Standing Up
U/s8n29: “The company told me i was to enforce two, new policies. All employees must report to work 15 minutes early for their shift, however they would not be paid for that time. All employees must take their unpaid lunch break in specific areas, under very specific circumstances.
I told them we needed to have a meeting to discuss the legality of their new policies before I could enforce them on my team. They replied ‘Either you enforce the policies or you resign your position.’ I said See Ya!!!! They begged me to reconsider and to not make a ‘bad decision’ just because I was upset. Unfortunately I was already out the door.”
Academic Priorities
U/blake41185: “I was waiting tables while I was in grad school. I had requested a weekend off far in advance (right after I got my syllabus) because there was a seminar pertinent to a class. Our professor expected to us to go and write a paper. It was a decent chunk of our grade.
The weekend comes up and lo and behold, I’m scheduled doubles Friday through Sunday. I hunt down the manger and say I can’t do that and I’ve given months notice. She pulls the ‘requests are just requests not guarantees’ and I tell her point blank I will fail this class if I don’t go. She shrugged she said ‘that isn’t my problem’. I told her ‘is now’ and left. Like h— I was going fail a class for my masters degree waiting tables…”
Boundary Breach
U/doublestitch: “Was having a meeting with the boss who was a difficult guy to work with, and he stood up and punched the wall. He wasn’t doing it jokingly. He bare knuckled went at the wall of his own office like he was in the gym hitting a punching bag.
I sat there in astonishment for about two seconds, then stood up and left. Cleared out my desk, exited through the back door without a word to anyone. There’s no place for that conduct in the professional world even if the guy does own the company.”
Final Stand
U/whatamidoing-here1: “He wouldn’t train me properly, then come yell at me in front on the office. He would always threaten my job or like hiring someone else and I finally said good I hope you find someone better because I quit and will be leaving once other lady comes back from lunch.
He tried to back pedal and ask if I was serious. I never looked back. ETA: he hired me without any experience because he knew he could lowball me. I got paid pennies for what someone with experience would get paid.”
Abandoning Ship
U/HalfSugarMilkTea: “At one office job, I quit after the first day because the lady training me would ignore me when our manager wasn’t around, and I caught her snooping through my purse when I went to the bathroom.
At another job at a clinic, I quit after a month because they made me do a solo receptionist shift without training me on what I needed to do to open the clinic, and then I got yelled at for not knowing what to do. In front of patients. It was so bad, some of the patients came up to me after and asked if I was ok.”
Swift Resignation
U/oldatheart515: “I never have, but my favorite example was when a co-worker in student transportation, who had finally gotten a position she wanted after years of suffering through stress in another, was called by management over the summer and told she was being reassigned to the stressful position because no one else wanted to do it.
She had fought too long and hard to get what she wanted, and her immediate response was, ‘Then tell me what I need to do to resign.’ She did, and she’s been at peace with her decision ever since.”
I’m Done
“I was a supervisor of housekeeping at a hotel, every holiday all of management would take off leaving me the highest in charge, I asked for a raise after working a full year of holidays as the only management and was denied the next year on the biggest party day in the city.
I set all my employees up with their work and texted the managers a picture of me at the bar partying telling them the hotel might be on fire, I don’t know I quit.”
Bitter Departure
U/SuspiciousHornet77: “Was promised that if I got my accounting degree they would move me to IA so I could get hours towards my CPA. Worked my a– off, graduated, and the boss said ‘Yeeeeeaaaah, were going to move you to Customer Service. Sound good?’.
Stayed late that night drafting a company wide ‘F— you’ email. Probably shouldn’t have done that in hindsight, but some bridges just beg to be burned.”
Defiant Exit
U/Kind-Dust7441: “The owner of the company told me to fire a woman for arriving to work right on time. It was always something different with him, some ridiculous new rule that he applied retroactively to suit whatever mood he was in on any given day. And that particular morning, he took it as a personal insult and a show of blatant disrespect that his employees didn’t arrive early.
I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fire this woman, who I didn’t even particularly like, to satisfy this new whim of his. So instead of firing her, I marched into his office and quit myself. Funnily enough, the woman I wouldn’t fire continued working for him for years. She might even still be there now, twenty-some years later.”
Lied-To Role
U/nelsonalgrencametome: “I was flat out lied to about the position. It was a management position at a residential mental health facility and I had taken it (leaving a great paying but stressful position) because it wouldn’t require travel and was supposed to be much more laid back.
On top of many other issues I ended up having to work eight weeks straight without a single day off (even weekends and one holiday) so after a very heated meeting with upper management where one person was flat out lying to cover their own b—, I sent a resignation email from the parking lot.”
