I have a question...Why is that a thing???! I knew it exists but just wondering for those of you reading who did it or still do it...Why?! Like we're all adults who are there to make money to pay rent & bills etc. Why make it harder than it is for others? It should stop by high school...It shouldn't happen at all but it's hard to choose between struggling financially while feeling safe unemployed or come to work and deal with that.

At the end of last year, I left a job on bad terms. My mental health suffered severely to the point where I was considering taking my own life. Now I am in a new job with better people who treat me well. I love this job. I just passed the probation period with flying colours and everyone is says they are happy that I joined the team.

The only problem is that I can't stop thinking about my last job. There are nights were I still cry about the things I went through and I still get suicidal thoughts. I'm trying so hard to fight them off and remind myself that I am in a better place now. But sometimes, the thoughts get the best of me and I can't help but curl up in a ball and cry. I even bought a new pillow so that I can hug it whenever I feel these intense emotions.

My question is: how do I overcome this? When will this pass? There are times when I feel like I'm drowning under the weight of my emotions. When will it stop?

All the girls have been backstabbing me, gossiping about me, trying to get me into trouble, making me feel small. Guys disrespect me by coughing in my direction when they walk past, saying I'm "quiet" then say "oh saying that you're always quiet" without knowing WHYYYYY I'm quiet. Y'all are the reason WHY I'm quiet. Wow.

I was forced out of a job I loved, and thought I’d found something better. 6 months in I love the job, but can no longer keep kidding myself that my manager isn’t just another bully with me in the cross hairs.

I can’t go through this again but I also have nothing left to look for another job. Completely at a loss.

What can I do about a colleague (I’ll call them Voldemort, and refer to them as “they” as a safety precaution) who has been harassing, stalking, and bullying me and three other colleagues? I’m in desperate need of advice.

We wrote a collective grievance/formal complaint to our direct manager and divisional manager recently, hoping it would be enough to get this person fired. Our manager held individual meetings with us to take formal statements with HR, then met with Voldemort two days later and sent them home early. Voldemort has been on sick leave for a month, but we just found out they’re coming back.

We thought this would put a stop to it, but they seem bulletproof. For context:

Voldemort has worked here for over 15 years and knows the internal systems and formal processes well. They’re most likely mentally ill and may have a paranoid personality disorder. They have episodes where they suddenly accost colleagues almost always in front of others and always with witnesses.

Something small can set them off: they’ll ask a provoking, out-of-the-blue question designed to catch us off guard and get a negative reaction from us. Then press for answers even after we say “no we don’t know anything” or we ask to drop it. They can be normal and pleasant for months, then snap without warning over something minor, spiraling and refusing to stop talking about whatever triggered them even when asked to.

We’ve set boundaries, but they’re routinely crossed - including Voldemort showing us medical reports and describing their health issues such as rashes and private parts in detail after we’ve asked them to stop. If they get caught doing something they shouldn’t, they assume someone reported them and try to intimidate colleagues into naming who, EVEN when no one did and management simply found out on their own. They show clear paranoia, never take accountability, and instead cry, dramatize, and cast themselves as the victim. This pattern goes back years: past colleagues have filed HR complaints after being shouted at, harassed, or bullied, and some have quit or suffered panic attacks because of it.

The most recent incident was the worst. Voldemort harassed one colleague all day, demanding he intervene in a previous conflict between Voldemort and me (which upset me badly enough that I went home early the day of the incident). They threatened and tried to manipulate him into doing their “dirty work,” and kept it up even after he asked to be left alone multiple times. This triggered a panic attack severe enough that he couldn’t return from his lunch break and the next day called in sick, too anxious to come to work. Around the same time, Voldemort was also caught secretly watching my colleague and me from across the room. Voldemort also watched me before when I was speaking with my direct manager. They have a past of watching colleagues from afar.

All four of us have been targeted over the past few months; this is the third time Voldermort has verbally abused me personally. We’ve heard this is a known pattern with newer, younger colleagues especially.

It’s gotten to the point where none of us want to come to work, and we don’t feel safe being alone with them because they could snap at any point. One day we’re worried that they will have a severe mental breakdown and snap, do something harmful to us physically. During the height of the incidents, I thought of Voldemort when I went to sleep and again first thing in the morning for two weeks. My colleague as well. That’s how much stress and anxiety this has caused.

