The 10 strangest workplace complaints
August 25, 2009 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: Behavior, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
HR managers tend to hear it all — from the ridiculous to the more ridiculous.
In another one of those surveys designed to amuse and bemuse, CareerBuilder.com asked: “What’s the strangest complaint you’ve ever heard from an employee about a co-worker. Here are, arguably, the strangest responses.
“One of my co-workers …”
- is a pimp
- eats all the good cookies
- is too sun-tanned
- has big hair
- has ticks
- has bells on her shoes, and it’s not even holiday time
- reminds me of Bambi
- is trying to poison me
- is responsible for a federal increase in taxes
- breathes too loudly
Tags: CareerBuilder
August 27th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I had an employee quit on her first day – she said it was too much like work.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
One co-worker complained that another co-worker chewed her ice too loudly across the partition from her. She ended up moving to another desk.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
“My co-workers don’t like me because I’m prettier than them”
And she really wasn’t that much of a looker
August 28th, 2009 at 8:37 am
We had someone work as a hostess for three hours. Her reason for walking off the job was “No one is going to tell me when I can use my cell phone!”
August 28th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Why when working for family oriented companies the family is allowed to do what ever but the always wants you to follow company rules. If it is a company shouldn’t everyone be treted the same?
August 28th, 2009 at 9:15 am
I once worked at a place where my cubicle was outside the head of HR, although I didn’t work for him. I had to listen to him pop his gum and clip his fingernails (hopefully it wasn’t his toenails), to this day that clipping noise makes me cringe.
Popping gum anywhere is annoying, doing it at work is rude and unprofessional. It’s also disgusting to have to listen to people eating loudly, smacking. One of my coworkers used to eat at her desk a lot, once I had to do something on her computer and the keyboard was coated in grease and food, she never wiped her hands off while eating and working, how gross and unhygenic.
August 28th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Bar none, the strangest I ever had was the guy who complained a coworker had attacked him with a sandwich and that it had resulted in internal bleeding.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
We had an employee walk out in less than an hour of starting work. They told the Operator that they couldn’t work here because the building was full of demons.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:06 am
I had an employee complain of brain burn when working inside a certain satellite office.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:41 am
We had an employee beg to work here because the crime rate in the area was low (the position was for police officer), but quit after 3 months on the job. His reason – not enough action – the crime rate was too low. I guess he needed more danger in his life.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:55 am
I had a coworker call in sick because her shower was too hot and it made her nausous.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I know of someone who freaked out when she got her first paycheck because they had taken a bunch of deductions (taxes!) from her pay. She told them that she had agreed to a certain salary when she agreed to work there and she expected that she would receive the full amount that she was told when offered the job. They tried to explain to her that legally they had to deduct taxes and that the government required that she pay taxes. She insisted that they stop the deductions anyway. She couldn’t live off the lower amount. I think they let her claim a high number of exemptions, but told her she couldn’t get out of paying FICA. I don’t know what she did when she had to file her tax return. (probably she didn’t file at all)
August 31st, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Ths sandwich and internal bleeding is just killing me. I laughed so hard my co-workers checked to see if I was ok. I wonder if any of them will now complain that I am “laughing too loud and too much”
August 31st, 2009 at 1:32 pm
we moved to a new building and a coworker was assigned to the office 666. She told the managers there that she couldn’t occupy that office because it was the office of the devil. She even had the priest come in and try to bless the office but then wrote her a note that said she couldn’t occupy the office because of its demonic nature. We had to renumber all the offices and she quit anyway.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:38 pm
We once had an employee complain her co-worker was spraying her with perfume. When we questioned the perfume sprayer she complained the co-worker smelt really bad. Two complaints in one.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:46 pm
hrm…what kind of sandwich was that? LOL!!
August 31st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
A temp staffer quit a couple of days into the assignment after telling a co-worker, “This job is not good enough to quit smoking pot over”.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
One employee said she was allergic to perfumes and always complained about everyone’s perfume. However, the complainer kept a perfumed air deodorizer on her desk and every time someone walked by, she would pick up the perfumed deodorizer and wave it back and forth to scent the air (with more perfume).
One employee complained that another employee took her lunch from the break room fridge and she had to go without lunch because she didn’t have any money and was without her car. When confronting the lunch stealer, he said the lunch had been in the freezer for a couple of days and if he didn’t eat it he would have to go without lunch on that day. Just as a side note, we disciplined the lunch stealer, had him give a formal apology and reimburse her for the cost of the meal.
Back in the day when it was acceptable to smoke in the office, one employee would wear an actual full gas mask in the office because his supervisor smoked. However, at break time, he would remove the mask and go sit and converse with the other smokers.
And the list of strange and silly complaints continues….
August 31st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I had a plant of 300 women. One quit because she said the mirror in the women’s bathroom wasn’t big enough (it was all I could do to not say something). One complained that she didn’t want to work by another because her son was dating her daughter. I asked for a transfer.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:52 pm
LOL, these are great! The latest complaint I recieved was that, “the bottled water tastes funny and could I do something about it”? Really? Drink tap water!
