, I replied ‘ this is funny, made me laugh’. He wasn’t joking.
Poison Ivy/Boo 1 year ago
Ha! Those titles are a joke! The land you're buying is usually a small plot of landfill 🤣
#23
I worked as part of an account management team for a "corporate, inner city" type company.
I was raised to be polite to everyone I guess, so when I'd find myself at a door at the same time as someone else, I'd hold the door open for them and allow them to pass through first. No need to converse further, it's just what you do, right?
I did this for everyone.
I got called into a full investigative committee of owners and management when one of the women I worked with reported me for sexual harassment. Apparently, holding a door open whilst indicating they should go through first a handful of times over the course of months constitutes sexual predation to this person.
Thank the gods my immediate supervisor ( also a woman) was a very down to earth person. After the "charges" had been laid out to me, she spent about 5 minutes explaining that I did this as a general rule and all was quickly forgotten.
That lady rocked! I left soon after that incident but I have fond memories of her, I hope she's well.
I'm glad I live in the hinterlands now and don't have to worry about things like this.
Honcho Chorcoran 1 year ago
Good on your boss. What a ridiculous chip on the shoulder of that person - they no doubt live in perpetual persecution and victimhood in their mind. So toxic.
#24
Invited a new co worker to have lunch with us.
Proceeds to be called into a meeting by one of the directors and was lectured about peer pressure and how its the “first cousin” of bullying.
#25
Got written up for insubordination because of the expressions I had during a Zoom interview. I didn't say one word, all I did was nod or shake my head at the wrong times apparently.
#26
Written up for falling below the calculated percentage of available time off. I had 24 hours of PTO available and took 8 hours off, still had 16 hours available but got in trouble. Why even say I have time available if you aren’t going to let me use it?
#27
Two senior leaders at a previous company didn't like that I answered all of their questions with "no ma'am" or "yes ma'am".
I was raised in the south. *Everyone* is ma'am or sir, and it's not even an age related thing!
It's not my fault that both of them were successful, recently divorced single mothers in their mid 40's with tons of recent plastic surgery. They said me calling them "ma'am" hurt their feelings, and made them feel old. I thought they had accomplished a lot that they should feel great about, and it's a little weird that one lowly employee saying "ma'am" bothers them so much. I'm also not their damn therapist, and won't tap dance around their insecurities. I told that to HR when they called me in to give me an actual talking-to about it.
#28
Not "managing" my chair. Aka not tucking it in far enough when I walked away from my desk. This guy just lost it on me.
#29
Working as a cook in a restaurant, I got yelled at by the owner for telling him one of the waitresses was throwing away the (metal) silverware instead of washing it.
lily jones 1 year ago (edited)
Not surprised, working in a restaurant, everyone yells at you, and you're always in someone's way. Still this instance seems unreasonable
#30
I got a stern talking to in my first office job for starting an email saying "Hey ____" instead of "Hi ____". I was told it was unprofessional for using "hey"...
What do you think ?
Kirsten Kerkhof 1 year ago
I was reprimanded once for 'standing too straight'. It was in retail and apparently this made me look proud and aloof. I have Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis and I stand very straight to counteract the curve in my spine, and keep my back muscles strong.
Cat Palmer 1 year ago
Took 'too much time off' - I was in hospital having surgery, and had provided a doctor's letter to inform them of this. This is in the UK where we have functionally limitless sick time, so there was no reason to penalise me except that the whole place was a toxic mess.
