Latest news with #workplaceissues
Fox News
06-07-2025
- Fox News
Man buys locked mini-fridge after food thefts, gets called 'weird and selfish' by co-workers
An employee's lunch theft woes – and his drastic solution – recently drew attention online in a tale that other office workers may relate to or understand. In a viral post on Reddit, the employee said his workplace offers a communal kitchen with one fridge. "Over the past month, my lunch has been stolen five times," the Reddit user said. "Not just random snacks. Entire homemade meals I bring from home, gone without a trace." He added, "It's not just frustrating, it's expensive and messes up my day." In an office group chat, the worker asked the unknown lunch thief to stop — but no one took responsibility. His solution? The desk jockey bought a mini-fridge and placed it under his desk, complete with a lock "just for extra peace of mind." "Since then, no more stolen lunches," he wrote in his post. "I said I was tired of my food being stolen." But his solution was not well-received. The Redditor reported that one of his co-workers confronted him and called the fridge "weird and selfish." "She said it made me 'look paranoid' and 'not part of the team,'" the original poster recalled. "I said I was tired of my food being stolen, and this was the only solution that worked." He added, "She said I should've just brought stuff I wouldn't care about losing, like snacks or microwave meals, if I was so worried." Since then, the employee has been subjected to snide remarks about locking up his lunch, he said, and he's "starting to feel like the weirdo in the office just for protecting my stuff." He asked others if he was wrong for "locking up my lunch instead of letting this keep happening?" Commenters on the post, which attracted over 20,000 upvotes, almost unanimously sided with the frustrated office worker. "[S]ounds like [the other co-worker] is hangry now that she doesn't have free lunch," one person wrote. "When you work in an office and have a communal kitchen, stealing someone else's food is not only childish and sneaky, but completely disrespectful." "I'd immediately get in contact with HR about theft and bullying," a second user said. "Just give the same energy back," another person advised. "They are treating it like a joke, so keep it at a joke level. Don't be serious." Others thought the story was so outrageous it had to have been fabricated. "There's no way this is real lol," one person speculated. "Which AI did you use to write this story?" another said. Fox News Digital spoke with Diane Gottsman, a Texas-based etiquette expert, to determine whether the office worker overreacted to the loss of his lunches. "When you work in an office and have a communal kitchen, stealing someone else's food is not only childish and sneaky, but completely disrespectful," Gottsman advised. "Taking something from the kitchen, from a cabinet, from a shelf or anywhere else is theft. Whether it's a sandwich, a stapler, or money." "It shows a lack of consideration," the decorum pro added. "This person attempted to bring it to everyone's attention by mentioning it in a group chat, but perhaps another option would be to go directly to the supervisor to address it more formally." Gottsman, who owns the etiquette-focused Protocol School of Texas, said the office seemed to be "full of cliques and bullies." "People making comments about a small fridge under someone's desk is petty," she observed. "It's simply not their business, much like any other item someone would bring to the office, like a fan or a favorite lamp for their desk." Gottsman added, "And, in this case, no, it was not in poor taste. They are trying to bring their lunch, purchased a small fridge they put under their desk, out of sight, and added a lock because there are strong indicators that food has been taken and it could happen again." Gottsman encouraged the office worker to keep his chin up, and that the office bullies "will move on to another office situation." She suggested, "Get with the supervisor, manager, owner of the company or HR to use your voice positively and respectfully." "Taking something from the kitchen, from a cabinet, from a shelf or anywhere else is theft — whether it's a sandwich, a stapler or money."
