I worked for a company that was 100% travel. When I went to my first job, I was paid to drive 200 miles to the first assignment, and I was paid a certain amount per day to cover housing and food. They didn’t have another job lined up for me, so I went home (again, paid to travel) and took a retail job until the next assignment came up.

Two years went by before they reached out again, asking me to drive nearly 1,000 miles to the next assignment. I didn’t want to do the drive, but it was a lot more money, and it was in a location that I’d always wanted to visit. I spoke with the hiring manager to finalize the details before leaving. I remembered him from my first assignment; he said he was direct, but I remember him being an a**hole.

Me: “So, I go to [address] on the first day, right?”

Hiring Manager: “Yes, you will do your employee orientation there.”

Me: “Okay. Whom do I submit my travel expenses to?”

Hiring Manager: “All expenses go through [Payroll Admin]. She’ll be there when you arrive.”

Me: “Okay, I’ll be there!”

The drive took two very long days. I stayed at a cheap motel overnight and got to the assignment with fifteen minutes to spare. [Hiring Manager] was nowhere to be found, but [Payroll Admin] was in the office.

Me: “Hi, I’m [My Name].”

Payroll Admin: “Hi, [My Name], I’m [Payroll Admin]. Let’s get your orientation going so you can start working.”

Me: “Sounds good.”

I went through the paperwork.

Me: “So, how do I expense my travel?”

Payroll Admin: “That’s not a thing.”

Me: “Uhh… okay. [Hiring Manager] said—”

Payroll Admin: “I’m the one who does the payroll. I would know.”

Me: “Okay, then.”

I did my first day of work, and as soon as I got home, I dug up my first paycheck. Right there on my pay stub was a mobilization addition: fifty cents per mile. I took it with me the next day.

Me: “Hi, [Payroll Admin], I—”

Payroll Admin: “If this is about mobilization pay, the answer is still no.”

Me: “I have proof.”

I showed her my paycheck.

Payroll Admin: “Well, that must have been a mistake. [Hiring Manager] told me himself that there is no pay for first or last travel.”

Me: “Can you pull up my hiring contract?”

Payroll Admin: “Only [Hiring Manager] has the contracts.”

So, I was back to talking to that a**hole. And he wasn’t there, so I had to email him. 

Me: “Good morning, [Hiring Manager], I am following up on travel reimbursement for driving from [my address] to [assignment address]. I spoke with [Payroll Admin], but she insisted that travel reimbursement has never been part of [Company]. I showed her my first pay stub from my last assignment, which showed that I was paid to drive there. If this is no longer policy, I apologize for pushing, and I understand that things have changed. If not, please point me in the right direction.”

There was no response for two weeks. I decided to go over [Hiring Manager] and email an upper manager I knew from my first assignment.

Me: “Good morning, [Upper Manager], I am trying to figure out if travel reimbursement is still part of [Company] policy. I spoke with [Hiring Manager], and he said yes, but [Payroll Admin] said no. I tried to reach out to [Hiring Manager] again, but he hasn’t responded. I understand if things have changed from my first assignment, but I would like to know either way.”

Upper Manager: “Hi, [My Name]! So good to hear from you again. I know a lot has changed since your last assignment, so I don’t know what is and is not covered anymore. Let me do some digging and get back to you.”

An hour passed before my phone rang. It was [Hiring Manager].

Me: “Hel—”

Hiring Manager: “When you have a question, you ask the person you want to ask. You don’t go crying to upper management.”

Me: “You told me to talk to [Payroll Admin]. She told me it was never a thing. I showed her my pay stub showing that it was. You didn’t answer my email, and quite frankly, I’m a little annoyed at this runaround.”

Hiring Manager: “I just got my a** handed to me because you want, what, $40? I’ll give you $40 right from my wallet to end this.”

Me: “Actually, it’s probably more like $500.”

Hiring Manager: “Are you f****** kidding me? I’m not going to keep going in circles with you over this. There is no mobilization pay.”

