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Working in Human Resources is wild. For one, there’s the responsibility of having to bridge the gap between management and employees. Then, there’s the constant emotional stress of dealing with angry, burnt-out, or upset workers. But the cherry on top is that, every once in a while, you get a complaint that is completely bonkers.
HR employees and other workers spilled the tea about the most ridiculous, hilarious, and bizarre workplace complaints that they have ever witnessed. And it hurts to read how self-centered and delusional some people are. We’ve rounded up the best (or is that ‘worst’?) stories to remind you that your coworkers are people and they all deserve a bit more grace.
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#1
She came in with a complaint that she tried to give one of the younger guys a hug and he refused. His story was that he basically had to run away.
I had to explain to a middle age woman that it was not her right to hug people who didn't want to be hugged. She still didn't get it and left thinking she was still in the right.
Upstaged75 16 hours ago
🙄 That's insane! How hard is it to understand that you don't touch anyone else without permission? I'm pretty sure I learned that in preschool.
RELATED:
#2
Previous job I worked with some huge jerk across the hall. I won't go into why he was a jerk, but one of the things he did was turn me into HR because I had a mini catapult on my desk (a desk toy) that shot mini marshmallows. He claimed it was a "weapon" and HR called me to clarify. When I told her what it was, she sighed, and said if I took it home, she wouldn't make a case out of it. So I took it home.
#3
Not an HR employee, but I recently reported a bus driver for bringing his girl friend to work and rubbing her feet while driving. She sat on the spot right behind the driver and put her feet where he could reach for them with one hand.
I took a picture of the whole thing and debated on what to do with it for a while. On the one side, I didn't want this guy to lose his job nor have to explain why he was rubbing his girlfriend's feet at work (imagine the awkwardness). On the other side, he missed a turn and then took a U-turn on a downhill blind curve where we could've easily gotten nailed.
In the end I came to the conclusion: when other people's lives are in your hands, that's what your hands should focus on.
That’s all I yam 14 hours ago
Yep. I couldn't enable continued unsafe practices that could seriously hurt or even k**l others. Inform the supervisors and let it go.
You might be a ‘regular’ employee and have pretty strong opinions about HR at your company. You might work in HR yourself. Or you might work in HR and still have strong opinions about HR. Whatever the case, the reality is that Human Resources is an incredibly challenging area to work in. It is often very draining, responsible work that is both emotionally and mentally taxing.
According to Forbes, HR executives are on the front lines of responding to trends, events, and developments that impact the employees at their companies. “Unless handled the right way, those issues can lead to a crisis that impacts the morale and retention of workers and corporate profitability.”
Some of the main challenges include the rise of AI, issues with keeping employees engaged, the changing nature of work, economic pressures, hiring, burnout, bad managers, a maturing workforce, and low morale. On top of that, you also have to contend with the fact that the nature of HR continues to change.
#4
Hr Consultant for 10+ years. You won’t believe the amount of times I’ve had to shut people down for trying to sell their pyramid scheme “side hustle” in the office.
#5
Not HR but a complaint raised against me
"Hostile and unfriendly behaviour"
I had to explain to the head of HR that the complainant had walk up behind me whilst I was relieving myself at a urinal, launching into a detailed explanation of their computer problem. Rather than say "shut up, reboot your pc and leave me alone" I replied "please log a ticket for me"
So yeah, prompting them to follow the proper procedure, never mind accosting me whilst urinating was me being hostile...
The complaint was promptly filed in the under desk circular receptacle.
#6
Not HR, but Worker’s Comp. We just had an associate file a claim this week because they burnt their mouth on their lunch. A lunch they brought from home and heated up in the microwave.
Roksolana Stupen, HR Manager at IT Monks, told Forbes that employee engagement is one of the biggest challenges facing HR executives right now.
“People don’t want company slogans or team-building exercises that feel forced. They want an environment where they can grow without feeling suffocated by endless meetings or micromanagement. One of the best developers I’ve worked with nearly quit, not because of pay, but because his schedule was overloaded with unnecessary [tasks].”
Meanwhile, morale is at a low. A recent Gallup poll has shown that just 37% of US workers feel treated with respect.
“When an employee feels disrespected, the consequences for the company are significant: lower productivity, diminished teamwork, and weakened collaboration. Negativity can spread like a cancer, dragging down overall morale,” says Amy McCord, CEO of Flower Moxie.