Too Busy
U/TapestryMobile: “Wanted to take long service leave holidays, but got denied because ‘we’re too busy right now.’ A few months later, wanted to take long service leave holidays, but got denied because ‘we’re too busy right now.’
A few months later, wanted to take long service leave holidays, but got denied because ‘we’re too busy right now.’ I replied to that email with my resignation, handed in my pass to security, and walked out the door.”
Decades Dashed
“I started training a guy (machinist) and he told me his starting wage was $27/hr. he had a few years experience but had been out of the industry for a while. After training the guy would constantly come to me to fix his problems and have really dumb questions every day.
So I asked my boss for a raise since this guy was at $27. I was at $22 and he told me he could find someone to do my job for $16 so I said ‘ok then let’s do that’ handed him my badge and walked out after 15 years.”
Suffocating Demands
U/Radiant_Maize2315: “He gave me literally 72 hours worth of work and insisted it be completed in 36 hours. When I pointed the inconsistency out he said, DO WHAT YOU CAN.
And when I submitted it he called me, from vacation, to scream at me about mistakes. I deleted everything, walked away, blocked him on everything. ETA: I mean 72 BUSINESS hours and 36 calendar hours.”
Betrayed Ambitions
U/QueenPlum_: “1 Boss quit and they wanted me to run the Department as the manager but keep me at assistant pay 2 they hired a new manager behind my back (for the job that have been promising me for months )and wanted me to train her, still at assistant pay level.
3 new manager went on vacation and I was supposed to run the department alone again. I waited till the new manager was out of town and quit.”
Horrible Boss
U/Cold_Hour: “Had one of those bosses where, as soon as he enters the room the entire energy of the building drops. You’d hear him screaming at people daily in his office.
One day I got yelled at for not checking with him before writing a press release. So I checked with him the next day and he yelled at me for not ‘thinking for myself’. Realised he was just a power tripping d——- handed in my resignation at HR within an hour.”
Unaccountable Boss
“I was crushed when I got fired after boosting sales to $8,000 in just three months. The new hire, a young inexperienced girl, took over. The owner’s wife, who was the sales manager, told me to clear out my desk. Big mistake.
Two days later, the call I’d been waiting for came in. Sales Manager: Where are the sales invoices for August?
Me: I left hard copies with my replacement. Sales Manager: We can’t find them, so you need to come in tomorrow to sort this out. Me: Sorry, that’s not possible. I won’t be coming back. She kept insisting and threatened to withhold my last paycheck. This infuriated me and I wasn’t going to let her push me around. Luckily, I didn’t hear back from her after she got a call from my lawyer.”
Resigned Revenge Returns
“Nursing my bruised ego after being passed over for a promotion yet again, I handed in my resignation letter with a smile. But my boss, ever the arrogant one, snatched it from my hand and crumpled it up. ‘You can’t leave, you’re worthless to anyone else,’ he sneered. That sly remark lit a fire in me.
I strolled out of his office, head held high. Days turned to weeks, and my absence became a major problem for the company. Even though I was still scouring the internet for jobs, I kept tabs on their progress and watched with bitter pride as I saw their profits decreasing and decreasing.”
Better Offer
“After tirelessly devoting five years to excelling in my role, my boss nonchalantly strolled in and announced a promotion – not for me, but for a new recruit straight out of college. The final straw snapped. I calmly gathered my belongings, walked over to the HR department, and submitted my resignation letter.
As I turned to leave, I paused, leaned in, and whispered, ‘Oh, and by the way, I got a better offer from another company a few weeks ago. It’s twice what I get paid HERE! I walked out of there with the biggest grin on my face.”
Unchecked Toxicity
U/curryp4n: “I stuck around even as they dumped toxic s— down the drain untreated. I even stuck around after they ‘asked’ me (but really threaten) to make a highly toxic and flammable solution. I finally left when one of the production guys complained I was on the computer too much.
I was entering data from my lab work earlier in the day. When I asked why this guy spent more time spying on me than working, I was told I had to work harder. I quit 2 weeks later.”
Remote Disparity
U/believe0101: “All of us graduate student assistants were forced to come to campus to work in person, sharing cramped cubicle spaces, while attending Zoom meetings where 100% of the full time staff were working from home.
To add insult to injury… We had just spent an entire summer all working remotely and us grad assistants had proved our ability to complete our work to a high quality remotely. Nobody was even there on campus to supervise us or offer assistance without jumping on a call anyways. It was such b——- and I quit halfway through the year.”
