20 Employees Share How They Left a Lousy Job Without Looking Back

We put up with unpleasant situations for the sake of something better, and this frequently happens in the work environment when we’re expecting to get a salary raise or a promotion. However, even these uncomfortable circumstances can teach us our worth and how to set boundaries, thus making us stronger in the end.

• I worked in a dealership for 12 years. I started at the bottom and made my way up until I became the head of the office. One day, my manager was fired, and I thought I would be persuaded to take over his position. However, they hired a friend of the boss, who didn’t even know how to answer an e-mail by himself! He was trying to learn everything quickly, so he could fire me.
  When I realized this, I stopped helping him and trying so hard, so he could fire me once and for all. He was fired shortly after. I, on the other hand, am grateful because I set up my own business and have a much happier life. It is expensive to keep a bad employee! ©️ Cesar Augusto Legitimo / Facebook

• Wanted to ask my boss to work for fewer hours for a couple of weeks because I was about to get my second university degree. Was asked to work overtime instead because my (narcissist) colleague wouldn’t be able to finish her project in time — she never did, always something “happened to her,” so someone else had to convert her failures into a successful project in a matter of days, basically performing a miracle. I did.
  The boss asked me to substitute for our department leader who was burnout (without more pay). I did. Narcissist and another colleague started teasing me. Boss promoted the narcissist to be the department (my) leader.
  I tried for some more time but was also burnout. Asked to be transferred to another department. My boss refused, and I quit. One of the best decisions of my life. And yes, I was an idiot to put up with this lousy environment and toxic people for ten years.
  It was one of my first jobs after university, and they installed the notion we were worthless and had to be happy to work for them. But I learned my lesson. I have a great job and an excellent boss now. My life improved by 200%. ©️ tirali11 / Reddit

• I signed up for an internship and went to the interview. A lady interviewed me and told me about the salary I would receive. I replied that, although it was low, it was good because I would learn a lot working in the company.
  She told me that I was lucky to receive that money because, in her time, she would have had to pay for the opportunity to work and learn. She said she would call me on X day, as I was perfect for the position. Months went by, and I didn’t get a callback. I’m better off. ©️ Cassiane Sasset / Facebook

• At an employment agency, I took a receptionist course to work in a doctor’s office. I did very well and immediately got a job at a clinic. I soon found out that the nurses were not being paid on time, they were not being paid for equipment costs, and they didn’t offer commuter vouchers.
  I told the doctor that I was going to quit because I hadn’t been able to adapt to the position. To my surprise, he called the agency and made up a lie. ©️ Tatiana Lustosa Dalallibera / Facebook

• I’ve had wonderful and awful employers. One day, I got off a 12-hour shift at the hospital and went to the house of a lady I was taking care of. It was early in the morning, and I was hungry, so I took two bananas and ate them. The next day, I heard a ruckus coming from the kitchen and went to see what was going on.
  The lady was furious. I confessed I had eaten the fruit and was shocked by her response. Things were not working out. Next, the woman padlocked everything, even the refrigerator. I told her a few things, grabbed my bag, and left. I will never forget it. ©️ Jack Carvalho / Facebook

• I worked for a company for five days; I started on a Monday and quit the following week. The reason: the employee locker room was flooded, we had nowhere to change, and the microwave was not working, so we had to eat our food cold. While this was going on, the managers were traveling around in helicopters.
  But the worst thing was that, after working 15 hours straight, I told my employer I had to leave because my mother was sick, and he told me over the phone that I was not authorized to do so. I informed him that I was not asking him, I was just telling him. On Monday, I had my letter of resignation ready. ©️ Wil Witmar / Facebook

• 10% pay cut for all employees announced on company-wide call. Then they asked if there were any questions. “Just one, David. Since all operations personnel are taking a 10% pay cut, I assume you and everyone else at HQ are doing the same?” Nothing but silence.
  I turned in my notice a week later and landed a job at an awesome company where I stayed for six years. ©️ Grunt0802 / Reddit

• When I was an intern at a large company, I was made to stay after hours to deliver an urgent report without even being asked if I could. They left two of us interns alone to do the job, unsupervised. The next day, they just thanked me. ©️ Marina Moghrabi / Facebook

• I was desperately looking for a job because I badly needed money. My water and electricity had been cut off, and I had almost nothing to eat. A friend invited me to live in her house. At that time, a language school called me for an opening as a secretary.
  I got dressed up and went at the appointed time. I was used to interviews taking place at a desk and being asked questions. But this place was different — they left me and another applicant at the reception desk next to an employee all day. We stayed until 5 p.m. with no food, no breaks, and practically no learning or training.
  I asked a lot of questions about how everything worked, but the employee gave more importance to the cleanliness of the school. I was starving but was only offered water. I didn’t question anything about lunch, salary, or the time the “job interview” would end because I wanted the job so badly.
  By the end of the day, I was told, “Well, it’s closing time. We have your number, and we’ll call you if necessary.” They never did. ©️ Chilena Misora / Facebook

• I worked in a food store where the owner only gave orders and thought she was the queen of the place. In the middle of the busy season, with the establishment buzzing with activity, she started yelling that the orders were all wrong and told us we were incompetent. To this day, I wonder how she managed to work all that day by herself, making the bread, cakes, sweets, and sandwiches, and, on top of that, serving the customers, preparing the orders, and attending the cash register.
  I wonder this because the moment she yelled at us, all the employees left the store. The next day she came crying to apologize, it was the best! ©️ Andre Silveira Jr. / Facebook