Independent Singapore
08-06-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
‘Just seeing her gives me cold sweat' — Accountant wants to quit her job after just one year because her supervisor blames her for everything that goes wrong
SINGAPORE: A 25-year-old accountant is thinking about leaving her job after just one year due to ongoing issues with her supervisor. Posting on r/askSingapore, she shared that although the job itself isn't terrible and comes with generous benefits like 20 days of annual leave, the daily interactions with her only direct supervisor have taken a toll on her mental well-being. 'My only and direct supervisor has been really hard to work with,' she wrote. 'An example being how she loves to accuse that it MUST be me messing up the printer settings when I don't receive it in my mail.' In another incident, the accountant said she was blamed for misplacing a client's cheque book, only for it to be found later on her supervisor's cluttered desk. The accountant added that, despite desperately wanting to quit, she's afraid that leaving her job so soon might affect her reputation when applying for new roles. She wrote, 'I'm worried that it will look bad in my CV that I'm changing jobs even though I stayed for a year. A friend told me that for my age group, it is very common to be job-hopping, and I shouldn't worry too much. But I would still like to get insights from HR/job recruiters if it will affect the rate of my being hired?' She ended the post by seeking advice from HR professionals and recruiters, asking if staying only a year in her current role would reduce her chances of getting hired elsewhere. 'I appreciate any feedback. I would love to take the step forward because just seeing my supervisor causes me enormous stress that I'd get cold sweat by her calling my name.' 'Better things are out there; no harm in just giving it a try!' In the comments, many assured the accountant that leaving her job after a year is not unusual, especially given the circumstances. Several users, including those who work in human resources or recruitment, explained that staying in a role for at least a year is generally seen as acceptable. One recruiter commented, 'One year is fine; your reason for leaving to be shared with your next prospective employer could simply be looking for better opportunities.' Another shared, 'HR here. If it's the start of your career or if this is the only instance, it's perfectly fine. My suggestion, however, is to start looking. And if the company you are interviewing at asks why you're leaving, say there are no active push factors, but the pull factor that attracted me to your company is (insert some random stuff).' Others shared their own experiences of quitting jobs within a year and still managing to secure better opportunities afterwards. One said, 'My peers and I have changed jobs even with less than one year tenure. Also, there are places with more than 20 days of AL. Better things are out there; no harm in just giving it a try!' In other news, a nursing student took to Reddit to express her frustration over the negative perceptions people have of her chosen career. In her post titled 'Why are nurses so poorly regarded in society despite how hard they work?', the student shared that whenever she tells someone she is studying nursing in a polytechnic, she often receives a 'judgy look.' Some even go so far as to ask whether nursing was her 'first choice.' Read more: 'Why is nursing looked down on?' Student in Singapore pushes back against tired stereotypes Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
Irish Times
08-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Design & Crafts Council Ireland lost half of its workforce in 2024
About half of the staff working at Design & Crafts Council Ireland left the organisation last year. A total of 24 employees have resigned between the period 2021 to 2024. The figures were released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and seen by The Irish Times. Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) is the national agency for craft and design and, according to its website, it aims to 'support designers and makers to develop their businesses in a sustainable way, and advocate for the societal benefits of craft and design'. Its activities are funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland. The data released shows that one employee retired in 2020 while there was also a redundancy. There were eight resignations in 2021 as well as one redundancy. READ MORE There were seven resignations in 2022, alongside three redundancies and one retirement. In 2023, one employee resigned while another had their job terminated. Last year, there were eight resignations and three redundancies. DCCI said the average number of employees last year was 22. Overall staff numbers have averaged between 23 and 30 since 2020. During the period 2020 to 2024, three members of staff were part-time while all others were full-time. Four employees have brought cases to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). 'DCCI is unable to comment on the nature of any of the cases, but all have been concluded,' it stated. Jim Sheridan of Fórsa trade union, which represents a number of DCCI employees, said WRC cases it was involved in related to 'various employment issues'. The council said that staff have left the organisation over recent years for 'a number of varied reasons'. 'They left in the main to pursue other interests, or to retire, while a small number availed of voluntary severance. Significant restructuring and change programmes in mature organisations often result in staff turnover of this nature,' it said. In relation to 2025, two new staff members did not successfully complete their probationary period and were not retained while a third employee 'left the organisation to take a role located closer to where they live'. The organisation also said there has been a 'very significant restructuring of its functions and its team' over the past four years in line with its new strategic focus. In 2021, DCCI worked with KPMG to develop a new five-year strategy for the organisation. The strategy was launched following 'extensive consultation with the sector and key stakeholders, and DCCI's board formally adopted this new strategic plan'. DCCI threatened legal action against glass artist Róisín de Buitléar over a critical feedback report she sent on behalf of up to 20 other members earlier this year. The report was in relation to their experience of participating in the Collect 24 exhibition in London. In 2022, nine former DCCI employees wrote to the Department of Enterprise and then tánaiste Leo Varadkar, as well as to the board, to flag their concern at the high turnover of staff and request a review of the organisation's HR and workplace procedures. Rosemary Steen stepped down as chief executive of the council last summer after more than four years in the role to become director of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) said DCCI is an independent organisation that receives funding through Enterprise Ireland (EI), while a service level agreement is in place. 'This provides the framework for agreement of service levels and performance management in respect of the funding provided by EI on behalf of DETE to the Design and Crafts Council Ireland,' it said.
