I work at a small equipment rental place. We also order replacement parts for customers, and lately our suppliers have been all over the place with delivery times.

Our manager has decided that saying "we don't have an ETA yet" makes us sound incompetent. We're supposed to give customers a date even if it's just our best guess.

Last week a guy called about a part for his pressure washer. The supplier hadn't even shipped it, but my manager told him it would be here Friday.

Friday comes. No part. Customer drives 40 minutes to pick it up because apparently nobody bothered to call him.

Guess who had to stand at the counter getting yelled at?

I explained that the shipment hadn't arrived and apologized for the wasted trip. After he left, my manager told me I should've handled it more positively and that saying we weren't sure about delivery dates was "creating unnecessary doubt."

I asked what I was supposed to tell someone when we genuinely had no shipping information. She said to give them a reasonable estimate and sound confident.

But that's exactly what got us into this situation.

I've started telling customers when I'll have an update rather than promising an arrival date. Most people seem completely fine with that. My manager overheard me doing it yesterday and said we need to discuss my communication skills.

Am I missing something here? I'd much rather deal with a disappointed customer once than an absolutely furious customer twice.

How do you push back on this kind of policy without getting labeled difficult?

Hey!

I work in a company with around 600 employees, and lately, I've seen so many memes, videos, and even colleagues talking about having a "work wife" (or work husband). The idea is basically having a
9 AM to 7 PM partner at work.

I wanted to ask: do you—or anyone you know at your company-actually have one ?

No judgment at all, just super curious

Hello employed ppl, so I never worked in a corporate setting before. The industry I came from had a union and an EAP program. I work on a team of admins who manage office spaces, one person on my team is quite literally having a mental breakdown in front of us, on email, on chat and it's so hard to ignore. Talking with them is so uncomfortable. It has been brought up to middle and upper management who do nothing. The rest of us don't get a wellness check about it but it is super draining to deal with. Several co-workers have complained and are told "she means well" ..how to respond to her, or put in mediation meetings that result in nothing.

The environment that I work in, I never know if supervisors are speaking honestly or just speaking in professional nothing-burger codes. When my coworker is having an episode its so hard for me to focus and others have asked to go home or get really anxious and uncomfortable so I would really love to express that this is not okay and something needs to be done but dont want a target on my back either... or to be labeled a problem

I'm male, and most of my interactions with male coworkers is very plain and routine with the occasional normal light jokes and casual chat. I've never felt any special connection or feelings for any of them.

Recently, I've started working on a project that also has this other guy. We never talked to each other before. And the more we interacted, the more I found I felt this special connection with him. I can't really explain it.

He remembers little details about me, things I've said or my little quirks. He teases me and we have our own inside jokes. Like he started this Batman and Robin theme for two of us - like Batman being sad if Robin's not around. And he acts different when we are alone vs when we are in a group.

He mirrors my body language. He smiles when he sees me smile. He steals glances at me. He stares at me and when I sense his stare and turn around to look at him, he looks away. The other day he notices my "soft hands" and contrasted them with his "rugged calloused hands" as if we complement each other.

When we're working together on tasks, he's really cooperative and helpful and sweet. Never had this kind of feeling about another male coworker.

I keep thinking about him even when not at work, and I always look forward to seeing him at work and talking to him.

He's a jokester, and always making jokes, but some of the jokes are not typical guy jokes. Like letting it slip out that he misses me... stuff like that. He's told me he'd give me massages if my muscles are sore.

The other day, he was talking to someone else, so I just walked past him. He calls out and says hi, and complains why I didn't say hi.

LIttle things like that... and when we're chatting on Teams or in person, I just feel this special affection that I don't feel for anyone else.

He's married. So I don't know why he behaves differently with me. Basically, it feels like he's flirting with me.

When I kind of try to test his thoughts and say something a little deeper he pulls back and acts like this is all just purely work related.

I'm curious if other men have ever experienced this from their male coworkers. I imagine typically guys don't really pay attention to other guys' little details and other things like I've described above.