Me: “Then why did you tell me to go to [Payroll Admin] when we first spoke instead of saying it wasn’t a thing?”

Hiring Manager: “Look, things change. The answer is no, and this conversation is over.”

He hung up.

I packed up my things and left at lunchtime. I spent the next two days driving back home.

[Hiring Manager] called me the next morning, but I let it go to voicemail.

Voicemail: “[My Name], where are you? We are working on [project] today, and I don’t know if you’re aware, but that’s the whole reason we brought to you this assignment. If you’re still sulking about not getting paid to drive, you need to get over it.”

I saved the voicemail and sent it to [Upper Manager], the human resources department, and every other manager and employee I could think of.

[Upper Manager] called me a few days later to tell me that I had started an avalanche of drama. [Hiring Manager] had lied not only to me but to several other employees. There WAS a reimbursement at seventy-five cents per mile, but he didn’t want to pay it because every expense cut into his bonus at the end of the year. He is no longer employed at [Company].

In a past millennium, I got my first real job as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant. I was warned — by the owner who hired me — that the head chef was quite the jerk and liked to play nasty pranks on the new hires, particularly on young women like me. He particularly loved making people feel stupid and small, and he argued that this behaviour made people think more critically. The head chef was, unfortunately, amazingly skilled and high-performing, and it wasn’t possible to fire him, and reprimands went unheeded due to his being irreplaceable. I recognized the red flag, but I needed both the money and the experience.

One day, around midday, the head chef came running in with a small two-liter pot (roughly two quarts), the kind with a single handle sticking out to the side.

Head Chef: “Girl!”

Me: “Yes, chef?”

Head Chef: “We need another ten-liter pot (2.6 gallons)! You have to run to [Restaurant] next door and use their pot-stretcher!”

In Swedish, he asked me to get a “grytsträckare”, which means “pot stretcher”, but Swedes might like seeing the word.

Me: “A what now?”

Head Chef: “Girl! Don’t you know what a pot-stretcher is?”

Me: “No? Is it like a tool or…?”

Head Chef: “How could they hire people that don’t know what a pot-stretcher is? This is disgraceful. I’ll have to talk to [Owner] about this! I mean, how the f*** can you be this incompetent?” *Shoves the pot in my arms* “Do as I say, or you’ll be sorry!”

Bewildered, I looked at the pot, desperately trying to understand what I was supposed to do. Then, I saw a hint of an evil smile glimmering in his eyes, and I remembered the warning. A plan formed in my head.

Me: “All right, chef! I’ll run over there and get the pot stretched! I’m sure they’ll tell me how it works if I don’t figure it out. And if they won’t lend me their pot-stretcher, I’ll be really persistent, and I won’t come back without a bigger pot. You can count on me!”

I made a silly salute and ran off, pot in hand.

Roughly twenty minutes after leaving the restaurant, I slammed down an exact copy of the small pot, but one that was five times the size, next to [Head Chef]. I spoke very loudly to draw the attention of the other staff, who had heard about my impossible mission.

Me: “Here, chef!”

Head Chef: *Staring in disbelief* “What is that?”

Me: “It’s a pot to your specifications! Ten liters, as you told me. It was hard work, let me tell you! The handle almost broke off, stretching that little amount of metal so thin, but I did it! And in record time!”

Head Chef: “But… but…”

Me: “What? Isn’t this what you asked for?”

Head Chef: “But… It… There isn’t…”

Me: “I must say, this was a valuable experience! Thank you! I’ve really learned something today.”

Head Chef: “But… I needed the small pot back. It was my favourite sauce pot.”

Me: “Then why did you ask me to stretch it? You needed a bigger pot, right?”

[Head Chef] looked at the sadistic smiles of the other staff members who had gathered around.

Head Chef: “Well, it’s a better pasta pot now. Get back to work, all of you!”

And so we went, snickering and giggling.

