Story Of The Day: I Think It's Time To Expose Toxic Work Environments I've Been In

A healthy work environment produces satisfaction, well-being, and good relationships between colleagues. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Sometimes we feel frustrated, tired, and unmotivated.

It may even happen that we don't want to go to work because of a colleague, a boss, or the air we breathe in general. A toxic work environment can have very negative consequences on us.

I have had experiences with a toxic work environment, and it's time to share some of these. Learning to understand if you too live in a toxic work environment will be of great help to protect you and prevent you from becoming impregnated with that toxicity.

The Boss Who Owed Salaries

I started working at a pageantry agency. Few weeks down the line, I heard about salaries being owed. Previous staff members had been owed for as long as eight months. I didn't let that deter me, and after the first month, my salary came in on time, and that gave me hope. Fast forward to three months later; they sent us to another city for a job.

On getting there, we realized they had not planned for proper accommodation. Besides that, the month ended without any of us getting paid. We threatened to leave the job, and our team got paid. By the end of the following month, they owed again. After threatening to sue, I had to resign, and I got my salary after two months after leaving.

Not Leaving Before The Boss?

At another job, the boss expected staff always to stay behind as long as she was still in the office. This did not go down well with me as I always left once work hours were over and have completed my tasks for the day.

After being seen as a rebel, I had to quit the job because there was no way I would stay beyond office hours, doing nothing, not having a life, and not getting paid overtime.

Staff Not Servants!

I had a boss who invited us to his house for a party. On getting there, I saw my colleagues and other guests. When the waiters wanted to serve food to us, the staff, his wife, asked them not to serve us just yet.

This was not even an issue. The real problem came when his wife expected us to join the waiters and serve. She wanted her guests to eat before we got our food. The worse was seeing my colleague cooking with the cooking staff. That was the last straw for me.

Morning Devotion, Really?

This is a funny one! Imagine getting to work and seeing everyone gathered around having their morning devotion after past 8 am! This was a shocking work culture for me.

What worsened it was the fact that the boss didn't care about your religious beliefs. She expected everyone to join in the prayers because she was a Christian. If you didn't attend the devotion, she would deduct your salary. That was the most hilarious thing ever!

Verbally Abusive Boss

Oh boy! This lady would scream and hurl insults at staff when they did something wrong. She never did this to me, but I also did not wait around long enough to know if it would have been my turn any day.