August 31st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Got one just last week when an employee was standing in front of the microwave and her food exploded inside. She said, “I don’t understand why you don’t have the custodial staff clean the microwave…I hate that I have to heat my food in such a filthy thing every day.” She then preceded to walk away without cleaning up her own mess. Makes me wonder what her microwave at home looks like…hmmmm?
September 1st, 2009 at 6:04 am
There was an employee in my office who complained to the boss that my English was better than hers.
September 1st, 2009 at 6:50 am
I had the same paycheck reduction complaint due to taxes. It was very difficult to explain to this individual about payroll taxes. I went as far as calling the Department of Labor so that he could hear it from the horses mouth. Needless to say he quit shortly afterwards stating to a co-worker that we were cheating him in his paycheck.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am
Andrea – it had to have been a club sandwich!
September 1st, 2009 at 11:44 am
I had an employee come to me once shaking all over and begging me not to fire her. She was very distraught and it took awhile to calm her down and find out why she thought she was going to get fired. Turned out, she had seen the president of the company urinate on the side of the building and she was afraid she was going to get fired for witnessing this disgusting (not to mention illegal) event. I assured her that she would NOT be fired. Then I had to talk to the president (my boss, by the way) about his behavior (without telling him who saw him). He said it was a “man thing” that guys did it all the time and that it was no big deal. I told him it was also something that he could be arrested for and that he needed to take the extra minute to walk back into the building to use the restrooms that were conveniently located just inside the door. Sheesh!
I had a woman employee insist that she got crabs from the toilet seats in the restroom, even though we provided seat covers and she claimed she used them because she was a “germ freak.” I had to call the health department and get them to explain to her that this was not the way a person got crabs because she wouldn’t listen to me. I don’t think she ever believed us…
September 1st, 2009 at 11:59 am
these were great! the club sandwich–hilarious. I remember when one of my welders complained the he was getting vibes through the welder and it caused his dental caries. The dentist I sent him to said absolutely not, but the fellow quit antway.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Well, “sandwich guy’ never specified what type of sandwich it was – although Club sounds plausible, for sure! This same individual said it had occurred 2 years prior. In the same sentence, he mentioned a poisoning, spies in the workplace, and referred me to the Attorney General’s office in his state (several times). Seriously scary. After we termed him for unapproved absence (apparently it was a surprise that we expected him to come to work more than 3 times in a month), he wrote me a letter 2 months letter stating something was wrong because he hadn’t received his pay in 2 months.
Let’s just say I was glad he was a remote employee.
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm
How about strangest things you hear during an orientation? When asked to stand up and introduce themselves and say something interesting about them, I had a new hire announce to the room that he sees dead people and the devil talks to him in his head. Needless to say, I had some words with the manager that hired him.
September 2nd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I have an employee complaining because the gal next to her ’sneezes weird’ and it annoys her!
September 2nd, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Or strangest thing said during an interview: I had a woman tell me that if she had to work for a male supervisor she would do everything she could to undermine him. Uhmmm the position she was interviewing for had a male supervisor – - she quickly fell out of the running!
September 2nd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Stacy, LOL, that is classic… spraying the stinky with the perfume! I heard about an employee that caught a cold and insisted on filing a Workers’ Comp claim, she said that she caught the cold because of the office A/C.
Also, a current complainer filed a harassment complaint stating that a few members of his team are rattling paperwork outside his office door in order to make his work life miserable. We have a very close eye on him.
September 4th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Tammy: My beagle sneezes really weird too. I’m glad he doesn’t work with me.
September 4th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I love the sandwich one too. I had an employee call and complain when she got her paycheck because she had child support deducted from her check (her ex was the one with custody). She wanted to know who said I could do that. I tried explaining to her that it was a court ordered deduction from the domestic relations office and I had to comply with it. I also told her I had no intention of going to jail for her for not complying with a court order regarding child support. She still didn’t understand why I was making this deduction and walked off the job. Not sure how she handled any future jobs when this issue came up again!
September 8th, 2009 at 7:19 am
One of the strangest I ever received was that an employee was going around smacking people on the rear end. When asked about it, the empoyee stated that he was trying to build a team atmosphere like when he played football and they would do that in the huddle. He didn’t just smack males or females, so you might say he was a non-discriminating “butt-slapper.”
September 8th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Mine is from an applicant (fortunately not an employee!), who wrote down on her job application that she was referred by God.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
After 35 years, where to start? One of the funnier characters was a lab tech who bragged to us all of how efficient he was because he showered with his clothes on then treaded on them underfoot as he washed himself. That way he got a twofer. Then one day we all noticed he was hobbling around and when asked he responded it was because of the toilet paper stuffed in the ends of his new shoes. Of course that beged the next question which was also asked: Why the toilet paper in your new shoes? Answer: they were too big for my feet but they were on sale 2 pairs for the price of one and I couldn’t pass it up. Have a nice day everyone
September 8th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Hey get back to work! Stop reading blogs!