The next day, [Head Chef]’s precious pot had shrunk back to the original size, and when he asked about it, I said that he probably forgot to water the pot. He shut up after that and never mentioned it again.

I told the others what had happened.

A friend of mine happened to work at a nearby kitchen supply store that had a huge pot of the same design hanging from the ceiling as an advertisement, which I had seen a few days before. I went there and told my friend about my situation, and I said that I wanted to borrow their showcase pot. My friend had to ask his manager, who apparently knew about the amicability-challenged chef and really wanted that jerk put in place.

The showcase pot happened to be slightly larger than a ten-liter pot but designed as a smaller pot, so it had a single handle sticking out to the side and all — totally useless for its size. I returned it early the next morning and got the regular pot back, and I made sure to put the small pot in exactly the same place and position as the big pot. A lot of the other staff helped me do this final switcharoo since they were more than happy to see [Head Chef] get his comeuppance.

[Head Chef] remained the same jerk, but he never did pull another prank like that again. As far as I know, he never figured it out.

I came to work on a Monday morning to see that my computer had been updated to a new operating system. A lot of my files had somehow been moved and/or deleted in the process, so I emailed IT to ask if this was a common issue or if there was something wrong with my computer.

A week went by with no response. I sent another email the following Monday, this time adding that if they were unsure or they were working on it or whatever the case may be, it was fine, but please let me know.

Again, a week of silence. During that last weekend, I had time to do some research on my own and found that it was a common problem but with a complicated fix. On the third Monday, I sent another email saying I had solved the problem and wouldn’t need their assistance anymore.

The head of human resources then emailed me and CC’ed the IT team.

Head Of HR: “[My Name], we understand that your issue was troublesome, but repeatedly harassing the IT staff will not get it done any faster. The entire team works very hard to satisfy all of the employees at [Company] and, as such, cannot be expected to reply to your inquiry immediately. There are many issues with the new operating system that we are all dealing with, and IT is doing their best. That being said, it’s good that you figured out how to fix the issue, and perhaps doing some research before reaching out will help reduce everyone’s stress should you come up against another concern.”

I stared at the email for a few minutes before replying. I attached screenshots of the emails I had sent, including the date of each one.

Me: “Thank you for reaching out, [Head Of HR]. I apologize for any discomfort I caused the IT team. I did not think that my emails (in the screenshots) were harassment, but I will endeavor to be more independent in the future. Again, my apologies.”

There was no direct response to my email, but a few months after the exchange, IT rolled out a “request page” where people could submit issues and track the status of their request, from “Submitted” to “Closed.”

A few years ago, I took a role at a startup company as a secretary, working for a very nice woman. I was part-time, and we were closed on Fridays and the weekends. She had only been in business for a few months. She said she had been trying to run it all on her own. She got overwhelmed and decided to hire me.

She only went into the office on Fridays to do payroll, and my check would be in the bank on Mondays.

There were some things I didn’t know how to do, and I explained that to [Boss] in the interview. She said it was no problem and she would train me.

We got along great. We joked around and discussed our lives.

When I first got there, the office was a disaster, and my first task was getting everything organized. [Boss] trained me on some of the things I didn’t know how to do. I picked up on this quickly. She never complained about my performance.

Fast forward two months. Everything was going well, and we were still getting along. Christmas was approaching in about a month. [Boss] was suddenly different. She forgot to pay me for the previous week. I brought it to her attention, and she just said that she had a lot going on. Christmas was approaching, and she was stressed out about her family coming to visit. Understandable. She said that she’d do payroll on Friday, and I would get the check by Monday.

However, I didn’t get it. I mentioned it again. [Boss] said she had forgotten, and when she did payroll again, she would make sure I got it along with the hours I had worked that week. That didn’t happen. I politely mentioned it to her again, and she said it was the stress from Christmas. She said she would make sure I had it. She now owed me for two weeks plus whatever I had worked that week.