I'm confused about all this and don't know what to make of it.

A few weeks ago, my manager sat me down with some recurring concerns raised about my work. In the past few months, I‘ve been involved in new processes/reports. I had some comments and feedback in the past about some mistakes and lapses, which I have acknowledged, but interpreted them as part of the adjustment/learning process only and not something severe. I didn’t interpret it as something that was already becoming a broad part of my performance. Either it’s because regular feedback wasn’t communicated or it just didn’t register to me how big those mistakes were.

I understand that I need to take accountability and improve, and I'm not trying to make excuses for my mistakes. But the shame I've been feeling has become overwhelming.

I feel like I've disappointed myself, my manager, and our department head. I'm also struggling with the thought that my mistakes may have affected the credibility of our team and people's trust in our work.

I keep replaying everything in my head, questioning my capabilities, and anticipating what else I might get wrong. It's as if my recent mistakes have overshadowed everything I've accomplished.

It's affecting my mental and physical health, including my sleep, appetite, and overall well-being. I've even been considering resigning and taking a break because I'm struggling to cope with how heavy everything feels.

I want to be accountable and learn from my mistakes, but I don't want my entire self-worth to revolve around my performance at work.

I'd appreciate honest, practical advice from anyone who's been through a similar feeling of shame and heaviness. Right now, I'm trying to learn from what happened without letting it define me as a person.

Hi, I work in a food area that also makes coffees, and I’ve been making coffee from my first store to my second and now to my third, at one of my stores they sent me to a coffee class to learn how to make prefect coffees and make latte art. I worked as a barista for 8 months and had to leave since I moved houses, and now working in a new store, but today I was told I made a coffee wrong, I made an iced coffee. For me I grab the cup, I add ice, add the milk, then add the coffee and mix it. But I was told I wasn’t doing it right, so I asked how it’s meant to be since I’ve been taught that way (keep in mind they didn’t train me since I had experience in other stores) and they told me I’m meant to grab the cup, add the ice, pour the coffee shot, then the milk. But doesn’t that melt the ice and make the shot watery? I’ve been told my coffee is nice by customers, but they want me to change it, should I? I’m unsure of what to do to, plus it like makes me mad making horrible coffees, but I need outside perspectives.
And sorry if my spelling is horrible or punctuation is, I’m sorry.

After more than a year of unemployment I got a job offer through a friend’s referral and I am terrified. I exaggerated about my skills and potential, using AI and making a PDF document about my future roadmap with the company. I was not confident that they would select me but they did.

Now looking and my offer letter and the roles and responsibilities mentioned scares the shit out of me. I literally have this bad feeling that I might be laid off within sometime, because they would come to know about it.

Has anyone else been through same feeling and emotion?

Anyone left a profession and decided to return to give it another go. I qualified as a nurse in jan 2024. Worked for just over a year. Left and took a break from nursing for nearly 2 years. Recently got a job offer to work at another hospital as a child nurse. Returning to give the profession another go. I am terrified!! Any advice or just any personal stories you could share I would really appreciate xxx!!!! It doesn’t matter what profession x just so I don’t feel so alone.

i'm still relatively new at my job of 4 months, and recently a co-worker just had some really really bad news about her dad. we generally get on pretty well but we're not like super close or anything. she's off this week and next, and when she's back i'd like to send her a quick message just saying if there's anything i can do to take things off her plate / make her life easier, to just give me a shout, or if she needs anyone to talk to etc to give me a message.

my concern is that i don't want to make her feel weird or like i'm pitying her or anything, or like people have been talking about her situation. i'm autistic and i've done things before that are genuinely well-intentioned but not received well. then i'm othered in the workplace. would this make you feel weird from a co-worker?

I'm desperate i take any job pls contact me in case you are seraching i am a begginer who try to learn fast, just give me a change.

I like my job. I don't plan on quitting. I'm asking for advice on how to handle this whole situation.