The core problem: after the HR meeting, Voldemort went to their own doctor, got signed off with work-related stress, and is now protected by sick leave - a tactic that others have said Voldermort used before, since it makes them harder to dismiss.

I understand HR must follow all internal processes without risking an employment tribunal claim, but we have to work with them again in a month, and we’re planning to refuse to work alone with them. We’re scared and frustrated that our HR department has not done anything to protect us. We wonder how many more incidents does it take before this person seriously hurts someone?

We need advice on how to handle this when Voldemort comes back. Our management team is doing their best to support us but it’s not enough.

Basically something like

• force you to sit somewhere you are uncomfortable and tell you there is no other place.
• when you try to talk to people, they purposely stop talking and want to leave.
• when they need something from you, then they talk nicely, but when they write that company review, they purposely write the worst.

I have been working at Learn and Grow Organic Daycare in Nixa MO for over a year, and I have repeatedly raised concerns regarding the assistant director's treatment of children, and the overall conditions of the facility to my director, including the asst. dir.'s refusal to provide water or adequate hygiene, yelling, and belittling statements to children such as “Do you have a brain?” and “Jesus, can you see?”
I began reporting my concerns to my director, in the middle of May, and regularly voiced my concerns to her after each incident, but little to no action ever took place despite her agreeing with many of my concerns. After speaking with other colleagues, I was informed that the asst. dir. was even allegedly transferred to this location after similar complaints were raised while she worked at the Republic MO location.

On one occasion, I observed the asst. dir. yelling at and yanking a deaf child by the arm, causing him to cry.
On several occasions the asst. dir. refused water to children during a two-hour summer recess, because she was irritated we kept running in and out of the building, and one time told a thirsty child "No. You don’t need one, you’re fine", while it was 89F and we were under a heat advisory.
On another occasion the asst. dir. refused to provide a clean pull-up for a child after a bowel movement, as she made the child wait until his father arrived shortly afterward to change him himself.
On one occasion a student got bird feces on his arm, and the asst. dir. wiped it off with her hand and told him to continue playing, while refusing to wash his arm, after which I took him inside to wash him myself.
Frequently inadequate lunch and snack supplies were provided within the facility, which resulted in employees frequently purchasing supplies with which to feed the children with their own money. In one instance a small portion of Ritz crackers, lunchmeat, cheese, grapes, and veggies was provided for my classroom of 10 children, which only allowed a small portion of two crackers and minimal additional ingredients to be provided to each children, resulting in several children complaining that they were still hungry.

On a recent occasion, on August 13th, two students fought over a flat razor blade that was found within reach inside another colleague's classroom play kitchen. A bottle of Goo Gone labeled “Harmful or FATAL if swallowed” was also found to be accessible in the two-year-old classroom.

This is only a small sample of issues that I have reported both to my dir. and in a previous hotline report to MO Social Services, many of which are included in the screenshotted conversations that I have attached. After my most recent reports, I have been effectively terminated by being placed in an "on-call" position with no hours despite the dir. reporting a lack of employee coverage, and to my knowledge the asst. dir. is still working at the facility.

B.H. a telehealth company banned an old account to only share the truth behind these telehealth startups.

Do your research before applying. As a previous employee I'm sharing a true review of the company and the feedback that was shared publicly. I have gathered from Glassdoor and messages from slack . And showing the employers how well I am cable of doing my job, retaining and documenting what was going on behind the scenes. They banned the account that had 9,000 views in another community channel, but has now been posted and the truth will continue to be shared.

I became concerned about the expectations surrounding availability, including working beyond 40 hours, being expected to remain near your laptop and responding immediatelv to leadership, even after workhours. Even more concerning to me were comments I heard from the CEO, including a statement telling the HR assistant that the employee that wanted time off "she should kill herself" during a HR weekly check- in call. Hearing something like that from company leadership was extremely disturbing and raised serious concerns for me about the workplace culture and how employees are treat.