Broken Promises
U/Cheezel62: “After spending over 2 years in what was meant to be a temporary secondment, and being told every 3 months that I was ‘just needed a little longer’, I finally demanded to be put back in my original job.
I was told they’d put someone else in permanently 2 weeks after I started the secondment. I handed my keys and security badge to my boss and walked out on the spot.”
Safe Bet, Not!
U/MrGreyJetZ: “I was 16 working at a gas station. Owner went on a hunting trip, his wife came in and opened the safe took money, left. I was accused of stealing it , I pointed out I didn’t have the combination, and the receipts for the day I worked that weekend didn’t add up to what was gone.
He called the cops, admitted to them that only he and his wife had the combination. He was f—— [stupid].”
Mo Sandwich, Mo Problems
U/madeupneighbor: “New boss named Mo at college sandwich shop job. Mo didn’t know job or brand and needed his staff to teach him, but was mean, so mass exodus. I was the only one who knew how to make all the sandwiches. Busy Saturday, line out the door, I’m trying to show new guy how to make sandwiches. Mo is taking orders and keeps yelling at me. ‘Mo, I’m doing the best I can, if you raise your voice at me one more time I’m leaving.’
Mo yelled at me again and I left. He chased me into the parking lot and ran after my car with a fist in the air, but I told Mo I wasn’t going to be spoken to like that. I don’t think Mo was used to teenage girls standing up to him, and definitely did not expect me to leave him high and dry.”
Profit Over People
U/GamesGunsGreens: “During Covid, the ‘small’ company I worked for started posting their month-to-month record profits on the bulletin board. They went from a $4Mil/month company to a $15Mil/month company. They then had the balls to tell all of us that there wasn’t enough in the bank to give any of us a raise for almost 2 years.
I used a week of vacation to attend the orientation for a new job. At the end of that week, I left orientation and drove to my old job, walked in, told HR I quit. The best part is that that HR department was highly incompetent and I ended up getting my week of vacation payout twice.”
Burnout Blues
U/thecooliestone: “I worked fast food. I was also doing a student teaching and taking classes. I needed one day. Just one day to catch up. I was waking up at 5:30, doing student teaching until 3:00 and working 4-10, usually ending up later because otherwise they would illegally make the children close. I was getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night.
I tried calling out, lied about my car messing up so they would let me, and they sent someone to my house to get me instead of letting me call out. I didn’t ask or agree. I just heard someone outside honking and it was another employee saying they’d been sent to get me. I worked that day and then blocked everyone and never went in again.”
Accounting for Injustice
U/tranquilseafinally: “The guy that worked behind me when I was an insurance agent was hired as an accountant. He rarely DID the accounting. He mostly just chatted on the phone. I found out he was making nearly double what the rest of us were.
When I went and asked the manager why she said it was because he had a family to support. I told her that the rest of us should all get paid at least as much as he was being paid as we were doing all the work. She declined. I quit on the spot.”
Checking Out
“The place had to be staffed 24 hours a day. They refused to hire more people and corporate fired our GM without replacing him. It got to the point where the shift expectation went from 8 hours a day for everyone with 3 shifts to 12 hours a day with 2 shifts.
I noped out when I was told halfway through my night shift that they would need me to stay for 4 more hours. The job sucked and the management was absent. I looked back on some of my writing from that time a few years later. I really really hated that job.”
Family Business Fallout
“She fired my spouse (for a b——- reason) and saw no reason why I wouldn’t keep working for her. She let me go the entire day, without even knowing that my husband had been fired.
I had to go home, wondering why my husband had disappeared halfway through the day, and then he told me that he had been fired. The kicker is, she was my mom. So freaking glad I’m out of that place.”
Blowing it Away
U/Alwaysonvacation2: “I got written up for being late for a shift…. only problem, that same manager called me on my day off asking if I could cover a shift that started in 2 hours as nobody else could do it….. I said yeah, but I’m not sure if I can get there on time…. I showed up 2 hours and 15 minutes later. She wrote me up at the end of the shift for being late….. I laughed thinking it was a joke, she said no, really, you need to be on time even if you’re covering for someone else.
She told me I was being un professional, so I said oh yeah, Ronnie? I said good luck to the new guy who had just started, and I never looked back. Ahhhhhh restaurant life. It blows.”
Gone and Quickly Forgotten
U/dIO__OIb: “Rage quit…after a couple of short training sessions, i was on my first 10hr shift on a friday night. three people. after a couple hours, the manager leaves to pick up supplies. tons of orders coming in, make like 30+ pizzas in a few hours. manager never comes back, other cook says he’s got to deliver some of these pizzas leaving me alone. there is this order printer that is just going off.
