During the Great Resignation, when millions of people left the workforce, the phrase “Nobody wants to work anymore” became a common sentiment among HR and business leaders who were having trouble with hiring.

However, as University of Calgary professor and researcher Paul Fairie pointed out referencing newspapers and other publications, these words have been thrown around every decade for at least the past century — going as far back as 1894.

So in an attempt to remind everyone that change starts from within, we went digging through the ‘Antiwork‘ subreddit and put together a list of posts about hypocritical bosses who should take a good look in the mirror before blaming the common folk for being lazy.

#1 F*ck You Boss

Company owner decided to stop paying his drivers so one of them parked their semi on the owners Ferrari and just left it there.

Image credits: Donjuanisit

#2 I’m Still In Shock

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People do want to work. The problem, according to sociologist Dr. Tracy Brower, is that many think of working conditions as primary drivers of wellbeing and engagement, but the work itself also matters.

In her opinion, employers should design positions so that the responsibilities would include more elements than the ones which detract from satisfaction.

“If working with customers or repetitive tasks are hallmarks of the work, consider how the responsibilities could be rotated with other employees so no job is overwhelmed by these characteristics,” Brower explained. “In addition, ensure workloads are realistic, and ensure safety processes are followed without exception.”

#3 Who’s The Boss Now?

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#4 Owner Of Three Restaurants In The Suburbs Of Chicago Asks His Customers To Pay His Wait Staff A Better Wage

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#5 Never Told A Boss Off Like This. And It Felt Amazing

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In addition to the content of the work and what gets done, Brower highlighted that how work gets done is critical to wellbeing too.

“For decades, work-life research has demonstrated when people have more control over when and how they work, their satisfaction, engagement, retention, and effort are positively impacted.”

“While it’s not possible to provide flexibility or choices in work hours for many jobs, wise employers will provide as much control as possible for as many jobs as possible,” the sociologist said.

#6 Quit My Job Last Night, It Was Nice To Be Home To Make The Kids Breakfast And Take Them To School Today! Off To Hunt For A New Opportunity, Wish Me Luck

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#7 It Would Have Taken Everything For Me To Not Hit My Boss If This Was Me

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#8 I Like My Boundaries. F*ck’em

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#9 My Boss Sent Me This Text After Asking To Be Paid

i (21M) work in a very small bakery in upstate NY. my boss (52F) is the owner of the bakery. i get paid under the table in cash. we work alone together a lot of the time, and so we have opened up to each other about a lot of things. when i opened up to her about my family’s financial situation, it was because i trusted her. i did not do so for pity, nor did i expect to have it used against me. lately she has been paying me late, and so occasionally i’ll ask if she’s done payroll bc i need to get food. yesterday she replied with this. i’m speechless.

Image credits: queermarxisttrekkie

Indeed, a recent study from McKinsey & Company demonstrates that people value having more breaks (56%), the ability to take time off (88%), the choice to work specific days or hours (78% and 79% respectively), and the option to work remotely (51%).

Offering these kinds of choices may offer the greatest returns in employees’ satisfaction and retention.

#10 You’re Still Coming In Right?

Not me. On my way home and saw this truck in the ditch. I pulled over to see if he needed help but he was already gone.

But there was another guy in the parking lot talking to his boss on the phone. He had sent him the same picture telling his boss he didn’t feel safe. We talked a bit after he got off the phone. His boss was pissed that he asked to go back home.

Young kid probably 19-20. I told him minimum wage wasn’t worth it. Go home look for something better.

These supervisors, managers, companies don’t understand or don’t give a f**k. Ridiculous.

Image credits: ADeadlyFerret

#11 Is It Normal To Not Want To Discuss The Base Pay?

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#12 I Was 7 Minutes Late To The Friday Morning Meeting

This is a sales meeting we have every single where we literally talk about nothing except “let’s go get some sales today”. I’m a top performer btw

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#13 So My Best Friend Just Got This Email… What The Actual F*ck!?

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#14 This Boss Who Loves A Double Standard

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#15 This Motivational Quote When I Walked In This Morning

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#16 “Entitled Young Generation” She’s The Entitled One

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#17 Boss Makes A Dollar, You Make A Dime, So We Regulate Your Poops On Company Time!