#7
There was one guy complaining that his coworker was mimicking his get up and personality. Said that it's identity theft.
#8
After 20 years in HR, I have too many to remember. The most recent was on Monday when an employee emailed me with a request to remind everyone to be careful with scented lotions. Her area reeked from something that smelled like Moroccan oil. Everyone gets paranoid, and I end up replying to 50 people that they smell fine and, yes, please keep wearing your deodorant. I told her that I would rather address it with the individual, so let me know who it was. After literally sniffing our way through the cube farm, we discovered the smell was coming from her own desk drawer. We couldn't find the stinky culprit, so she ended up throwing everything out. Case closed.
#9
One gal had an obsession with mini muffins. She brought a 12 pack with her to work 3-4 times a week. Never labeled them as hers. And frequently left them on the ‘shared foods counter’, where it’s up for grabs to the whole staff.
One day, someone who was newer accidentally ate one of the mini muffins. Pandemonium followed. There was screaming. Tears. Thrown pastries. Threats of physical violence.
I had to complete a report explaining that the scuffle ensued because another woman had ‘violated her mini muffins’, and the whole time this woman is FUMING AND CRYING, like someone ate her firstborn child instead of a muffin.
“Good employees will start looking for other opportunities because everyone wants to feel like they’re part of a winning team and valued. Our culture, as a whole, now understands that life is short and we spend so much of our life at work, so there needs to be intrinsic value, and the minimum standard is respect,” McCord explained to Forbes.
Furthermore, burnout is harming both employee retention and talent attraction, as stress, bad managers, and overwork lead to higher turnover rates.
“HR isn’t about rules or perks. It’s about creating a workplace where people want to be. If companies forget that, they lose their best talent before they even realize what happened,” Stupen says.
#10
Not HR but my company is too small to have one, so it just falls on me. Used to have an A/R clerk who would snack at her desk all day long. We are a pretty casual, laid back company so it's not a big deal as long as she was getting her work done. But, then it escalated to having food constantly being delivered; tacos in the morning, pizza at lunch, Chinese in the afternoon. It was bizarre, and made it difficult for her to work when she's eating full meals all day. I was on the fence about saying something until she brought in an Instant Pot. She plugged it in and cooked a freaking pork roast at her desk, poured in BBQ sauce she brought and ate on it all day. I was dumbfounded, it was so strange. I pulled her aside the next day and told her how unprofessional it was. She was shocked and told me I was being unfair because I never specifically said no one was allowed to bring in an Instant Pot. She truly seemed genuinely surprised that she wasn't allowed to do that. She scaled it down after that, but I sometimes wonder how much further she would have gone if I never said anything.
#11
I had a guy listen through the door while another dude was using the bathroom and then complained that he didn't wash his hands.
Upstaged75 16 hours ago
People love to tattle on each other. A while ago I used to supervise a group of admin assistants in my office. I felt like a Kindergarten teacher a lot of the time based on the complaints they had about each other. 🙄 And they were all older than me too!
#12
Was handed a handwritten letter from my boss, as he said “I think you might need this”.
The letter had been written by an employee, who let herself into the boss’s office and left it on his desk while he was out, complaining she was unhappy about how the staff were “mistreated and disrespected” because he often left during the day to “go shopping and get haircuts” (this rarely happened, probably not even once a month), and that she thought it was appalling that he left for a week over Christmas to see his family, while they weren’t allowed more than 3 days off over Christmas.
Had a meeting with her and literally had to explain that he is the owner of the company and can come and go as he pleases, that he works evenings and weekends when others don’t, and that the week off was the first time he had taken holiday in 8 months, unlike the rest of the staff who get 28 days throughout the year.
She looked at me, expressionless, and said “and? I want a week off at Christmas. If he gets it, I should have it.” I told her her complaint had been logged and we’ll look into it. She walked out, relayed a different version of our conversation to a dozen employees and gossiped about the boss. She was gone within a month of the letter.
Once you’ve read all of these stories and upvoted the ones you loved to hate the most, join the discussion in the comments at the bottom of this post.
What is the weirdest complaint that you have ever gotten or made, no matter if you work in HR, management, or are a ‘regular’ employee? Who is the most bizarre coworker you’ve ever had the ‘pleasure’ of working with, and what’s the worst thing they’ve ever done?
Share your work stories, tips, and rants with us!