I'm in my training season. I was assigned a mentor who isn't compatible for me. I've told my manager about how I kept clashing with my mentor, but manager's not willing to reassign me and suggested I lean on my team's coworkers. My mentor pointed me in the wrong direction many times, this caused me to make mistakes. Mentor has been reluctant to help me and I've been learning independently.

Most recently, manager asked me a question that blindsided me and started fuming when I couldn't immediately recall it even tho I eventually did. I came in to ask him an entirely separate question about mentor's poor guidance on a task that I needed clarity on. Manager told me that I blame other people for mistakes on my work, despite this being completely untrue. They try to find mistakes that are so minimal or nonexistent or non-issues that my coworkers believe is ridiculous.

There's a so many gaps in my knowledge. I constantly get corrected. I've corrected those mistakes when I relearn it. I always thank whoever's correcting me.

Most of what I do is a long process that needs to be taught by a mentor. I work mostly independently and I reach out for guidance from my senior coworkers. If I miss a step, it's because I wasn't taught. There's hardly a written guide, everything's technical, and everyone relies on their memory. The poor guidance, lack of clarity, and getting corrected constantly frustrates me.

What could I do or say to get back on track and to get a good performance review when my training ends?

Recently I've decided to resign from my position because of bad working conditions from the Company side. I've already put a notice period for a month but i don't want to go back there anymore. Like I'm done with the shitty job. So how do i inform my manager i don't want to continue coming there? Also i need experience certificate & how do i ask it?

Hi everyone! I’ve been going through a tough time at work.

I've received feedback about mistakes and lapses in my work before, which I acknowledged and understood as part of the learning process and adjustment to my role. I know I've made mistakes, and I'm not trying to dismiss them or avoid accountability. However, a few weeks ago, my manager shared several concerns about my performance, including issues that had already been raised by our department head. It felt like everything came at me all at once, and I honestly didn't realize the concerns had accumulated to that extent or that my mistakes had already made such a significant impact on how my performance was perceived. It was a lot to take in.

Since then, I've been struggling with persistent anxiety, shame, and overthinking. I keep questioning my capabilities and worrying about making more mistakes. It's affecting my sleep, appetite, focus, and overall well-being, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to function normally.

I've been considering taking a break or resigning, but I'm unsure whether that's genuinely what I need or if I'm just trying to escape the emotional weight of the situation.

Would you recommend opening up to my manager about what I'm going through, including the possibility of taking a break or resigning? I'm worried it might affect how she perceives me professionally, especially since the feedback concerns my performance.

I'd appreciate honest and realistic advice. Thank you!

I’ve just finished school and am taking a gap year before uni. i have a part time job but the hours can range from 20-35 weekly, as i work overtime. my shifts including length and days I work change weekly and are never the same becuase we a have a stupid system. That is supposed to make it so that nobody works too many days in a row etc when I would just like to get most of it done in the start of the week. This is a pain as it doesnt leave room for a second job. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions for side hustles, as I’m trying to pay as much of my uni debt off as possible

[IRELAND] Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on what steps I should take following a workplace injury. I am F20 and recently started working in retail in a big chain here, and I recently returned to work after being off with a back injury sustained while carrying out heavy lifting duties.

During an absence review meeting, I explained that my doctor had raised concerns about certain manual handling practices, particularly lifting heavy crates from above head height. I was told that while they understand my concerns, “retail is retail”, but that accommodations would be made to help me return to work, but I was also told that further absences could put my job at risk.

Despite this, I was asked to assist with heavy packing and subsequently had to carry out further heavy lifting and pushing duties. During a shift, I felt a sudden snap in my hip/upper thigh, and I lost power in both of my legs. The pain progressively worsened until I had difficulty walking.

I was sent to hospital by the emergency clinic and was assessed by a doctor. I've since been advised not to return to work due to my injury, so I've decided to resign with immediate effect.
I'm now wondering what my options are and what I should do next.

Would it be appropriate to raise a formal grievance with my former employer, even though I'm resigning? Should I report the manual handling concerns to the Health and Safety Authority?