Irish Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Bust-ups and burnout: Let our experts help you deal with workplace conflict
Are you concerned about your job's security amid Trump tariffs and an uncertain economic outlook? Have you felt let down by your employer's internal processes? Perhaps you are burnt out due to an increasing workload? Or maybe you are considering leaving your company altogether due to a drive to return to the office. We want to hear from you about any work-related issues you want to put to our panel of experts. We have received many queries on working from home, detailing unique challenges in having to spend more and more time in the office, or dealing with the isolation felt by some while working from home. We want to hear more. READ MORE Has your employer called for a greater presence in the office? What effect has this had on you? You might have found that hybrid working arrangements have led to a collapse of workplace relationships and friendships. Other queries have spanned private and public pensions, feeling overqualified for specific roles, inappropriate behaviour in the office, or being the subject of allegations of misconduct, resulting in suspension . Work-related stress and burnout queries are coming in at an increasing rate, which experts say are on the rise. Have you experienced these? Perhaps you are unhappy in your current role and want to see what else is on offer, particularly in this employees' market in a country at near full employment. Conflict arising from hybrid working arrangements , which can often result in allegations of workplace bullying, is also on the rise, according to our panel of experts. Have you experienced such conflict and want to know more on how to handle it? Maternity-leave related queries and parental leave worries, flawed internal grievance processes , and recruitment and promotion-related queries have also been dealt with by our panel of experts. Alongside employees, managers and employers grappling with a sometimes unhappy workforce have sought advice on navigating hybrid working arrangements, challenges in retaining talent and even handling social gatherings outside of the office . Finding new ways of coping with conflict is an ever-present challenge, as even very experienced people in charge of their career trajectory will often find themselves coming home each night with a tale of woe to offload on their partner. The intensity of such experience is clearly often worsened as people take on more responsibility through promotion and years spent in a particular working environment. But people at the start of their careers can easily find themselves in even more testing environments. This column has sought to specialise in finding new ways to effectively bypass or solve such issues, and readers have proven hugely interested in how peers approach such scenarios, how they would themselves react in these situations, and deal with perceptions of blame. A remarkable example of workplace conflict involved a HR executive suffering from burnout - a phenomenon such staff are typically supposed to solve, not get caught up in. Please use our attached form to send in any workplace queries that you may have. We do everything to ensure your details are anonymised where necessary in published responses. We seek expert responses from the most relevant people to ensure clear-sighted, accessible advice. [ Your work questions answered: If offered another job during maternity leave, what are my rights for taking the rest of it? Opens in new window ] Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less, and please include a phone number. Your name and contact details are kept confidential and will only be used for verification purposes. Any details about your employer will also be anonymised. Please note we may not publish a response to every submission we receive. This column is not intended to replace professional advice and only questions selected for publication can be answered.