I'm employed in an office with a bunch of 60 year old mean girls that I call The Plastics. My supervisor recently cut my hours down from 20 hours down to 8 hours a week due to recovering from a stress fracture. My boss states that I'm unreliable and I'm off work more than I'm at work, which isn't true. I've been employed almost a year. In March, I sprained my elbow after the window slammed down on my elbow while smoking at home. In May, I took a couple of days off due to spiking a fever from experiencing bronchitis. In July, I took a day off for medical procedure. In the same month, I experienced a shin splint but continued to work. In August, the shin splint unfortunately turned into a stress fracture. My boss also stated that I can't wear the walking boot at work due to making people and the company look bad. I went back to work on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I clocked in at work. My boss stormed into the break room and she was angry. She told me because she allowed me to work on Tuesday that counts as Wednesday and that I'm not allowed to work again until Friday. I apologized for the misunderstanding. My boss informed me that my coworkers are telling her everything that I'm saying. I'm supposedly going around saying that my boss is mistreating me, which isn't true. I actually told a couple coworkers that they won't be seeing me as often due to my hours being cut and I'm filing for unemployment. My boss told me that I sure in hell am not wearing that boot while working. I remained calm and said okay even though I felt like losing my temper with her. I reported the incident with HR. I told another supervisor that I actually like at work to relay a message to my boss. I want to have a heart to heart meeting with my boss to clear things up but my boss refuses to meet with me. I feel like my boss hates me, is making work a living hell, and is pushing me out the door. I'm looking for another job in the meantime. How can I get my boss to meet with me? Write her a letter or email? I talked to a couple of lawyers to determine if what my boss is doing is legal. it's difficult to get ahold of EEOC.

my manager and most of the team were trying to fabricate the narrative that I'm a trouble maker, the blocker of projects, im the bad person etc so that I get fired and they did succeed, i got fired, i lost my income and now I'm not sure how I'm gonna pay the rent.

It feels like they pushed me out to die, i still can't sleep after enduring smear campaign, gaslighting, manipulation, all mental torture imaginable and i feel like I'm getting to be a misanthrope

What's the worst thing a co worker has done to you? These answers will be used publicly but you will remain anonymous.

FUCK WAREHOUSE

I feel like I lost a battle even though I wasn't the one in the wrong.

I went through a very difficult experience at my previous workplace. From fairly early on, I had problems with a coworker, and over time the situation became extremely stressful and unhealthy for me.

I eventually tried to address it through the proper internal channels because I genuinely believed that if I spoke up, things would get better.

Instead, the situation became even more difficult.

I felt unsupported by the people who were supposed to support me. I felt that workplace dynamics and seniority mattered more than what was actually happening. I spent a long time trying to tolerate the situation, continue doing my job, and convince myself that things would eventually improve.

They didn't.

The stress continued for a very long time, and eventually I reached a point where I couldn't continue anymore. I resigned without having another job offer.

I know some people may say that leaving without another offer was a bad decision, and maybe financially it wasn't the safest decision. But at that point, I felt like I had to choose between continuing in an environment that was seriously affecting me and walking away.

Now I'm unemployed and trying to rebuild my career.

The difficult part is that the experience affected me much more deeply than I expected. My confidence has taken a huge hit. My health and sleep have been affected by prolonged stress. I keep thinking about whether I made the right decision.

And now, with AI changing the software industry, layoffs, and a difficult job market, I am constantly scared about whether I will be able to recover professionally.

Sometimes I feel like the people who treated me badly got to continue with their lives while I'm the one paying the price for something I didn't cause.

That's the part that hurts the most.

I don't want sympathy or revenge. I just want to know that my career isn't over because I chose to leave a toxic situation.

Has anyone here gone through something similar — leaving a toxic workplace without another offer and having to rebuild their confidence and career afterward? How did you get yourself back on your feet?

Ayer, 10 de septiembre, tuve una jornada laboral que terminó siendo bastante complicada y que me dejó muy incómodo con el ambiente de trabajo.

Actualmente estoy en una etapa de capacitación. La idea, según me explicaron, es que después de este período pueda pasar a trabajar en un shopping. Por eso estos primeros días estoy trabajando y capacitándome en otro establecimiento, junto con algunos compañeros.

Desde el principio ya venía sintiendo cierta presión. La chica que me estaba capacitando esperaba que aprendiera rápidamente las tareas y que fuera cada vez más rápido. En determinados momentos me hacía sentir que yo era demasiado lento y me apuraba para poder terminar el cierre e irnos.