On Thursday, [Boss] said she’d made herself a note to do payroll Friday, and I would have my pay deposited by Monday. She also said she had other news. She said she was so stressed out about her family coming in that she was taking the whole week off for Christmas. She said I could do the same or work December 21 and 22 and be off until December 28 when she would reopen. I chose to work those two days.

[Boss] emailed me a list of tasks to work on for both days. I was only to work four hours each day and email her back what tasks I had completed and the hours I’d worked. I did so before I left for the day. She said not to call her or text her during the week at all unless it was something important.

When I returned on the 28th, [Boss] was upset with me. She claimed I didn’t come and work on those days because she didn’t get an email. I showed her from my computer where I had sent the email to her, and she checked hers, and they were there. She blamed the stress.

Then, she told me she had bad news for me. She had accepted another job working elsewhere, and she was laying me off. She said her business wasn’t doing so well, and she would probably close it down in a couple of months.

When people did call about doing business with her, she would get short with them and would curse them if they didn’t like what she was charging.

She advised me that the next day, Tuesday, would be my last day. On Tuesday, she thanked me for everything I had done for her and wished me luck in my job search. She said she would miss me. She added that she would do payroll on Friday as she always did, and I would get my check on Monday for the last two days I had worked.

I started looking for a new job, and I went ahead and filed for unemployment. I got a letter saying my unemployment had been approved because [Boss] never responded.

Then, I got another letter saying [Boss] was contesting it and a hearing was scheduled. I was confused as to why she was contesting it since she had laid me off.

For the hearing, I could upload any documents that may pertain to my case. I wasn’t sure what to upload, so I took a chance and uploaded the last paycheck for the two days I had worked the week she laid me off. I was concerned about the whole email confusion. When I sent those emails, I CC’d my own email address, just in case she needed to respond to me after work about something.

I was wondering if she was going to claim that I had never worked for her or something weird.

At the hearing, [Boss] claimed I was a terrible employee. The files that were a mess when I first started there were my fault, and I mailed things late. (I had everything ready to be mailed, but sometimes she took them late. She had told me she was the only one who would handle taking mail to the post office.)

Next, she claimed that my resume was all a lie — that I had never worked for any of the companies I listed on it. (She said she’d called them for a reference and that my supervisors, by name, spoke highly of me.)

Her next lie was that she had several other employees who worked for her at the business prior to me, and none of them required training. (She told me I was her very first employee there.)

The next lie: the week of Christmas, I didn’t work at all because I never emailed her to let her know I had.

The final lie: she said that she told me the last week I was there that she was laying me off, but I was to work all week. She claimed that, in good faith, she did the payroll on Tuesday and paid me for all week, and that I got my check on Wednesday. So, I robbed her of money.

When I told my side of the story, I challenged her lies. She kept changing her stories. I advised of some of the things I mentioned here. I told her that my last check stub was for two days, not all week like she claimed, and the check date was the following Monday, not the previous Wednesday. So, there was no money robbed from her. I also referenced the emails I had presented for evidence.

Then, [Boss] lied again and said she had never laid me off — that I had just quit showing up for work. At the beginning, she told the hearing officer that she had, in fact, laid me off because she was going to work somewhere else because the business was failing, and somehow, that was my fault.

I believe the hearing officer saw through her lies and concluded the call. [Boss] tried to keep the call going, saying I didn’t deserve unemployment.

Thirty minutes later, I got an email saying my unemployment had been approved. [Boss] didn’t try to appeal it, either.

A year later, I saw that [Boss] had been arrested for embezzling money from a company. (Probably the new one she went to work for.)

I did get all the pay she owed me.

Back when I was reviewing games whilst at uni, I had a developer go mad at me when I very honestly put some constructive criticism in the review.

As a game design student, my reviews were more analytical than standard, and they were never overly negative, always with the requisite that they were my opinions when talking about something subjective.

I can’t remember what the problem was now, but it was very fairly summarised, and all of the positives were listed, too.

But they came for me, trying to get me to take it down and calling me slurs. It was ridiculous. They were the only ones out of multiple games to do it, too.