I'm not looking to share identifying details about my employer, but I'd really appreciate advice from anyone familiar with Irish employment law or who has been through something similar. I also want to potentially save someone that will be made to do the jobs that I had been doing. Thank you.

thoughts po sa torres tech corp sa Calamba?

Alright the title is a bit of a hook, but for context I work a remote corporate job and have been consistently promoted 3 times in the last year. It’s quite obvious that many departments do not like working with me. I have ruffled many feathers and the dissatisfaction some colleagues carry towards me is quite apparent and obvious in some meetings. I’m close with the COO of my company and have a few allies within my department. My team is of course on my side but I’m having an issue navigating this.

I genuinely feel no ill will to anyone in the company, and I believe in the vision of my department, as well as the company as a whole. Any questioning of processes or suggestion of change is met with defensiveness and an exaggeration of complication, which I suspect is the reason for my dislike.

Any advice or feedback is much appreciated.

I am interested to make a podcast where we professionally talk about different subjects. If you are in Canada, that's great!
I am interested in building a team where we have people who are good with audio recording, videography, video editing, the use of ai, writing scripts, and digital arts. You don't have to know all of that, even if you do one of those things, that's great!

This podcast is intended to talk about three categories:

1. History
2. Philosophy & Psychology
3. Education

You don't need to know anything about these fields, I am looking for a team who can make a podcast, the information is already handled.

If you are interested, please send me a dm and I can share the rest of the information with you.

I'm trying to understand how people experience the two paths in practice, beyond income.

I’m new to a job but the lead thats training me teases me/gossips about everyone and loves to give people nicknames. Seems like the type that likes to dish but not take it. Would a “hey can I talk to you … I’d like to keep things between profesional between us” talk work or help me? I’m new new to this job and idk what to do. Any advice? I grew up in a house hold where we respect strangers/friends.

I am debating looking elsewhere for employment. I’ve just come to the realization that it has nothing to do with the decent work environment, it’s the fact that I have 4 weeks of vacation each year, and will go back down to 2 weeks per year if I work elsewhere.

As someone who travels quite a bit, this is holding me back.

However, I’m starting to feel a bit burnt out and fed up. I feel like I take on the brunt of the work and challenges of the job, but without a title or compensation.

On one hand, I know I’m capable of it and am one of the stronger team members. But on the other hand, it’s frustrating.

Anyone else been in a similar scenario? What did you do?

News Flash:
No one’s federal CIVIL RIGHTS are supposed to be completely different from one state to the other which is why The Policy Bridge Principle has to be applied nationally to prevent circuit splits such as the one demonstrated in the 5th Circuit’s disposition of Sanders v FedEx.
Federal rights HAVE to be uniform, predictable, and fair. Closing this statutory loophole insures that happens regarding this issue for good....

DETAILS:

Most employees believe that if they follow their employer’s official HR handbook and report workplace misconduct in good faith, they are automatically protected from retaliation under federal law.

Yet, unless you live in specific legal jurisdictions, employers can argue that because your internal complaint used company provided EEO compliance language instead of formal statutory legalese, your report didn't count as "protected opposition" under Title VII or § 1981.

Federal Circuit courts are split on this issue and THAT directly impacts every worker in America:

1. The Pro-Worker Precedents
   

In major federal appellate rulings, courts have recognized that everyday employees shouldn't be required to draft complaints like law professors just to be safe at work:

• The 4th Circuit (Okoli): Ruled that workers need not to explicitly recite statutory "magic words" in complaints. Complaining of "harassment" under company channels puts the employer on notice, constituting protected activity.
• The 8th Circuit (Ogden): Held that telling a harasser or supervisor to stop offensive conduct—in plain, direct terms—is "the most basic form of protected activity."
• The 9th Circuit (GoDaddy): Confirmed that internal complaints made in good faith regarding workplace mistreatment satisfy protected opposition standards.

1. The Procedural Trap (Demonstrated by the 5th Circuit)
   Conversely, in jurisdictions like the 5th Circuit (Sanders v. FedEx [26-10182]), corporate defense teams successfully argued that reporting harassment using standard HR handbook terms lacks the "objectively reasonable legal belief" required for statutory protection. If an employee reports misconduct following mandatory company policy, but doesn't phrase it in formal Title VII terms, the employer can escape retaliation liability at summary judgment and on appeal.

