I’m not a fan of rules when it comes to job environments. Have you ever been told to do something that didn’t make sense and wondered what the story was behind it?
Many employers put rules in place because one person did something dumb. People were asked what stupid rule had to be made because one idiot ruined it for everyone. The responses were both hilarious and shocking.
Snack Thief.
“A video game company I worked for provided free snacks and sodas. One Friday HR had just done a shopping run and was bringing in a truck load of junk food. One employee was caught sneaking a case of soda out of the parking lot. He wasn’t fired or disciplined, it was just made public why the perk was ended. He quit shortly afterward and attempted to sue for a hostile work environment. That went nowhere.”
That’s not cool. Is it true that I am right? What a jerk.
‘No Popcorn’ Rule.
“No popcorn. I work at a financial company, and not once, but twice, someone burned microwave popcorn during end-of-day processing and caused the building to evacuate. Every once in a while, a new person is cooking some up, and I just imagine the talking to they’re about to get.”
Have you ever smelled popcorn coming from the kitchen? Oh, yeah. The person who sets the timer wrong ruins it for everyone.
Sad Office.
“I worked in an office that banned listening to music. They said it was consuming too much bandwidth. Unfortunately for management, they didn’t tell IT that it was really a productivity issue. So people talked to the IT guy, and he was like, ‘WTF no. At peak utilization, we aren’t even at 60% bandwidth.'”
I had to listen to music to get through my last job.
Tight Computer Rule.
“Had one person download a free student version of the software that they used instead of the one the company paid for. Almost cost the company a decent amount of money. Now everything is locked down on everyone’s computer to the point that I can’t delete desktop icons without having an admin.”
That’s going too far, no?
Grinch Move.
“The restaurant I used to work at used to hold annual company-wide Christmas parties (it was a local chain with 4 restaurants throughout the state). One year the owner got into a fistfight with someone, so they ended the open bar. A year or two later, a couple got wasted and drove home and got their car stuck on the Amtrak tracks and shut down Amtrak for 4 hours. No more Christmas parties after that.”
That’s so mean!
Social Media Ban.
“All social media and streaming sites are now blocked on work computers because someone spent all day on social media and watching movies while at work. Also, the Sick Room and Quiet Room are now locked because a certain slacker keeps hiding in them. They’ve been ‘hiding’ in the glass meeting pods ever since.”
This office is fun, right?
No more discounts for employees.
“I was hoping for an employee discount at a Japanese grocery store. However, someone from the past has abused the employee discount in order to give low prices to their friends. Management found out, and they effectively just took the employment discount away. Thanks a lot, asshole. You effectively deprived me of the one thing I was hoping for in that stressful and boring job.”
Uh oh!
Vengeful Move.
“No sneakers. One manager was obsessed with this girl who was 30 years younger than him, and her commute was two hours long. She would wear sneakers to commute and change shoes at the office. She sometimes forgot to change them out, and he must have gotten sick of her turning him down, so he mandated a no-sneaker clause.”
Such an ass!
Tedious Training.
“One person complained that he wasn’t ‘trained properly.’ We all now have to do this massively long training workbook during our shift, along with morning weekly quizzes we have to do with training questions. Everyone. I’m pretty sure no other company does this. It’s been weeks and I’m still not finished with it.”
There’s always that kind of a person.
No Tipping Move.
“I worked at a little on-campus coffee cart, and we had a tip jar and I was working with a girl who usually worked at the other location, and she reached into the tip jar saying she had to feed her meter and grabbed a fist full of coins. I called the manager to report her. The next day we all got an email that tips were no longer allowed. The girl didn’t get fired (well she did later, but for something completely unrelated).”
Isn’t that unfair?
Sexist Rule.
“I used to work in an office with three women and 15 men. One day the three of us girls went to lunch together, and when we came back, we were berated and told the girls were no longer allowed to go on lunch breaks together because ‘Nobody was here to answer the phones.’ Apparently, only women know how to answer a phone…?”
That’s totally sexist. Period.
Fast Food Work Order.
“No eating in front of the customers on our break. I worked fast food at the time and it wasn’t uncommon for my coworkers and me to sit in our lobby, close to the registers so we could jump back into action if needed. One day, I was sitting at one of those tables, having my lunch break when a customer came in. He gave me a dirty look and when he went up to order, he told my manager that he didn’t like seeing his employees being lazy and eating where the customers could see. My manager was very calm and polite while dealing with him and basically said, “Dude, wtf my employees aren’t animals.”
“Come to my next shift, my manager told us that corporate got a complaint about us eating in front of the customers and we were no longer allowed to take our lunch breaks in our lobby. We either had to sit in our cramped office or eat in our cars.”
Why do people do that?
