If you’re a fan of The Office, Superstore, Parks and Recreation, or any of the other countless sitcoms set in a work environment, you probably know that you’re not alone in having some colleagues that you can’t stand. We can laugh at these fictional employees’ pain when they’re infuriated by a coworker because we know the feeling all too well. In fact, according to a Comparably survey, it is so common to work with someone that drives you crazy that one in three workers admitted to considering leaving their jobs altogether due to their disdain for a colleague.

So what are the worst workplace habits, and how can we be sure to avoid picking them up ourselves? Well, lucky for us, Reddit users have recently been spilling all of the workplace behaviors they refuse to tolerate in a thread on r/AskWomen. Below, we’ve gathered many of their passionate responses, so be sure to upvote all of the answers calling out behavior that would send you immediately running to HR as well. 

Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article discussing some of the most toxic behaviors taking place in many work environments, you can find that right here. (And if you need to passive aggressively send this article to your colleagues after reading it, don’t worry. We won’t judge you!)

#1

Managers not communicating clearly and then getting angry that you didn’t do exactly what they wanted when they didn’t tell you what they wanted in the first place.

Image credits: Sage–Fox

#2

I’m in healthcare, and I cannot tolerate people who treat patients like an inconvenience. I know some of them (and their families) can be a PITA, but if you can’t handle some of that every now and again, it’s time to change careers.

Image credits: Trixie6102

#3

Idk if this counts but I hate the social pressure to go to office parties/happy hours/whatever. I came to work not spend money and socialize.

Image credits: ggpopart

#4

Bullies. We have a group of grown a*s mean girls at my work and I can’t f*****g stand them. Full grown, 30+ year old highschool bullies.

Image credits: highly_uncertain

#5

Martyrdom. “I worked until 8pm last night unpaid”. (Teacher here). What staff like this are doing is the reason teachers are underpaid and overstretched

Image credits: mycatshavehumannames

#6

Slack messages that say just “Hi” and wait for me to respond before telling me what they need.

It’s asynchronous communication, people. Just say what you need to say.

Image credits: UnobtrusiveHippo

#7

My manager often has a poor attitude in the mornings and it’s super demoralizing for me.

Also, I wish more managers would push gratitude and say “thanks for your work today” or express more positive feedback than just criticism.

Image credits: hello_goonie

#8

Casual racism or misogynism.

Image credits: kristinabry04

#9

The idea that everyone is on call all the time for all things. Yes, emergencies do happen and certain people are responsible for that – Head of Security and there was a security breach? Yes call them at 2am on their vacation. Head of Legal and the CEO just got served, yes call them when they’re home sick. However, Manager can’t find a file they wanted to peruse to “get ahead of things”? Yeah, don’t call your secretary at her daughter’s graduation.

Image credits: apostate456

#10

Glorifying being overworked as if it’s an accomplishment. Working 76 hours when you’re scheduled for 40 is not an accomplishment. You’re being overworked and abused by management and because people tolerate it and glorify it – they then think it can pass for each employee they have. It does for a while but then you end up understaffed because a lot of people cannot keep up with the demand.

Also, sexual harassment and comments in the workplace.

While working as a server a cook specified to another like cook about how easily all of our servers could be raped. I was 23 but most of my server gals were 16-18. I reported him to management and was told to mind my business.

#11

Taking credit for other’s work, or blaming their poor work on others. Like we can see the tags on the file and know it was you who did it or not.

Image credits: janeofthedarkraven

#12

I would love to get away from the idea that the only justifiable reasons to set a boundary are either that 1) you’re deathly ill or 2) you already owe your time to somebody else (a kid, a parent, etc).

It’s okay if I don’t want to work every weekend because I value my social life and my rest. The commitments I make to myself still count.

Image credits: clocksailor

#13

Saying mean/gossipy things about coworkers when they’re not around, then being nice to them when they are.

Image credits: neuro_illogical

#14

someone who thinks they’re a manager when they’re not. for example the chode who was just hired after me who tried to shake me down about my break schedule. go f**k yourself please and thank you

Image credits: PrismaticWatermelon

#15

Micromanaging.

Image credits: drunkenknitter

#16

Favoritism

Image credits: brownsugga05

#17

Acting like this is high school, reporting me because I don’t want to talk about your personal life with you (yes this happened and my boss laughed it off obviously).

Image credits: evaj95

#18

Microwaving fish in a communal kitchen. Only monsters do it.

Image credits: smk3509

#19

The people where if you make a mistake, they won’t tell you to your face but via email so that they can CC a higher up or the rest of the team.

Image credits: UncleKodeia

#20

I feel like private information should, if at all, be volunteered and it’s inappropriate to ask. I had my first child younger than is typical for my culture and random coworkers I met that day (that knew I had a kid based of a Mother’s Day present on my desk) asked me if he was planned. Get a grip, we’re not hanging out, we‘re working together.