Littlemiss 1 year ago
How much time do you have?? #1I got threatened with a written warning for opening a door. A weird person walked in a d much boss had to speak to them. #2 Education review office showed. I was the only person noted to actually hold conversations with the children and was complimented on my practice. I responded in kind, and loudly stated how it was great it was raining outside so the inspectors couldn't see the swamp we had outside due to flooding. Flooding that could have been fixed but the manager didn't want to 'waste' money. ie: the budget looked better if she didn't use it. I cost them about $45,000 in upgrading. #3 I actually did my job. So parents complimented me to the manager. Oh huge no no. Only team leaders were allowed compliments, no lowly scum like me.
the one dude who likes cheese 1 year ago
My boss is threatening to write me up if i dont come in on thanksgiving weekend. im quitting hte monday before thanksgiving, with no 2 week notice. screw her :)
Jip Smirloff 1 year ago
Used to refurbish alloy wheels. Got screamed at because my colleague broke a tyre pressure censor off a wheel. Then again when he dropped a freshly painted wheel. Then also, when he ripped a hole in the side wall of a brand new tyre costing my (ex)boss over £180, that was also somehow my fault. One day, I got told off when the same colleague left early... Then, when I asked how that was my responsibility, the boss told me to leave for the rest of the day. He was literally the worst business owner ever. I actually hope the business failed and he went completely bankrupt. *Raises glass to wishful thinking*
Tomato Smudge 1 year ago
Years ago I got in trouble for something a coworker did because we share the same first name and management didn't even look at the operator ID to verify despite me saying I had those days off. I'm absolutely certain it's because she's white and I'm not. She was way newer than me too. Both management and she left the store so this isn't going to happen again.
Ralph Watkins 1 year ago
The federal agency I worked at I was on the emergency response team. We got an email the one day about the top three disasters we needed to be our priority. Hurricanes, floods, & insurrections. WTF is with that last one? I ignored the restricted nature of the email & it's high priority. I shot back that the last one was ludicrous. It's early 2009, there isn't going to be an insurrection. Get real. Since out facility was right next to a major highway, why not put HAZMAT situation as the 3rd incident to prepare for. The next thing I know I have the chief of our police in my office telling me to shut up. OMG, just let it go. You can either be fired or arrested for what you just sent. He agreed that #3 seemed crazy. I asked what idiot came up with it. It came from the top, the very top. Meaning the White House. I know the officer pretty well & I had to ask. Is the new administration preparing for war with the people? I hate conspiracy theories. He agreed with my question.
ROSESARERED 1 year ago (edited)
I was written up for not having a tiny bit of plastic, 1 × 4 cm, on the edge of one lable to hold it into place on the shelf in a retail store...one missing, out of over 1000 in my department, on Christmas eve, queue wrapped oround my counter, 3 people deep, no help. ONE missing. Idiot store manager chose to yell at me in front of customers and wrote me up, I refused to sign
Alex Helm 1 year ago
My boss at the time told me off for not copying her in to my emails when I needed to request a deadline extension from a team I worked with. She gave me a whole lecture about how she needed to be kept informed when I couldn’t meet the deadline, and just seemed unable to believe me when I said I always completed my tasks on time and never had to request an extension.
Alex Helm 1 year ago
My boss at the time told me off for not copying her in on emails when I needed to request a deadline extension. She gave me a whole lecture about how she needed to be kept informed, and just would not believe me when I told her that I always completed my tasks on time and never needed to ask for an extension.
Alethea Fletcher 1 year ago
I was reprimanded when I used to work on the checkouts in Tesco, back in the days when Sainsbury (rival supermarket in the UK) ran a TV advert stating that "if there is more than one person in front of you in the queue, we will open a new checkout". The customer coming through my checkout called me out for not calling a new colleague over to open a new checkout when there was 3 people waiting in queue. I said "if you want Sainsbury promises, shop at Sainsbury". Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. 🤔🤷♀️🙄
Kirsten Kerkhof 1 year ago
I was reprimanded once for 'standing too straight'. It was in retail and apparently this made me look proud and aloof. I have Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis and I stand very straight to counteract the curve in my spine, and keep my back muscles strong.
Cat Palmer 1 year ago
Took 'too much time off' - I was in hospital having surgery, and had provided a doctor's letter to inform them of this. This is in the UK where we have functionally limitless sick time, so there was no reason to penalise me except that the whole place was a toxic mess.