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#18 This Boss Who Expected Their Employee To Change Their Pre-Approved Holiday Plans At The Drop Of A Hat

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#19 This Is The Thermostat In The Office. I Told My Boss That If I’m Going To Work In A Sauna I Do It In The Nude

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#20 Shout Out The Worst Place I Ever Worked (Minimum Wage, Of Course)

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#21 At Work – Where Water Isn’t Free Yo

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#22 My Friend’s Daughter Helped Out A Restaurant For Six Hours, At £10 Per Hour. This Was The Conversation When She Noticed She Was Only Paid £40

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#23 This Was My Boss’s Response To Me Calling In Sick. What Should I Do I Can’t Find A Cover?

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#24 Text I Received From My Boss While Sick In Bed

“I had told her the day before that I was attempting to look but of course nobody wants to cover. She didn’t respond, so I sent a follow-up text and that was the reply I got. What is this joke about making employees find their own coverage while sick? Literally passed out on the floor being told I need to find coverage? Wtf”

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#25 I Was Admitted To The Hospital With Sepsis And My Boss Expected Me To Roll Out Of The Hospital Straight To Work. “Audrey” Is Hr. This Was After 3 Days Of Her Harassing Me Non-Stop About Work

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#26 The Fact This Was Even A Thought Makes Me Sick

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#27 No Phones

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#28 First Day Back After The New Year And These Are Everywhere Haha

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#29 My Girlfriend’s Boss “Fixed” Everyone’s Schedules After They Were Complaining About Not Getting A Lunch Break On Sunday By Making Them Work 10 Minutes Short Of Being Legally Entitled To One

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#30 Please Note The Timestamps. Any Suggestions On How To Deal With This Outrageous Unfairness?

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#31 Boss Brought In Drumsticks For Employee Appreciation

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#32 Line Cook Quit

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#33 My Boss Is A Monster

I work in Environmental Services at a hospital. My boss is a monster. He got mad at me for leaving my coffee cup on the supply shelf and pushed my cleaning cart out the front door and by the flag pole outside. In 18 dehree weather with snow falling.. He then handed me my cup where he wrote- in sharpie- this. He absolutely humiliated me.

I dont get paid enough for this shit. $22 an hour and we bust our asses in the hospital. I started job searching today. Ugh.

Image credits: Odd_Shallot1929

#34 Saw This Email Come In From My Boss

“Recently at work we have gotten 3 new hires, and have had several people leave as well. Most of the people in my department are making 16-17 an hour. Well one of the new hires came and told one of the other employees (who has been with this department for about two years, we’ll call her Hannah) that she was making $19 and the other two new hires were making more than her. (Hannah also has her two weeks in at this point, last day is set to be April 7th.) Hannah then went and told everyone else in the department that they were making several dollars more than the rest of us, who have all been with this company for over a year, never seeing any raises. Word finally got around to our manager, so she pulled Hannah into her office and fired her for talking to everyone else about others wages. The next day we come in to this email from my manager”

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#35 Boss Left This For Us To Find This Morning

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#36 Message From The Boss In The Company Group Chat (Where All Employees Can See)

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#37 Boss Wouldn’t Pay Two Months After She Fired Me. I Had The Audacity Of Asking For The Money I Earned

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#38 This Sub Gave Me The Motivation To Finally Quit My Abusive Job. I May Not Have Health Insurance, But I Feel So Free!

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#39 Boss Wants On Call Without Paying For On Call

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#40 Boss Wants Me To Risk My Life To Go To A Work Dinner

Dangerous snow squall, extraordinary threat to life and property and rapidly failing visibility. Guess I better turn on the fog lights…

Image credits: Anydaynowallen

#41 I Got Fired For The First Time

My boss added extra work on my schedule at 2 o’clock on a Friday for this weekend because SHE decided she didn’t want to work.

She took on last minute clients, but took the day off because even when she doesn’t work she gets 50% of what I make.

I was a DANG good employee. I didn’t even miss when I had the flu. I took my kids when I didn’t have a sitter. The “few weekends” I had off was ONE weekend. which was LAST weekend for my daughters birthday! I worked thanksgiving, the day after, that Saturday, AND my birthday. I’ve worked almost every weekend since September.