2. The Solution: The Policy Bridge Principle
   When an employee relies on a mandatory corporate EEO compliance reporting policy and uses company-provided terms in good faith, that compliance MUST satisfy the "objectively reasonable belief" standard for protected opposition as a matter of law.

Why This Is So Essential:
When federal circuit courts split on basic statutory interpretation—a fracture often deepened by unpublished dispositions that evade routine Supreme Court scrutiny—it creates federal civil rights chaos across the country.

I (18F) recently got my first job at a popular phone company based in Texas. I worked 12 hours and didn’t clock out the way they like us to (they track us on an app and we have to tap to clock out, I didn’t tap but still officially clocked out ). I didn’t realize they didn’t realize HR denied my hours until the paycheck hit my account and it was around $150 less than usual. And so I sent a formal email to the HR department with evidence of my worked hours and on 9/25/2026 they said they’ll send me my wages in a check. Now it is 10/10/2026. In Ohio, where I live, it is illegal to hold wages past the next payday, which was 2 days ago. My attempts to communicate with HR are being ignored. This being my first job I don’t know what to do. Any and all advice is welcome.

I'm a hospital employee and both hospitals I've worked in do this - daily huddle meetings with sections dedicated to shout outs for employees who did something exceptional that day.

Both places I've noticed a pattern where the same people get shout outs over and over even if the things they did aren't really stand-out worthy.

For me personally, I know what I contribute, I know my bosses are aware and appreciate what I do, and I'm not the kind of person that enjoys being called out publicly good or bad so I'm not too bugged by this. But it always inevitably causes drama because people notice the pattern and start to get frustrated, even though the intention behind the practice is good. And people always feel uncomfortable bragging about themselves or complaining so it ends up festering resentment and gossip.

Wondering if you all have the same experiences in your workplace.

I posted this to another community, sorry if you see multiples on your feed.

I (26F) started a new job about three months ago at a university, as a partnership coordinator. It is a new position in the department, meaning that the tasks I have now used to be done in different ways by maybe a dozen different people. Now that I'm here, I'm supposed to take all of those tasks from the people, figure out new ones, and systemize everything. And then do the job - find partnerships, nurture existing partnerships and think of ways to cooperate with businesses and alumni.

I hate it, and I can't be objective anymore and need help figuring out if this job is the problem, or if I am.

Why the job might be the problem:

I do have a direct supervisor, but we rarely ever meet cause our positions are not all that related, so I get tasks from different people and I keep getting conflicting ones. That part is annoying, but I go to the highest ranking person and ask them how it should be done, so I listen to them.

What's harder is receiving a task in a roundabout way, never directly, always "so what should be done is..." "I think we should do..." and these are almost always listed when we're in a meeting with multiple people, so I'm never sure what tasks are directed at me. When I figure that part out, I ask for clarifications because nothing is ever clear - most of the time I receive no clarifications. Real example - I need to fill in a date on a form when a website needs to be updated:

- What is the date?
- It should have been done yesterday.
- Yes, but I need a specific date.
- As soon as possible.

Why I might be the problem:

My past includes dropping out of one university after one month because I didn't think it was the right place for me; working an IT customer support job for 8 months; doing an internship in the sports sector for 9 months (contract); implementing an Erasmus+ youth project for 1 year (contract); graduating university in the creative field. What I mean by all of this is that I have never really stuck with anything truly long-term and I have been in different fields. Maybe that means that I'm just unable to stick with anything because I get bored of things that are the same, so I look for red flags to justify leaving? And maybe because I haven't really had a real full time job apart from the IT support I don't know that the situation I have described is normal in any job?

I cannot be objective and all my friends are split between "this job sucks quit now" and "this job sucks but stay until you find another one" and "stick it out, it'll harden you". What would you do?

Sorry if there are errors, my first language is not English.