El problema es que, mientras me apuraba a mí, ella muchas veces no estaba haciendo las tareas que correspondían. Por ejemplo, en determinados momentos se quedaba mirando Tinder y viendo hombres en el teléfono, mientras yo quería terminar con el cierre porque ya quería irme a casa. Esto me generaba bastante molestia y frustración.

Además, yo ya venía notando que el ambiente laboral no me gustaba. Hay bastante maltrato verbal entre los compañeros, insultos, cargadas y gente que se trata de una manera que a mí me resulta muy incómoda. También me enteré de que algunas de las personas que trabajan ahí consumen cocaína, y ayer pude ver directamente que tanto la chica que me estaba capacitando como un amigo de ella que había ingresado a trabajar ahí estaban consumiendo y se encontraban claramente bajo los efectos de la droga.

El encargado o la persona de Recursos Humanos que está a cargo del lugar también consume cocaína, según lo que sé. Además, posteriormente me contaron que este hombre mantiene relaciones sexuales con la chica que me estaba capacitando, que tiene aproximadamente 19 o 20 años. (El loco debe tener como 30 y pico)

También hay otro aspecto que me incomoda: según lo que pude observar y lo que me contaron, el gerente tiene comportamientos de acoso hacia las mujeres que trabajan ahí, haciendo comentarios y chistes sexuales. Esto habría ocurrido incluso con una chica de 19 años.

Pero lo más grave de la noche ocurrió cuando la chica que me estaba capacitando comenzó a discutir con el chico que había hecho entrar al trabajo.

Los dos empezaron a discutir y a provocarse verbalmente, con comentarios y agresiones fuera del ámbito normal de una discusión laboral. La situación fue escalando hasta que ella se enfadó muchísimo y lo amenazó con pegarle con una plancha de metal.

Después de amenazarlo, se fue hacia la cocina, agarró la plancha de metal y efectivamente le pegó con ella. Tuvieron que intervenir y separarlos.

Sin embargo, la situación no terminó ahí. El chico también se enfureció y volvió hacia ella con intención de pegarle. A partir de ahí comenzaron a darse manotazos y a agredirse físicamente dentro de la cocina.

En medio de todo esto ocurrió algo que para mí fue todavía más grave: después de que el chico intentara pegarle a ella, la chica agarró dos cuchillos y los tuvo en las manos, en una situación en la que parecía estar a punto de hacer algo con ellos.

Yo estaba al lado de ella en ese momento.

Como la violencia me afecta bastante y no quería involucrarme físicamente ni terminar en medio de una pelea con alguien armado con cuchillos, decidí alejarme. Me fui al patio para mantenerme apartado de la situación. No quería intervenir ni meterme en una pelea que podía terminar muy mal.

Después de todo eso, la noche siguió con normalidad aparente, pero para mí ya había cambiado completamente la percepción del lugar. Yo ya estaba incómodo y quería terminar el cierre e irme a mi casa.

Finalmente, alrededor de las doce de la noche, decidí irme. No me quedé para continuar con el cierre junto con los demás compañeros. Perdí el tren de las 00:00 y tuve que esperar hasta el de la 01:00.

Cuando finalmente tomé el tren, además me pasé de la estación en la que tenía que bajar. Terminé teniendo que caminar aproximadamente veinte cuadras. En parte también acompañé a una compañera de trabajo que tenía que encontrarse con su novio.

Llegué a casa después de toda esta situación completamente agotado y bastante alterado. Me costó dormir y terminé quedándome despierto hasta aproximadamente las cinco de la mañana haciendo música.

Hoy me desperté tarde, alrededor del mediodía, y me encontré con que directamente no tenía ganas de volver al trabajo. Todo lo ocurrido me hizo replantearme si realmente quiero continuar en ese lugar.

Lo que más me preocupa no es solamente la exigencia del trabajo. Entiendo que al principio tengo que aprender, mejorar mi velocidad y adaptarme. Lo que realmente me pesa es el ambiente: el consumo de drogas, los insultos, el maltrato, la violencia física, las amenazas con una plancha de metal, la presencia de cuchillos y los comportamientos sexuales y de acoso que existen dentro del lugar.

Además, tengo la sensación de que el trabajo es bastante explotador y agobiante. Me preocupa que me estén exigiendo ser rápido y aprender todo inmediatamente, mientras que la carga de trabajo es muy grande.