Customer comes to pick up pizza, i don’t even know how to use it the cash register. i was sweaty A-, food everywhere, no clue what i’m doing, give the customer a bunch of pizzas and i just followed him out the door and left the apron on the counter. no one ever called me or anything. it was like i was never hired.”
Crushed Loyalty
U/Reece_Llama: “When a co worker ran me over with her car crushing my leg up against my car and they didn’t fire her and promoted her a month later, being one of two full time employees I said fire her or I’m quitting after learning of her promotion.
Edit : It was intentional her window was down and I could hear her saying ‘That f—— took my parking spot’ as she proceeded to run me over.”
Overtime Overrule
U/MaryGodfree: “Management implemented some stupid onerous rule about no overtime. Non-negotiable. Don’t ask. The next day they wanted everyone to stay late because they got new work in.
I said no, I was told there was to be no overtime so I’m going home. Supervisor got all pissy and I was given an ultimatum: stay late or it could cost me my job. I called their bluff and walked out. It felt so good.”
Scheduling Shuffle
U/vampyrewolf: “I was working as the kitchen b—- at a 24hour Greek restaurant. Hired as dishwasher, also doing cold prep and maintenance. I had booked off 3 days over a weekend. Got called on day 2 at 7am telling me I was late. Got there and was told I was on the 11am start… then it got changed to 4pm when I went in again… Then got changed to 11pm when I went in for 4pm… And when I went in for 11pm it was changed AGAIN to actually have me off for the 3 days.
4 schedule changes in 24hrs. Laws here say 1 week minimum notice, that owner would change the schedule AFTER you clocked out to say you worked shorter hours on a regular basis and you pretty much had to check at 7am to see if you were on for the day. I had my choice words, told em I’d be back in 2 weeks for my paycheck.”
Clocking Out, Speaking Up
U/ackillesBAC: “Came in one morning to a letter on my desk saying that if I was only 5 minutes early again I’d be fired, at this job you are expected to be here 45 minutes early. Left a letter of my own in the bosses desk that evening.
Another job I left the day after our biggest sale of the year, why because we spend the entire evening before that sale changing every price tag in the store to a higher price.”
Sizzling Exit
U/DontAlwaysButWhenIDo: “When I was 17 I was a cook/prep cook at [chain restaurant]. I was just finishing a 16 hour shift 4 am – 8 pm, when the manager said ‘hey, so and so called out tomorrow, we need you to come in at 6 am to cover for them’. I said ‘I’m exhausted and I can’t do that.’ He said ‘if you want to keep your job you’ll be here’ I told him ‘whatever, okay’.
I obviously had no intention of showing up. I changed my voicemail to say ‘hey, you’ve reached OP, leave a message, and if this is the the Steakhouse…I quit.’ Got a very angry voicemail…but didn’t care one bit. That same morning I went to a ski resort that my friend worked at, applied, got a job, and started working that day!”
Break Time’s Over
U/CashDecklin: “I had worked 8 days straight. I was 20 min late to my next shift bc I over slept (single mom working night and day shifts in Vegas), and after 5hrs working, when I said I was taking 15 min break for a quick lunch, I was told I don’t get a break bc I was late. It was a 10 hour shift. It was also my birthday (I was denied the day off request).
I went, got my key, and my bag. I threw the key at the AM and told her to go fuck herself and her power trip. I probably wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t know I already had another job offer, but it felt soooo good to do.”
Job Posting Ruse
U/wastedtalenttt: “I didn’t necessarily quit as I never started but….Job posting was for a supervisor position. Interview was for just bottom of the barrel position. Did not tell me until inside Interview.
Figured waste my time, I’ll waste yours. Went through with it all. They hired me. First day, called me to ask where I was. Not there, that’s for sure. Want to lie about the job in job posting and all? Ok, now you can do it all again to someone else.”
Patience Pays
U/PartyChampion8400: “I was told to be patient for a promotion because a buyout was happening and I’d be compensated well when it closed after I’d been working my butt off for 2 years and I took on way more than my initial role. After waiting 3 months, I was told my new salary – it was laughable.
I left the CEO’s office and said ‘I’m extremely disappointed’ and just walked out of work. My phone was BLASTING because I was actually a critical position for the deal to close. I demanded a 50% pay raise and guaranteed bonus for me to return to work. They agreed so I came back but then I put in my notice right after my bonus paid out.”