Littlemiss 1 year ago
How much time do you have?? #1I got threatened with a written warning for opening a door. A weird person walked in a d much boss had to speak to them. #2 Education review office showed. I was the only person noted to actually hold conversations with the children and was complimented on my practice. I responded in kind, and loudly stated how it was great it was raining outside so the inspectors couldn't see the swamp we had outside due to flooding. Flooding that could have been fixed but the manager didn't want to 'waste' money. ie: the budget looked better if she didn't use it. I cost them about $45,000 in upgrading. #3 I actually did my job. So parents complimented me to the manager. Oh huge no no. Only team leaders were allowed compliments, no lowly scum like me.
the one dude who likes cheese 1 year ago
My boss is threatening to write me up if i dont come in on thanksgiving weekend. im quitting hte monday before thanksgiving, with no 2 week notice. screw her :)
Jip Smirloff 1 year ago
Used to refurbish alloy wheels. Got screamed at because my colleague broke a tyre pressure censor off a wheel. Then again when he dropped a freshly painted wheel. Then also, when he ripped a hole in the side wall of a brand new tyre costing my (ex)boss over £180, that was also somehow my fault. One day, I got told off when the same colleague left early... Then, when I asked how that was my responsibility, the boss told me to leave for the rest of the day. He was literally the worst business owner ever. I actually hope the business failed and he went completely bankrupt. *Raises glass to wishful thinking*
Tomato Smudge 1 year ago
Years ago I got in trouble for something a coworker did because we share the same first name and management didn't even look at the operator ID to verify despite me saying I had those days off. I'm absolutely certain it's because she's white and I'm not. She was way newer than me too. Both management and she left the store so this isn't going to happen again.
Ralph Watkins 1 year ago
The federal agency I worked at I was on the emergency response team. We got an email the one day about the top three disasters we needed to be our priority. Hurricanes, floods, & insurrections. WTF is with that last one? I ignored the restricted nature of the email & it's high priority. I shot back that the last one was ludicrous. It's early 2009, there isn't going to be an insurrection. Get real. Since out facility was right next to a major highway, why not put HAZMAT situation as the 3rd incident to prepare for. The next thing I know I have the chief of our police in my office telling me to shut up. OMG, just let it go. You can either be fired or arrested for what you just sent. He agreed that #3 seemed crazy. I asked what idiot came up with it. It came from the top, the very top. Meaning the White House. I know the officer pretty well & I had to ask. Is the new administration preparing for war with the people? I hate conspiracy theories. He agreed with my question.
ROSESARERED 1 year ago (edited)
I was written up for not having a tiny bit of plastic, 1 × 4 cm, on the edge of one lable to hold it into place on the shelf in a retail store...one missing, out of over 1000 in my department, on Christmas eve, queue wrapped oround my counter, 3 people deep, no help. ONE missing. Idiot store manager chose to yell at me in front of customers and wrote me up, I refused to sign
Alex Helm 1 year ago
My boss at the time told me off for not copying her in to my emails when I needed to request a deadline extension from a team I worked with. She gave me a whole lecture about how she needed to be kept informed when I couldn’t meet the deadline, and just seemed unable to believe me when I said I always completed my tasks on time and never had to request an extension.
Alex Helm 1 year ago
My boss at the time told me off for not copying her in on emails when I needed to request a deadline extension. She gave me a whole lecture about how she needed to be kept informed, and just would not believe me when I told her that I always completed my tasks on time and never needed to ask for an extension.
Alethea Fletcher 1 year ago
I was reprimanded when I used to work on the checkouts in Tesco, back in the days when Sainsbury (rival supermarket in the UK) ran a TV advert stating that "if there is more than one person in front of you in the queue, we will open a new checkout". The customer coming through my checkout called me out for not calling a new colleague over to open a new checkout when there was 3 people waiting in queue. I said "if you want Sainsbury promises, shop at Sainsbury". Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. 🤔🤷♀️🙄
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