Image credits: abv1401

#21

Inability to follow directions or accept constructive criticism. It’s vital to the work that I do. I let new employees go the second I see it.

Image credits: gagirlpnw

#22

Weaponized Incompetence. If I don’t know how to do something I just google it. So when someone tries to feign ignorance on a standard task they should be able to do, it really pisses me off. Especially since they are usually trying to get me to do their task. Stop trying to p**n off tasks to others & just do your job. I’ll 100% show you how to do the task, but the second someone goes “but you can do it so much faster!!!” my blood boils… like you could learn and do it just as fast as me…but you’re a lazy piece of s**t trying to get me to do your job. I have now started to create tutorials and just send them that as a response. Works well so far and they can’t complain…like what are you going to say? “She won’t do these simple tasks for me anymore like she used to!!” Just do your job and stop bothering others to do it for you.

#23

Entitlement and passive aggressive behaviors.

Image credits: TinaBelcherUhhhhhh

#24

Constant, pointless (almost nattering like) small talk from specific people.

I don’t want to hear about your favorite pie and debate if it’s the best flavor or not.

Image credits: funambitions-823

#25

Commenting on what I’m eating! like be quiet. I didn’t ask you, lady.

This is usually accompanied by my second pet peeve. Commenting on my weight. I’m not super thin anymore. I’m average weight now. But I used to be abnormally thin. I also used to have an eating disorder. So, I’d get women in the breakroom like “Where do you put it? Where does it all go? Hardy-Har”-in the toilet, Janet. It will be thrown up into the toilet and your comments aren’t helping.

#26

Acting as though your grumpy “I haven’t had my coffee yet” tantrums are a personality trait

Image credits: No-Individual-393

#27

Management neglecting mental health

Image credits: Impressive-Squash669

#28

The ‘better than you’ attitude because they work in a ‘better’ department.
Drives me nuts!

Image credits: Barnacle98

#29

Sexist jokes. I hear it from my superiors. I look at the men laughing to please them. Boils my blood. Because i am just the moody woman who needs to lighten the f**k up. No sir i don’t think your boomer women do be shoppin jokes are funny

Image credits: killtheded

#30

Inability to admit fault.

I’m a server and in every restaurant, every night, emotions run incredibly high. Everyone is in each other’s business, it’s a fast pace high pressure environment with a lot of BIG personalities all competing for very little space. It can be cutthroat at times, and with most restaurants margins are tight so small mistakes can be pretty heavy. Everyone loses their temper, everyone lashes out, everyone makes mistakes that make everyone else’s life harder for a while.

It’s so crucial that both my coworkers and my bosses can take a moment afterwards and admit when they were the one who s**t the bed on that one, I have a lot of tolerance for other people’s f**k ups, even when they make my life harder, I have a lot of patience and forgiveness but I need to feel like the ways my life got worse are acknowledged.

I had a POS boss at my last job who was incapable of admitting fault and it’s why I left. She refused to ever just say “sorry.” And move on, it was always “well if you hadn’t…….. If the expo was….. If the kitchen hadn’t……Well I didn’t know that…..”

Over it now, but she chased me out of a job I truly loved and I held a lot of anger about it for a long time.

Image credits: cruncheweezy

#31

fake deadlines

#32

Speaking condescendingly to someone simply because they’re younger than you are

Image credits: liltatofren

#33

Coworkers sharing too much about their personal and sexual lives. If I had a dollar for every time a coworker took me for their therapist or sex therapist, I would have a lot of money!

#34

Retaliation. It creates a workplace where actual concerns cannot be brought up without fear of management making things much worse, rather than everyone working to fix things for the better. It leads to the good employees quietly finding other jobs and an ever growing toxicity of the remaining workplace.

#35

Trying to push your personal junk on your coworkers…

We’re here to work, not to be recruited to your religion, political loyalty, personal health decisions, or join you pyramid scheme.

We had a chick that actively tried to convert the office every single day… and while I was aware we all thought she was nuts, I made a point to tell every employee under me that mentioned it to me, that she’s entitled to her opinions and beliefs and she technically wasn’t doing anything wrong by talking about it non-stop, even if none of us wanted to hear it. She did her job to the best of her abilities and that’s all I ask of my staff… but I’d be lying if I said we didn’t all breathe a sigh of relief when she gave her notice. She still comes in from time to time to say hi, but the office is so much quieter now…. It’s nice to have an office of people who are all on the same page, but often you don’t… I just tell my office we’re not here to debate loyalties, we’re here to do accounting, and numbers have no loyalties.

Image credits: OctoLlama88

#36

As a POC I cannot tolerate bullying and disrespect. It’s a reoccurring issue that many POC experience at the hands of non-poc people. It’s a huge problem in corporate and it’s pretty disgusting how some people talk down and disrespect others and no one holds the bullies accountable.

Image credits: ufotop

Source: boredpanda.com