Workplaces owe their employees safety standards and best practices in exchange for their labor. That is literally the bare minimum in any work environment. In the heat of the summer, employees are met with extreme temperatures, especially those employees who work in customer service or hospitality and are on their feet most of the day. You can leave the air conditioner blasting all you want, but proper attire is also necessary when the environment around you is especially oppressive temperature-wise.

The solution? Comfortable workwear. It's not rocket science—designing a uniform that is presentable and comfortable for employees requires very little thought, but begs for understanding the employees' feedback. If you're not listening to what your employees have to say, whether that be negative or positive feedback, then you shouldn't be in a managerial position.

The boss in this next story sure shouldn't be. He's expecting his employees to wear ill-fitting clothes that are not breathable. In warm weather, the employees feel as though they're slowly suffocating. Sounds like an OSHA violation to me. Scroll below to read the full story.

Most people who are told they won't be working overtime at their new job are inclined to believe their bosses. That's why this employee was taken aback when, just a few months into their new role, they were pressured to stay after hours despite the fact that this was not an "all hands on deck" situation.

Thankfully, the employee decided that they weren't going to back down, especially since this overtime request was a last-minute one and the author likely already made plans. Besides, they had the self-confidence to know that they were the only person on their team who knew how to perform certain functions. As such, if their boss didn't exactly like the fact that their new hire wasn't going to work overtime for him, surely he still couldn't fire them, given how indispensable they were to the whole team, right? Oh, how wrong this employee was! It turns out that one should never underestimate the power of a boss's fragile ego…

Startup culture isn't exactly for the faint of heart. Most folks who have started out in that world know all too well that when you make the commitment to work at a startup, you're already taking a risk. You are agreeing to spend far too many hours a week working and potentially taking on responsibilities that should, in theory, be shared by an entire team of people. What you are also agreeing to is the strong possibility that the business is going to run out of funding and that it will fail to get off the ground. 

It's a common reality that everyone who works in that small universe is likely to experience the effects of, at least tangentially, at some point in their professional careers. Unfortunately for this author, who joined his startup toward the very beginning of the business's gestation period as the company's third employee, he was also dealing with a flaky and manipulative CEO on top of all those other risks. 

Essentially, once the business started to be in jeopardy, the employee's boss disappeared and ghosted him for weeks on end. Clearly, that's not the type of leadership strategy that boosts morale or inspires confidence. When he resurfaced, the inevitable happened, although the CEO tried to frame the business's failures as a result of the author's actions. 

Corporate life sells itself as a meritocracy, yet the surest path to a corner desk remains sharing a surname with the boss. Nepotism slips into the office like an unvetted software update, slowing every process while insisting it improves productivity. The marketing firm in question once ran on coffee and quiet competence, now it runs on sighs measured in billable hours.  

Mindless work for a paycheck is something that might appeal to a great many people, but that's before exploring the reality of that situation. The reality is living your working days in a mindless fugue state where there is nothing changing from day to day, there is no growth, nothing learned, and very little to nothing produced that you're proud of.

On the flip side, if you're being challenged by your work and allowed (and allowing yourself) to take new risks and tackle new challenges trying new things when you look back at the course of your work and portfolio, you come to find that there is a breadth of work you're proud of and have learned from sweeping out behind you.

We inherently are more productive and feel better when we have something motivating us and pushing us forward, and autonomy and empowerment—a purpose.

That's why being told by a micromanaging supervisor to just "stick to the script" and closely follow the prohibitive process can be grinding. For those truly looking to switch off and earn a paycheck, perhaps this is a blessing, but for the rest of us, it is stifling.

When this young worker was told by her new supervisor to stick to the script under threat of a write-up, she was sure to follow orders. But, in doing so, she took on a persona that matched the robotic nature of the script she was being forced to read, eventually leading to her boss being forced to backpedal.

Sometimes, even when you think you are done with certain people, and you've done quite literally everything in the books to ensure they will never bother you again, they find new ways to get under your skin.

It often happens with people who are physically always there, out of your control. Family members, coworkers, or neighbors are a few examples of people who, even if you do everything in your power to avoid them, you still can't be rid of completely. You still have to see them in family gatherings, at work, or across the street from your house. 

So what can you do to avoid seeing their faces as much as possible?

Well, if your people are anything like the entitled neighbor in the story below, you can actually get a restraining order, like this neighbor did after the last dispute when the neighbors' kids jumped the fence to use a private pool. Unfortunately, as the story below proves, even a restraining order is not always enough to get rid of neighbors like these.

PTO is one of the greatest perks a job can offer. Especially in a world where work-life balance feels more like a myth than a standard. Having the ability to step away from your desk without losing pay or getting dirty looks from your boss is the dream. Whether you're using your days off to go on a trip, run errands, recover from burnout, or sit in complete silence with your phone on Do Not Disturb… paid time off is sacred. And if you're lucky enough to work somewhere that also offers flexibility, like remote work options or flexible hours, you've hit the job jackpot. But as we all know, not every manager actually honors these perks, even when they're written in black and white.

Oh boy, that job market, am I right? Interview after interview and you still feel stuck in the mud. But there is hope yet! One Redditor found a fun little hack to get the job—and it involves roasting the CEO.

Yup, you heard that correct. The guy doesn't suggest doing this any change you get, but he does encourage being completely honest during an interview. Still try to be as professional and diplomatic as possible. But if they're serving you bs, you should probably let the chef know, ya know? This guy really let the company he was interviewing for have it after he got asked the infamous question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" A generic question that, honestly, no company really has any business asking. Like, they're interview for the job, that should be enough proof that this person wants to work here…