Oh, and don’t forget to forward these work complaint stories to everyone at the office, and show them to HR the next time you get in trouble.
#13
We didn’t have HR at the shop I worked at (small companies generally don’t here, plus it’s retail so nobody cares about workers rights) but I was the Union Rep for my store which is similar. I had a complaint from one of my colleagues who had requested a transfer to another store and our manager laughed at her and refused her request when she told him why. Her reason behind wanting a transfer?
“I want to get a transfer to the countryside to get away from all the Syrians who are coming over on the boat.”
When I asked her “what boat?” She replied “the Syrian boat with all the immigrants on. It was in the Sun (horrible tabloid paper) didn’t you see it?”
She was in her 20s and not the brightest crayon in the box. I said I’d follow up her complaint but knew it wouldn’t go anywhere. She’s still in the same store 4 years later and that boat still hasn’t arrived. Funny that!
#14
Had a guy who claimed his boss(female) was picking on him because of him being gay. When asked what she told him to do. It was his job responsibilities, just usually they had am assistant that did that stuff for them.
Teutonic Disaster 7 hours ago
If I were OP (or the female boss) I'd start to wonder what I'm paying the guy for, if his assistant usually does all the work.
#15
I was the one who was complained about and subsequently fired from a temp job. I was on my way to work and the temp service called me and said I was being let go for "being sneaky and writing things down". I had been there for 4 days and was in training. I just so happen to tend to lean over my notebooks when I write and I was trying to write down everything they were telling me, but apparently, that was a big no-no and it bothered them that they couldn't see what I was writing. For the record, they never asked me to either show it to them, or stop writing like that. I was pretty mad. It was dumb.
#16
At a former job, all of our team members got in pulled in 1 by 1 about who was farting. Someone had complained to HR and my boss was like "I can't believe I have to ask you this but... are you the one passing gas constantly?". It wasn't me and tbh, I never smelled anything.
Ipetmykitteh 15 hours ago
I work in IT. Most of the guys I worked with found unending enjoyment leaving ghost in the man traps for us all to enjoy. (A man trap is a set of 2doors and one set won’t open until the other closes).
#17
Not an HR employee, but I heard about this one guy that complained to HR about how the company would fly the pride flag during pride month, but wouldn't fly his confederate flag... SMH.
#18
Not HR, but I was on the management team at a 50 employee company.
At our weekly management meeting, the production manager reported that he had a complaint from one of the male machinists that it was unfair that the ladies toilet had a free tampon machine, and the male toilets didn't.
Apparently he had bleeding piles, and he used tampons ...
Upstaged75 15 hours ago
😮😮 That is NOT how you're supposed to treat hemorrhoids! Also, why would you share that with anyone who isn't your doctor??
#19
I was an HR manager for a large machine shop. One of the welders was a lesbian female. Her and her partner wanted to have a child. So she was asking all her co-workers [to be donors] so she could get pregnant. She could not afford to purchase from a doctor she said. All the guys were creeped out and ask that she stop. I had to write her up for solicitation in the work place. Haha I think one of the guys ended up giving her some.
#20
An employee used very derogatory terms to make fun of a customer who was in the back of the store... while talking to the customer who was at the counter. Who happened to be the other customer’s mother. Yikes.
#21
You wouldn't believe the headaches that I received when management signed a new copier/printer lease which reduced the overall number of printers in exchange for centrally located multiplex copiers. Evidently, people feel their social standing is signified by if they have a printer (or two) in their office.
My favorite was an Executive Assistant who stated that, because she wears heels to work she couldn't walk to the new copier and requested that a reasonable accommodation would be to replace the printer she had in her office.
#22
20 years in HR.
2 female employees visited me to complain that their female team member didn’t wear underwear under her work pants.
Upstaged75 15 hours ago
They must have spent quite a lot of time looking at her rear! That's creepy. Maybe she wore a thong and just didn't have panty lines?
#23
We had a complaint that the toilet roll holders were too low in the stalls because a guy's knees were hitting the holders. We then lifted all the stalls toilet roll holders 8 inches on whole company site so no knees would hit the toilet roll holders. No complaints since. HR working for the people!
#24
I recently had HR tell me that one of my staff had been under supplied in his annual leave over the past few years, and he needed to take at least ten days off over the next six months to correct the leave liability. Paid at a higher rate than usual to make up for the error, of course. He could take a two week block or, say, a day off a week until he'd used the leave - his choice.