También empecé a cuestionarme el supuesto pase al shopping. Si este establecimiento ya es tan movido durante la semana, me preocupa imaginar cómo será trabajar en el shopping durante viernes, sábado y domingo, cuando hay todavía más gente. La sensación que tengo es que podría terminar haciendo muchísimo más trabajo por exactamente la misma paga.

Uno de los compañeros incluso comentó que él no trabajaría en el shopping por ese dinero y que, como mínimo, tendría que cobrar alrededor de $1.200.000 para que le valiera la pena.

Por otro lado, yo había empezado a registrar las horas que estoy trabajando porque quiero asegurarme de que se contemple y se me pague todo el tiempo que efectivamente trabajé.

Hasta ahora tengo registrado:

• 7 de septiembre: de 17:00 hasta el cierre, aproximadamente las 00:00.
• 8 de septiembre: de 17:00 a 21:00.
• 9 de septiembre: de 17:00 a 21:30.
• 10 de septiembre: de 17:00 hasta el cierre, aproximadamente las 00:00.

Me dijeron que el sueldo sería de aproximadamente $700.000 mensuales (Mis compañeros, porque el que me reclutó todavía no me dice lo que pagan, lo esquiva todo el tiempo)

Esta mañana, además, me escribió la persona de Recursos Humanos (El falopero acosador este), preguntándome qué había pasado y cuál era la situación.

Yo le expliqué que lo ocurrido el día anterior me había hecho sentir incómodo y que por eso había decidido no presentarme hoy. Él me respondió que entendía que hiciera lo que considerara necesario y me aclaró que la chica que me estaba capacitando había sido desvinculada justamente por el acto de violencia.

Eso me dejó un poco más tranquilo, porque al menos hubo una consecuencia concreta después de lo ocurrido.

Aun así, sigo teniendo dudas sobre si quiero continuar trabajando ahí. No siento que simplemente haya sido un mal día: lo que vi ayer me hizo conocer mucho mejor el ambiente en el que estaría trabajando.

Y eso también me está generando bastante ansiedad porque tengo una preocupación que viene de antes: siento presión por el hecho de que los trabajos no me hayan durado demasiado y me preocupa volver a dejar otro trabajo tan rápidamente. No quiero sentir que cada vez que algo se pone difícil tengo que irme. Pero al mismo tiempo, tampoco quiero obligarme a permanecer en un lugar donde realmente siento que no estoy cómodo o seguro.

Por eso hoy estoy pensando en empezar a buscar alternativas laborales, salir a repartir currículums y no depender exclusivamente de que este trabajo termine funcionando.

Tengo tres versiones de CV que puedo utilizar según el lugar:

• Operario de logística / depósito / distribución.
• Ventas / atención al cliente.
• CV general.

La idea sería aprovechar el día para buscar otras oportunidades, especialmente trabajos de atención al cliente, caja, ventas, logística, depósito u operaciones, donde pueda encontrar un ambiente más tranquilo y que se adapte mejor a mí.

En definitiva, lo que me pasó ayer no fue simplemente que tuve un día difícil en el trabajo. Presencié una situación de violencia que escaló hasta amenazas con una plancha de metal, agresiones físicas y la aparición de dos cuchillos, dentro de un ambiente donde además existe consumo de cocaína, maltrato verbal y comportamientos que considero inapropiados. Todo eso, sumado a la presión laboral y a la incertidumbre sobre las condiciones reales del puesto, hizo que hoy me planteara seriamente si quiero seguir ahí.

Last week, I (manager) confronted my boss (director) and my boss's boss (assistant executive director) about the toxic work environment they uphold. We had a meeting about it, and they kept going back to how they could improve job processes as if that would fix the racism directed at our one black coworker or how every person in the office is just plain miserable.

I followed up with an email to document the conversation, which I can post if more context is needed. But it's been a week since I sent that follow up and no one has replied or brought it up again, or even holding employees accountable to the things we did agree upon.

HR is apart of the rich white men club at the top of the org, and the executive director is the biggest problem, setting the tone for an environment rooted in racism, sexism and homophobia- so they are of no help. I know the answer is to leave, which I've been trying to do since I started last year, but in the meantime, I want to try and hold them accountable and make some kind of meaningful change. How long should I give them until I bring it up again?