Just kidding,
I loved cathching an employee that said he was calling from the satellite office and unable to make a staff meeting, but Caller ID indicated he was at home. I asked him to come on in…
September 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I had a candidate tell me that she missed her first interview with me because she had to go to the hospital because of stomach pains. I told her I was glad that she was feeling better and of course I did not ask what was wrong, but of course she offered. She said that the emergency room doctor told her that her symptoms were brought on by eating fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. She laughed as she explained she had a severe case of gas. Talk about too much information!
September 16th, 2009 at 9:32 am
I had an employee fried since he was failing to respond to calls since he was a maintenance worker on a site. Found out he was on his boat. He filed for unemployment (and won) stating that his cell phone didn’t work. Of course not, you were on the ocean!!!
September 21st, 2009 at 1:58 pm
…………and you wonder why jobs are being transferred overseas?!!!
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
That Club sandwich was priceless
I’m still laughing
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I know I am a little late but I figured out about the sandwich. It was made with “sharp” cheese.
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Respnse to Carla. did you really have this employee fried!!!? You could have just fired him.
September 25th, 2009 at 10:24 am
About the sandwhich..it was made with stone ground bread!
September 25th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I have a good one I keep on file for laughs,it’s from an applicant. Reason for leaving last job ” too much work”
September 25th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I worked in another company back in the early 90s and a group of female employees wanted to have a meeting with one of the managers to address some issues they felt would make for a better work environment. When I told the manager of their request he said, “I don’t want to talk with them. All they do is complain.” Duh….you’re a manager and you are suppose to address employee problems, not hide from them. I swear, you can’t make this stuff up.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
These are hilarious, nice laughter relief!
Here are some of my experiences:
As the only HR person at one company I worked for I got all kinds of weird complaints that turned out to be valid.
-Several complaints that a male employee had a topless picture of his wife posted in his cubicle, which was true…the picture came down after the employee was asked to take it down.
- complaints were made about one employee, who upon entering the lunch room would announce that the coffee brewing smelled like dead bodies. It turned out the announcer was a war veteran.
- another employee actually sustained a head injury and went to the emergency room when a coworker threw a bagel at him (it became a workers’ comp claim)
- when a job candidate in an interview was asked to explain the difference between accounts payable and accounts receiveable, her response was, “I always get those 2 mixed up.” Needless to say she didn’t get the job.
Real life stories are more strange than books or movies…
September 25th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Welcome to 2009. Thank God some of us still have jobs to compain about, otherwise we’d be out of work and down at the Mission bitching about the club sandwiches.
September 28th, 2009 at 7:33 am
OK, I was being interviewed for a position while in college at the local grocery store, and while I was waiting I could over hear bits and pieces of the interview that was going on with another canidate. Everything seemed to be going well until the hiring manager asked who this gal admired most in life…. “I think Bugs Bunny, ’cause he is always getting a way from that Elmer Fudge guy.” And no, “fugde” was not a typo….. needless to say I got the job.
September 28th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Had an applicant put on his resume (he was a CPA) that he was applying because all of his current clients were dying or moving to Florida.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:31 am
I acquired a new supervisor – after I had been a manager for many years. She took one of my employees to task over who-knows-what (not something the employee did wrong) but really upset this woman who came to me to complain. I went back to the new boss and tried to explain that “Ann” was sort of high strung and needed to be approached in a certain way, and that she probably needed to have an apology to avoid having her quit. The new boss – with a degree in Healthcare management by the way actually said to me ” I don’t understand WHY I need to tailor my ways to someone else – I just tell then how I see it”. Tailoring your approach is one of the FIRST things I learned as a new manager….
September 29th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Richard, you’re spot on with that comment! I love my job (work for a college in IL). Long before that I worked in HR for a manufacturing company and we would do tons of interviews for summer position. We actually had a candidate come in with an interpreter! Did this person actually think we would put him on an assembly line with an interpreter?!! He didn’t get hired.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Not a complaint…just hilarious! My brother told me once about a girl who called in to say she would be late for work. When he asked why, she told him her car wouldn’t start, but not to worry, she found another ride. With another ride lined-up, he asked why she was still going to be late. She said that her ride’s car wasn’t working either. When he asked what was wrong with her ride’s car she told him it would crank, but wouldn’t stay “crunk!”
September 30th, 2009 at 2:12 am
We had a co-worker call to say he wouldn’t be in because his pet duck had died. Was very upset when he was told he couldn’t claim a day’s pay for bereavement leave.
October 1st, 2009 at 12:39 pm
This one’s a hoot! One applicant’s reason for leaving last job was he was taking a “monetary hiatus”. Can you imagine how creative he would have gotten for reasons to miss work!