Forbes
16-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
What Is A Soft Promotion? Why 'Title Change Only' Roles Are Rising
Congratulations, you have more responsibility without additional income. It happens more than you might think. According to the Wall Street Journal, a 2024 study by Pearl Meyer found that 13% of employers reported offering promotions without salary increases, up from 8% in 2018. This trend, often referred to as a soft promotion, dry promotion, or quiet promotion, reflects a growing workplace reality. Employees are handed bigger roles, new titles, and heavier expectations, without the compensation, recognition, or support they expected would come with advancement. It's easy to give away a title. It costs nothing. Giving away money requires budget approval. I know this from experience. I was once told I had a new title but that the raise would come later. I was asked to update my email signature and carry out the new duties. Six months passed, and I was then informed that not only was I not getting a raise, but the title had never officially been approved in the first place. What was framed as a career step forward turned out to be something else entirely. What Is A Soft Promotion? getty A soft promotion happens when someone takes on more responsibilities, leads higher-stakes projects, or begins functioning at a more senior level, yet sees no official recognition or increase in compensation. Sometimes a title is given with no pay. Sometimes the title never even changes. Either way, the role expands, the person delivers, but the organization does not follow through with tangible acknowledgment. These types of promotions are usually informal. There is no official job posting, no HR announcement, and no documentation of what success in the new role looks like. It often begins with a compliment that feels like trust. A leader says something like, 'You're the only one I know who can take this on.' That may be true, but when that assignment turns into an ongoing set of expectations with no clarity, reward, or path forward, the appreciation fades quickly. Who Is A Likely Target For A Soft Promotion? getty In my case, I was not the only person who experienced a soft promotion. Another woman on my team went through the same thing. We were both the dependable ones. The ones who always stepped up, never said no, and didn't make waves. My boss once described her as a soldier. He said she would run up the hill without question if you asked her to. That is exactly the kind of person who ends up doing more than what they were hired to do, often without the respect or recognition that their contributions warrant. Sometimes the person accepting the soft promotion is eager to move up the ladder. They see the title as a sign of prestige. In reality, it can have the opposite effect. When others see someone accepting more responsibility without compensation, it sets a precedent. The company may start to assume that the work will get done either way. Promotions become about convenience, not growth. The person ends up over-committed and underappreciated. Why Soft Promotion Happens More Than You Think getty In many cases, soft promotions are not malicious. They are often the result of stretched teams and limited resources. Leaders may genuinely appreciate the employee and assume the recognition is enough. But the truth is that assumptions around appreciation and loyalty can backfire. Without structure or a follow-up plan, these temporary adjustments become long-term expectations. Companies under budget pressure may decide to delay raises but keep assigning new work. The justification might be that the person is being tested or given a chance to prove themselves. But in far too many cases, that follow-up conversation never happens. The role gets heavier, the compensation stays the same, and the person begins to wonder if they have been taken for granted. The Impact Of Soft Promotion On Motivation getty When someone is promoted without clear terms, motivation erodes. Recognition is about more than a title. It provides clarity. When someone is doing more but unsure where they stand, their engagement begins to drop. In my research on what inhibits curiosity, one pattern came up repeatedly. People hesitate to ask questions, offer suggestions, or take initiative because they fear they will be punished with more work and no reward. The phrase I heard most often was, 'Why would I raise my hand? I'll just get stuck with extra responsibility.' That kind of thinking shuts down growth. When people fear that being curious will get them overloaded or used, they stay quiet. Organizations lose ideas, energy, and innovation not because people lack talent but because they no longer trust that their contributions will be respected. Gallup has reported that a lack of recognition remains one of the top reasons employees leave their jobs. It is not that people need constant praise, but they would like to know their efforts are being seen and whether they are leading to a real path forward. Why Leaders Should Pay Attention To This Pattern getty If your high performers seem tired, disengaged, or no longer eager to raise their hand, it may be because they have taken on more than their original role required. Job descriptions rarely keep up with what someone actually does over time. When someone has picked up the pieces after a layoff, stepped into an interim leadership role, or covered a gap for another team, it is easy to overlook how much they are carrying. Leaders who recognize soft promotion and address it directly will earn trust. That could be through a compensation review, an official title change, or a timeline for when that conversation will take place. Clarity and follow-through are what matter. A short conversation that validates the extra work and sets expectations can change how someone sees their future at your company. Avoiding that conversation, on the other hand, sends the message that loyalty is a liability. How Employees Can Respond To A Soft Promotion getty If you find yourself in a role that has quietly expanded without acknowledgment, the first step is to start documenting your contributions. Keep track of what you have taken on, the results you have delivered, and how your responsibilities have shifted from your original job description. Bring this into a conversation with your manager. Ask whether your role has officially changed and if there is a plan to evaluate it. Ask when you can revisit the discussion if compensation is not possible right away. Put a future date on the calendar. Do not settle for general statements about revisiting it later. Ask what will be evaluated and how success will be measured. When you treat the conversation with clarity and professionalism, it becomes easier for the other side to do the same. There are moments when saying yes to more responsibility can help you grow. It can give you exposure to decision-makers, let you develop new skills, or position you for a stronger role later. But that only works when there is a plan in place. The difference between a real opportunity and a soft promotion that goes nowhere is follow-through. People leave when their contribution is taken for granted. The companies that keep talent are the ones that recognize effort and reward it with action. If you are handing someone a new title, make sure the title means something. If you are asking someone to take on more, show them where that path leads. Responsibility without recognition is an exit strategy waiting to happen.