He was so enraged over being given extra paid holidays that he wrote to our General Manager to complain, screamed at me (his boss) "I know my rights!" refused the leave or even to discuss why he wouldn't take it.
Anyway, I wrote his performance review this week and there are multiple goals about professional, respectful behavior that need to be reached in order for him to get a raise this year.
Yeah, not so much. Oh, and he still has to take the ten days off.
#25
This employee is looking at me funny. Like funny how? I don't know but he needs to stop or I'm getting a lawyer. Research and find out they've never been in the same room.
That’s all I yam 14 hours ago
Put a note in the complainer's file for future reference (frivolous complaint).
#26
We have 4 nurses that rotate a Saturday shift at our practice.
New girl came in last month to complain she was getting shafted because she had to work two weekends in the same month, despite myself and multiple people trying to explain that sometimes there is more than 4 weekends in a month but the rotation is the same.
#27
I'm pulling a reverse on this one - I got called into HR for sniffling.
Was super pissed off about it cause it was such a petty complaint. I have been to the doctor, ENT, allergists, to figure my nose out. I'm sorry I can't help it that I sniffle - everyone does. It's just that Kathy decided I was being "too loud" and a bother about it.
#28
Not HR, but my friend who is recently told me about a VP at his company making a post on LinkedIn with one of the new employees as his #WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday). The WCW lady was happy about it. The complaint came from two women who didn’t get the promotion to that position.
#29
Not HR.
Used to work on an order packing line for a large distributor. If we had an issue with any equipment on the line, we weren't permitted to correct it on our own. We were supposed to turn on a light similar to what you'd see over a cashier's line in a grocery store, and one of the leads would come over to see what was wrong and fix it. Suddenly I have an issue with my printer, and since I already caught hell for not following procedure on it before, I figured I'd try to do as told so I didnt get my wrist slapped again. Go to turn my light on, and imagine that, it doesn't work either. Yelled the leads name to get his attention, since we weren't supposed to wander away from the line either. Next day I was called in to HR for shouting the leads name. One of the clowns on the line beside mine didn't approve of my shouting.
#30
It was lunch time, a client came in. My colleague was eating a sausage roll and had it on his desk. Next day a formal complaint came through about my colleagues sausage roll and how unprofessional it was of him to have a sausage roll he was eating on his desk.
#31
She wanted to lodge a complaint against a colleague who had a new TV delivered to the office instead of home, and she thought her colleague’s spending money on the TV was irresponsible.
#32
Someone complained about another employee smelling of rotten chicken and feet. The scent was bad enough that no one wanted to work with that guy around. Had to put on a hygiene fundamentals in the workplace presentation for that entire group since I couldn’t single out Smelly. I think he got the hint because he also got a haircut.
#33
Not a HR but I managed a move from old office to new office:
*"The stapler on my desk is not 'my' stapler, someone switched it"*.
#34
I'm not in HR, but someone called HR on me.
I work with a few people that aren't that fluent in english. One of my coworkers was trying to explain to me what kind of tacos he ate and could not rememeber the word for stingrays. So he took my notebook and drew a picture of a stingrays and wrote the word turtle. So it looked like this: crudely drawn stingray+the word turtle.
A lady I work with went through my notebook, saw the picture of the stingray plus the word turtle. She called HR because she thought I was writing notes about her in my notebook. She said that horribly drawn stingray plus the word turtle meant that I want to punch her in the face because she is slow like a turtle. Definitely a reach. I didn't get in trouble, I was just told by my boss that I'm not aloud to talk about turtles anymore in case it upsets her.
I rarely talk about turtles, so this isn't really a problem for me.
****Edit: He was not eating stingray/turtle tacos at work. He was telling me that was his favorite type of tacos to eat when he was at home. He is originally from Mexico and is in Iowa on a TN visa. Maybe in his coastal Mexican town it is normal to eat stingrays and turtles. I have no idea, really. All I know is I couldn't help him in the slightest when he asked me if I knew where to get stingray meat.
#35
I once had to mediate a conversation between two software engineers. One was convinced the other had installed an extra bright bulb in their desk lamp, just to antagonize the other. The end result was me crawling around in a dark, dank storage closet to find a bulb that would allow all of us to get in with our lives.
#36
I once got reported to human resources for not saying good morning to a coworker.