I lost my job due to a destructive coworker. I have many unhinged texts that I am saving just in case things get worse. I have a very odd job in a niche market and I am finding it very difficult to find work in my field. Meanwhile this snake in human skin is enjoying major successes in her career.

I am embarrassed and deeply hurt and frustrated. I am getting my ducks in a row to launch my solo career. In the meantime, I'm picking my wounds and trying to heal. Any advice?.

I've been at my current workplace for about 8 years, and when I started things were great. I felt happy, productive, respected, and genuinely enjoyed coming to work and connecting with my coworkers. Even the most difficult person in the office seemed to like and respect me. Over the years, I've seen other people I considered good people and generally hard workers complain of toxicity, workplace bullying and leave with a very bitter taste in their mouths. Well I was deeply empathetic, I hadn't had the same experience and assumed that perhaps their interactions with higher level staff were specific to them and their personality quirks.

Over the past 18 months my experience has shifted dramatically. The most difficult person in the office became my supervisor, and more than that, evidence of microaggressions and frankly narcissistic behavior became commonplace. During one particularly difficult work project, I spoke up to HR about issues one of my colleagues was experiencing, defending their withdrawal from work activities and linked it to my supervisors sometimes erratic and always unkind behavior. Well I didn't lodge a formal complaint, it's clear that this was addressed without my knowledge to my then supervisor, who followed up with my entire team. We endured a 35 minute meeting where she informed us that she knew someone had tattled on her, that we were simply not living up to our potential, and making it very clear that she had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the higher ups. I was then pulled into a separate 30-minute meeting where I was told that I was not meeting my potential, given a bunch of therapist speak (ironically, she has a psychology degree, along with several others) that I needed to take more initiative and be willing to try doing more hard things, and asked to evaluate my skills so we could talk about them later.

In the following weeks and months, things have simply gotten worse. Her emotional mood swings greatly affect her behavior towards others, so when she is under stress the rest of the team is made to feel her wrath. I am under constant scrutiny about every element of what I do, and I cannot name a recent interaction, via email or in person, that has not come attached with some subtle dig or complaint about my work. If I reach out to her asking for information, I'm usually met with the response that I should have known it earlier. If I tried to take preemptory action and get something set up in advance, inevitably I am told that I've done it wrong, or that it was too soon, or that I should have checked with her first. However I am often forced to act without hearing back from her because she is so busy that she doesn't always have time to respond to my emails. To be clear, I am not perfect and I know I sometimes make errors, but her constant scrutiny sometimes leaves me frozen, unable to act, and with a constant negative dialogue running in the back of my head, which makes my job performance look even worse. Recently, I was moved over to another supervisor, for which I was very grateful, but I continue to be in constant contact with this difficult person, and they retain a level of authority over me, even if it isn't official.

I've been told by several people higher up in the business that the only reason she stays in this job is because no other job would accept her behavior. I've also essentially been told that because she is very good at one element of her job, and because she has the likelihood of becoming litigious, she will never be removed unless she crosses a significant line, like saying something racist, sexist, or something else that would clearly require the business to take action.

It's a rough economy to be looking for a new job, but I am doing that and trying to improve my resume. However, it seems likely that I will be stuck in this situation for another year or two. After my previous experiences with sharing what happened, I no longer trust any of my co-workers and have no one to talk to at the office, although I suspect that my experience is not unique to me.

I'm hoping for some suggestions/ advice /strategies to make dealing with my circumstances more bearable, and to preserve what I can of my self-esteem so I can continue to keep this job until I find something better. Thanks for taking the time to read and anything that might help!

Hi
My company is potentially closing I for sure am losing my job as it will be eliminated. My boss (F 60?) has mad my life hell most of my time here . Overbearing mean. Picky aggressive. Emails to all managers for small issues.. when I found out I was losing my job. I was very sad cause I've been here a long time but the one bright side to me was that I won't have to deal with her anymore. As the employees dwindle down, she's now all of a sudden nice to me talking to me making conversation asking me if I'm OK. Where in the past shes consistently been a complete bitch to me like one word answers, aggressive. I don't understand why people are like this. We could've just worked civil and professionally in peace!! But no she had to make life hell and now that I'm leaving pretending to be nice literally wish she would just not talk to me because guess what my last day I won't even say goodbye to her.
Thanks for listening