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#42 Told My Boss I Quit And He’s Not Going To Pay Me

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#43 A Generous Act By My Boss: Free Very Expired Hershey’s Bars

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#44 Put In My 2 Weeks Becuase Of Poor Working Conditions And Was Fired

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#45 Fact: Shi**y Managers Is Why No One Wants To Work

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#46 Boss Had Me Pick Her Up From Hospital Ama

I worked last night and had to be up in the morning to pick up my boss from the health center she was at. It was AMA. I asked the hospital is she was being discharged. They said no. I had to sign paperwork about responsibility. That made me extremely uncomfortable. I was tired and got there 16 minutes after she signed to go home. She began to yell at me in my car. Telling me how she was my boss and we had an agreement to be there at a certain time. That I shouldn’t have called the hospital or asked any questions. To do what she said. I had to sign a paper and wasn’t aware until I got there. She is a control freak who had to be home to see family who arrived. Family who could have picked her old ass up from the hospital but no she asked me. I’m extremely upset.

From this point on I will refuse to do any favors or run any errands. Old bitch…on Christmas Eve. I also packed my car with her packages and gifts to unload and put in her house. I’m disgusted by this persons behavior.

Just wanted to vent. I’m going to clock in soon.

Image credits: pincheloca1208

#47 Navigating Workplace Insensitivity

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#48 My Supervisor Says I Have To Answer My Phone To Come Into Work On My Days Off. (We Aren’t On Call)

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#49 Micromanaging Boss Want To Weaponize Cc’ing Hr, So I’m Weaponizing State Labor Laws

In reply to an email where she (unnecessarily) CC’d HR and demanded a doctor’s note.

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#50 The Christmas Bag My Boss Gave Us Had Halloween Candy In It

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#51 Boss Threatened To Sick Hr On Me For Not Starting Work Before My Start Time

“Here’s a screenshot of our exchange in Teams where he tries to threaten me with HR intervention for not being in my call queue exactly at 9AM.

Spoiler alert: I never heard a peep from HR lol

Edited to note: my clocking in past 9 is usually somewhere around 9:03 to 9:05 and I’m in the queue 30-60 seconds after I punch in. We’re not talking about excessive tardiness here. And they never seem to notice how many times we get stuck past the end of shift on calls or catching up on tickets. And that’s almost always more than 3-5 minutes.

Of all the managers I’ve had at this place this guy is the douchiest, by far”

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#52 Boss Called My Dr When I Was 17 When I Tested Positive For Covid

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#53 Small Business Owners Are Some Of The Most Entitled People On The Planet. This One Wanted A An Office Manager, Event Organizer/Laborer (12 Hour Shifts) And Social Media Expert All In One

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#54 Effective The Day After We Drove In The Middle Of Snowstorm

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#55 Had A Stroke At Work – Me Almost Dying Inconvenienced My Boss

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#56 I’ve Got No Complaints About My Job Except For This Poster:

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#57 Girlfriend Works 40 Hours A Week, Boss Is Forcing Everyone To Come In On A Sunday To “Deep Clean”

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#58 Girlfriend In Hospital=mad Boss

“At my job it’s the managers responsibility to manage hours and shifts as per the union. In the past I’ve gotten in trouble for giving a shift away without going through him”

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#59 The Fact My Boss Found This Post “Insightful”

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#60 Boss Is Tired Of All The Complaining

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#61 I Left A Bad Job In 2021 With A Resignation Letter. Last Week They Sent Me This

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#62 Boss’ Opinion On Why He’s Having Trouble Hiring Gen Zs

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#63 Ebenezer Scrooge Wasn’t Even As Mean As This Boss

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#64 My Boss Says It’s My Responsibility To “Walk The Office” When She Steals My Sh**

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#65 Boss Tries To Make Me Pay For My Mistake Which Is Illegal In NY, When I Express I Won’t Pay For A One Time Mistake, He Doubles Down And Says This

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#66 Posted On Local Fb Group. Bad Boss Thinks He Can Make Demands Dangling $18/Hour. No Benefits, No Workers Comp, Bonus Of Tax Evasion? It’s Becoming An Employers Market In My Area. Lots Of Lay Offs And Job Postings Seem To Be Fake. Nobody Is Actually Hiring. Just Sucks

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#67 Dunkin’ Donuts Boss After Some Weekend Call Outs

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Source: boredpanda.com