#37
I was the guy complained about. We had hired several seniors at a particular college that had made it past the initial interview stages. One of the parents of a student who was not hired called to complain that I mistakenly did not offer her the job. I told the school's career services director about it and he told me it's a common thing for parents to intervene there. This wasn't an Ivy League school or anything, mind you. It was a public state university. Mindblowing.
#38
Someone was breathing too loudly.
That’s all I yam 14 hours ago
The at-risk high school I worked at had an accreditation team visit. One of the members of the team commented how studious one of the student's was. About 10 seconds later, the student turned around at yelled at him, "Stop breathing!" Good feelings gone.
#39
I got written up for a hostile work environment because I wouldn’t talk hockey with her like I did with everyone else and she felt left out.
#40
I told my coworker as professionally as I could that it wasn't appropriate for her to be using her phone while at work, teaching kids (supposedly). She spent all her time on Facebook, little kids would be screaming and whaling on each other literally 10 feet away and she was totally oblivious.
She complained by email to HR that I was rude and confrontational. They pulled me aside and told me to be more careful about how I spoke to coworkers. I told them my side of the story, they spoke to her again. She got a written warning, they didn't tell me what happened but I gather from office gossip that she lost [it] and started shouting at the HR staff. Rude and confrontational perhaps?
Anyway she's on her final warning now and she has a habit of hitting on the married dads of our kids, involving children in adult matters ("why hasn't your mummy paid your fees yet? Don't you want to come to daycare?") and generally being an un professional self-absorbed PITA so... Can't wait until she gets fired.
Huddo's sister 12 hours ago
It's now illegal to have personal devices on us when teaching in early childhood education where I live. I think this is good, though I already knew it was unprofessional/a child safety issue, so never did it myself anyway. Many childhood centres etc have put a policy in place that bans smartwatches too (some only if they connect to internet) and I can't believe the amount of complaints this get on facebook groups I'm in. It's for the exact same reason as not using phones, yet apparently these educators can't be away from smart devices for their shifts. (There are exceptions for people who use them for medical reasons)
#41
I worked in HR and my coworker hated me. She wanted someone else to get the job I did and she would complain about me to management for anything.
The final straw for everyone was when I sneezed and she slammed her keyboard on her desk, basically ran out of the room and didn't come back for 30 minutes.
Management called me in and said I was making too much noise. I told them I sneezed and they said she would complain about me every day so they didn't believe her but had to make it look like they were doing something.
She left shortly after.
Upstaged75 15 hours ago
If HR had any backbone they would have told her to stop the daily BS complaints.
#42
Had a lot of people ask for more hours, I would tell them “I don’t have more hours in your department but I can give you hours in x department”, next schedule would come out and they would say “I have too many hours!” So I would give them like ~10 fewer hours with still 15-25 hours, and then it would be “I don’t have enough hours!” So then I would say “okay, remember that week when I gave you 30-35 hours and that was too much?” And they would say “I want 35 hours!” So I would try my best (and usually end up with 30 hours because hours were slim) and then it would be “I HAVE TOO MANY HOURS!”
And then I would stop talking to them because I was going crazy.
#43
I wasn't the HR person. I was the Chief Technology Officer (for North America) of one of the top five private national companies. I was 'stationed' in NYC and even the 15 or so people that I spoke with daily (the head database administrator, the network architect, internal & external network security people) weren't able to get to the floor my office was on. (This is just to give you an idea of how the office/company was laid out.) I'd have to go down, leave my ID with security and the bring the person up to my office.
The head of the art department calls me and says he *needs* to talk with me. OK. I go down and get him. His complaint? The system admins and the app development people made the bathroom smell. I just said, "I hear you" and then took him back down.
#44
I was reported to HR for not making enough sandwiches. I was on an 8 hour shift, alone, and the person who closed the day before had done nothing. I had to make all the salads, do the chickens, all the cleaning, plus stock, expiries, ect. There was no time, and not to mention I didn't get a single break, because the manager wouldn't let us eat in the office and I couldn't leave the department.
I ultimately quit, since the manager did this to me all the time, and never went after the other staff.
#45
Not HR, However to me this was the worst offense I had ever witnessed.
Background, We work in a bodyshop it's dirty dusty smells like paint half the people here barely shower. One day we are all rounded up and called for a meeting by the owner. The owner is standing there with a look of annoyance in his eye. Someone didn't flush the toilet(that is broken) The detailer didn't go to HR he went to the owner and complained.