• I once worked for a company that fired me for no reason, and when I went to receive my severance pay, they had no money. Human Resources told me that it was the bank’s fault. I then tried to contact the company several times without success. I decided to lawyer up, and on the day of the hearing, the daughter-in-law of the owner of the company went to represent him.
  She told the judge that I had not received the compensation because I hadn’t tried to get it. In the meantime, the judge had in front of him all the evidence that I had not been paid, including their messages inventing apologies. ©️ Lwdy Martins / Facebook

• I worked for a company for seven years, and when they changed managers, this person decided to transfer me to an office in a more distant location. He told me there was no reason to do so and that I was an excellent employee, but he thought it was better.
  I told him that I preferred to be laid off, as I had a small child and could not go to work farther away. He agreed. I later found out that it was all a strategy to get me to beg for the job and accept a lower salary. ©️ Luciana Vasconcellos / Facebook

• The company I worked for suddenly closed its doors, saying it would open at another location. We stayed at home for five months without receiving a penny, when the manager had promised us we would get paid. When they reopened, it was even worse — I worked for two months without receiving anything in exchange. They said they had no money, not even enough to pay the rent for the store. ©️ Izabel Cristina / Facebook

• I was working in a company and was laid off, so a friend of my boss could take my place. This person handed me six folders and told me she needed them by Friday. I was told to go to work until I received notice, so I went.
  On Friday, the woman asked me about the folders and if everything was ready. I replied that I had not reviewed them and had not even opened them. She then turned to me and asked, “Ah, perfect, and what do I do now?” I replied, “I don’t know, you can fire me if you want.” ©️ Felipe Dias / Facebook

• The director of the company where I worked held a meeting with the employees to announce that the manager would be fired. Reason for the dismissal — he was very good, so he needed something better as he had no way to grow there, and keeping him in the company would not be fair to him. Well, the manager —who was my brother-in-law— did have the potential to grow... if he was promoted to director. ©️ Barbara Quedas / Facebook

• A friend told me that he had agreed with his colleagues to go to the office on Saturday, so they could get a head start on the work. Everyone offered to bring food and beverages, so the whole deal started to look more like a party. That day, he learned what sarcasm meant.
  He was the only one to show up, and since no one else did, he had to work all day alone. They kept asking him for things to do. Moreover, they didn’t pay his overtime, as it was forbidden to punch out after hours. If he did, he could get in trouble with HR. ©️ Eliana Honda Ouki / Facebook

• After three months of working in a multinational company, they changed my working days from Monday-Friday to Monday-Saturday. They paid me overtime but forced me to work weekends. Two months went by, and they reduced my work time from Monday to Friday by 48 minutes, so I stopped earning overtime on Saturdays and was forced to make up the time. After four months, they forced me to stay on shift the whole week — Monday to Sunday until 10 p.m.— even though they knew I was going to college at night.
  In short: I showed them a clause in my contract that said they could not change my workload without both parties agreeing to it. I stopped working extra. The other employees were afraid of being fired, so they continued to work without complaining. I wasn’t afraid of being fired because a job has to be suitable for both parties, not only for the employer. ©️ Theo Ramires / Facebook

• I joined a company as an intern, and my boss —who had started at the company only three months before me— told management that she didn’t need an assistant and that she would take care of the job on her own. In reality, I became her assistant at an intern’s salary.
  A year went by, I was hired as a telephonist, and she did not understand how I could not perform my duties and the work she passed on to me. I told her that if she wasn’t going to hire me as her assistant, she should get one. She yelled at me that I was incompetent and that my behavior would not be tolerated.
  I simply stopped doing her job and went about my things. In the end, she was fired because she couldn’t get her work done. The new boss hired me as an assistant and put someone else in the position I was in. ©️ Janine Castro / Facebook

• I once worked for two days at a collection company. On the first day, they gave me an easy assignment. On the second, they put me to teach a new girl and moved me to a different position. When I asked why, the owner said, “You went to business school, and you don’t know anything about collections?”
  I looked at him in astonishment, and he decided to give me a 2-hour lecture. I sent him a message the next day to inform him that I would no longer go. ©️ Elis Marina Gonçalves Brandão / Facebook

• When I was young, I was hired as a cook in a house. The food and the organization of the kitchen were my responsibility, but every time I finished my work, my boss would come and say, “Can you help ’Mary’ to tidy up the house?” or “Can you give a hand to ’Jane’ to arrange the clothes?” And I would stay and help them.
  Until one day, her daughter’s car spilled oil and stained the entire garage floor. Then, the poor “so-and-so” went with a remover and a kitchen sponge to clean it up. My boss again asked me to help her. I answered with a resounding “NO!”
  And she had the nerve to ask me why on earth I didn’t want to help. I replied that I had not been hired to do that kind of work. She arrogantly said, “I knew you weren’t suitable to work in my house.” To which I replied, “No, I’m not going to be exploited.” ©️ Laudiceia Silva / Facebook

If you feel identified with any of these stories or have a friend in a similar situation, the following stories may motivate you to make a change for the better:

• 17 Infuriating Cases of Bosses Who Shouldn’t Be Allowed in That Position
• 13 Times Ridiculous Workplace Rules Actually Backfired
• My Boss Kept Calling Me on My Days Off, so I Blocked Him
• 7 Ways to Cope With Toxic Coworkers and Avoid Confrontation
• According to a Study, Working With a Friend Can Make You Happier and More Productive