So after a 30 minute meeting we learned to flush I guess? I don't know either way I talked to the owner later and he told me to find a detailer. Still looking for one.
The worst part, the detailer spends over an hour in the bathroom every day watching movies on his phone. God I can't wait until someone competent walks through the door.
#46
Where to start?
Someone was eating an apple too loud.
Someone was clicking their mouse / typing too loud (2 separate people).
During the late winter/early spring the door was propped open for 10-15 minutes while folks were taking things out to the company car. Someone had to call out the next day because they were “too cold.”
A manager came to me because her staff could hear someone in my team laugh.
Someone was convinced that we had poison ivy growing in the crack between the parking lot and the sidewalk (maybe 1” at the most) and that while walking into the building she got a rash from the poison ivy and we should pay for her to take the next day off. There was no poison ivy.
#47
I got called to HR, this was back around 1989 or so...I was 23 or 24, supervising a group of about six people, 4 men and 2 women. Every morning I'd have a meeting with them before the day's tasks started, and every morning I'd start with "Hey, guys" or "good morning, guys..."
One of the women complained that I was 'ignoring' her and the other woman by calling the group 'guys.'
So I switched to "folks.".
#48
I got a two page dissertation about an employee complaining about the oatmeal brand in the cafeteria.
#49
Friend in charge of hiring at his company got massive complaints from a job applicant..for not hiring him.
#50
I was helping with hiring in a small company, and someone applied for a driving position with us. Their cv looked promising, so I asked them to send a copy of their abstract, which showed that their licence had been suspended a few days prior. I replied to his email to tell him that because he didn’t have a valid licence we couldn’t consider him for the position. But he kept calling, and emailing, asking for a trial shift, and trying to get us to proceed with his application!
Michael Largey 1 hour ago
"Sir, as requested we have proceeded with your application and finalized our decision. And it is that no way are you working here."
#51
I'm not a HR employee but I supervise people:
"What do you mean I have to take leave if I'm leaving early?".
#52
A woman claimed that people were spreading rumors about her sleeping with coworkers. The investigation wasn't even done yet when she moved in with one of the guys. The others showed me texts and pics she had sent them. And if that wasn't enough she followed me home from the bar one night "to make sure I was okay." I shut my door in her face and the next day said I was too drunk and didn't realize she was there. Had enough from everything else I didn't even need to bring that part into the conversation with her supervisor.
#53
There was the balloon incident. The quality control manager in the customer relations department decided to come in early and put a balloon at the desk of every service rep who was taking above average call volume. Within 5 minutes of the start of the shift, one our worst performing reps had complained that this was unfair. This is a union shop so she filed a grievance that some reps got an unfair bonus in the form of a balloon. The union contract is clear that all reps have to be treated exactly equally. The rep that handles 110 calls per 480 minute shift and the rep who handles the absolute minimum number of calls and refers half of them to a supervisor are equal. The rep who filed the grievance got 30 minutes 'union business' assigned that day and that means that her call stats for that day did not count. She got a free day so she could handle less than the minimum and she could claim that had she been on the phones for that 30 minutes then she would have made her target. To solve the grievance, the manager had to give a balloon to everyone. This is the kind of thing that makes people hate unions.
Upstaged75 15 hours ago
I don't hate the union for that. I hate the lazy woman who is such a child that she complained about a 10 cent balloon - knowing very well that she didn't deserve it.
#54
I know I had an HR complaint on me because I was excluding an admin from meetings. I was a manager, there are meetings I have that she isn’t invited to.
Upstaged75 14 hours ago
I would be thrilled to be excluded from more meetings! All of them actually. 😁
#55
Not HR but I talk to people so I know a few stories.
Here's my favorite in terms of how ridiculous it is.
HR Director found hookah in the women's bathroom, it wasn't hidden or anything, it was just there in the plain sight on the floor.
Turns out one employee is [dependant on] smoking hookah and she brought it on her first day of work. She then demanded to be allowed to smoke hookah in the bathroom but they came to the agreement that she can take a break every day to go out and smoke it in the nearby hookah place if she wants to.
Little background: I work in IT in Ukraine, IT specialists here make good money, and they are also spoiled due to high demand. So people complain about all sorts of stupid stuff all the time, like free lunches are served in containers they don't like, or elevator needs an AC and etc.
#56
Complaint told to me from some-one who works in a factory as HR.
"My Spanish co-worker stole my boots and threw them into the crusher" which sounds funny enough except the Spanish co-worker was called in to answer to the complain and his defence was that he hadn't thrown the guys boots into the crusher because here were his boots, while the Spanish guy was standing their in just his socks......
#57
Not HR, but I got to witness "the saga of the boots" recently as a part-time peon.
Background is the company I work for has delivery drivers and since they will be visiting construction sites, it provides work boots for them. In-store employees have to provide their own footwear within dress code. We had hired a female driver and ordered the smallest size of boots our supplier had available, and they did not fit her. One of our part-time drivers encouraged our in-store assistant manager to try the boots on for herself and see if they fit, which they did. the part-time driver then encouraged her to take them.
So the assistant manager took the boots. The manager noticed this and told her that well he didn't really care about the boots, since they were just going to sit on used anyway, that she should not wear them to work because the employees under her did not have footwear provided by the company. Her defense was that one of the part-time drivers who told her it was okay, but the manager thought he had gotten through to her eventually.
The next time he saw her wearing them at work, she explained that she had cute boots for at-home use and that these would be perfect for work use. He reiterated that it was unacceptable for her to be wearing them at work, so she emailed HIS boss looking for back up.
The boss's boss almost immediately called her and explainef to her that he could actually fire her for what she had done. He used a specific analogy to explain why it wasn't okay, and shared thr analogy with the store manager at a regularly scheduled meeting they have the next week. The store manager then reiterated that specific analogy to the assistant manager the next time the topic of the boots came up (yes, it was still a point of contention). She took this consistent messaging from two levels of management as a sign that she was being ganged up on, and tried to go over the district managers head, going to both regional management and HR about it.
This ended in an official write-up that she thought was just so unfair, never mind her ignoring instructions from not just her boss but her boss's boss too. She has since left the company.
T'Mar of Vulcan 10 hours ago
What? That's just word salad. Boots - allowed or not? Her own or work-provided? Huh?!
#58
I filed a hurt feelings report with HR because a coworker called me fat. Had my supervisor sign it and everything. HR person hung it up in her cubical.
Upstaged75 14 hours ago
I've been called fat my entire life. It never once occurred to me to file an official report because my feelings were hurt. 🤷♀️ I prefer to have an adult conversation and tell the person to knock it off. Or find a suitable insult for them. This kind of thing is a waste of time for HR.
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Chich the witch 1 hour ago (edited)
Not HR but I supervised a group in a building that had central climate control. Endless complaints that it was too hot or too cold. Could not do much about the system except push the issues to maintenance. Finally had a thermostat installed in the room over a weekend. Complaints dropped to a trickle. The thermostat wasn't connected to anything.
Jay Walsh 44 minutes ago
I had a guy supposedly threaten to go to HR because he was offended I used the word "hooker" in the proper context in a conversation he wasn't a part of, Since I was talking about "headers", which made it "worse" and he was SURE about it... I uno-reversed him and claimed that he was a pervert that was s******y harassing me. Pretty sure he was cheating on his wife took so....
Lee Gilliland 1 hour ago
We had a supervisor whose hygiene was....less than perfect. HR spoke to him and his reaction was to speak to us because it couldn't possibly be *him* they were referring to. I had to rather pointedly mention I thought HR spoke to him personally for him to get the message. Yes, we had all individually spoken about it to those poor HR people.
Chich the witch 1 hour ago (edited)
Not HR but I supervised a group in a building that had central climate control. Endless complaints that it was too hot or too cold. Could not do much about the system except push the issues to maintenance. Finally had a thermostat installed in the room over a weekend. Complaints dropped to a trickle. The thermostat wasn't connected to anything.
Jay Walsh 44 minutes ago
I had a guy supposedly threaten to go to HR because he was offended I used the word "hooker" in the proper context in a conversation he wasn't a part of, Since I was talking about "headers", which made it "worse" and he was SURE about it... I uno-reversed him and claimed that he was a pervert that was s******y harassing me. Pretty sure he was cheating on his wife took so....
Lee Gilliland 1 hour ago
We had a supervisor whose hygiene was....less than perfect. HR spoke to him and his reaction was to speak to us because it couldn't possibly be *him* they were referring to. I had to rather pointedly mention I thought HR spoke to him personally for him to get the message. Yes, we had all individually spoken about it to those poor HR people.
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