Finance has given everyone a talking down to about how they treat the company credit cards. People have been buying non-work-related items, repeatedly losing the cards, and not signing the back of the cards, which can lead to more fraud and losses.

Someone from finance has come around to make sure they are all signed. [Coworker], who sits next to me, huffs and puffs about getting her card; clearly, she didn’t sign it.

Coworker: “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Finance Rep: “If you don’t sign it, someone could find it and sign their own signature, meaning they could use it to buy whatever they wanted.”

Coworker: “But how likely is that?”

Finance Rep: “This is, what, your fifth card due to loss?! I would say it is pretty likely.”

Coworker: “Fine! Look! I’m signing it. See?!”

[Coworker] signs her card in block capitals, making it so easy to forge.

Finance Rep: “I’m going to have to have a word with my boss.”

[Coworker] got her card revoked, meaning she had to make a claim for everything she bought, which is a massive pain of paperwork. She moaned and wailed about how the finance team “didn’t understand money,” all while putting through things she shouldn’t be claiming for in the first place.

I was working on quality control for a small company. I noticed that we were getting a lot of unusual claims and complaints from customers. Some were on parts that I know I checked and were okay.

I asked my boss if I could photograph the parts after I checked them. He agreed, but funding was tight and he couldn’t buy anything on company money; there was a blanket ban.

Rather than use the slow company camera, I found a very cheap, used camera online and started to make a little catalogue of everything I checked as okay.

Sure enough, the customer was caught lying, and the company thanked me and wanted to put my process in place.

Sometime later:

Coworker: “I need to use the camera.”

Me: “Sorry, what?”

Coworker: “The camera, I need it.”

Me: “Oh, sorry. I’m using it at the moment.”

Coworker: *Sighs* “Fine!”

She stormed out, only to return a few moments later.

Coworker: “[Manager] said you need to give me the camera.”

Me: “I’m pretty sure [Manager] is on holiday.”

Coworker: “I asked [Other Boss].”

Me: “Well, you tell him that he can ask me himself.”

Coworker: *Smirking* “Fine, I will!”

[Other Boss] came over looking angry.

Other Boss: “What’s going on, [My Name]?”

Me: “[Coworker] is trying to force me to hand over my personal property, demanding I hand it over, and she said you told her I had to.”

Other Boss: “Oh, for f***’s sake. I told her to ask if there was a company one, and if not, to ask you nicely to borrow yours.”

Me: “Look, I—”

He held up his hand to stop me.

Other Boss: “No, it’s fine. We appreciate what you’re doing and we will get some proper equipment in soon. I will talk to [Coworker].”

He left, and then I could see him desperately trying to explain something to [Coworker]. After a few minutes, she walked over.

Coworker: *Sarcastically* “May I please borrow your camera, if it is not too much bother, sir?”

Me: “Sure, but one thing.”

Coworker: “What?”

Me: “I’m using it right now.”

She swore at me and left. I genuinely did need to use it and didn’t trust her to bring it back or not delete my photos. I heard that she then refused to do her work, even though she could have taken the photos later on or even the next day.

The company did eventually win a few more big orders and bought a suite of cameras. I was asked to “look after them” and keep them locked up and safe. Every Monday, [Coworker] has to ask me for a camera. She hasn’t figured out that she gets the old broken one when she doesn’t ask nicely.

[Coworker #1] had to take early retirement suddenly, due to health issues. This left the company racing around to try to fill everything he did. [Coworker #1], being the guy he was, would help anyone and everyone, so we kept finding things after he left that were not getting done. It was always, “Oh, yeah, [Coworker #1] used to do that.” It was remarkable how much that man could do.

Eventually, we had a few new starters join to help get things back on track. I was asked to look after [Coworker #2] while she got used to the role and company.

[Coworker #2], however, knew that I wasn’t her boss and quickly stopped doing anything I asked her to do. I had to get her boss to tell her, to her face, to follow my instructions as his own. This worked for a while, until [Coworker #2] realised she could “forget,” “run out of time,” or just create excuses and not do it.

Me: “Oh, [Coworker #2], I see the meeting room hasn’t been restocked. Could you do that, please? There is a major customer meeting in a few hours.”

Coworker #2: *Smugly* “Can’t.”

Me: “You can’t? Why not?”

Coworker #2: “The storeroom is out of coffee.”

Me: “You’re the only one that uses that storeroom, [Coworker #2]. When you use the last of something, there is a big sign that asks you to let finance know.”

Coworker #2: “Well, that’s not my job.”

Me: “Please, can you ask finance for the petty cash and go grab some more coffee from the shops?”

Coworker #2: “That’s not my job, either.”

Me: “Fine, I will do it, then… Not like I don’t have far more important stuff to do.”

I grabbed some petty cash, apologised on [Coworker #2]’s behalf, and managed to buy some supplies for the meeting room.

I decided I’d had enough and let [Coworker #2]’s boss know that I would not be managing her anymore and why. She lied and told him I was bullying and picking on her. However, she could provide no evidence, and no one else in the official backed her up. She was fired the next day. She screamed the building down on her way out that they were losing their best employee. Truly delusional.

They ended up hiring a single mom on a part-time contract. She works twice as hard as [Coworker #2] did, in half the time.

Me: “Hey, can you pass [report], please?”

Apprentice: “No.”

Me: “Sorry?”

Apprentice: “I said no. You always get me to do stuff around here.”

Me: “Yeah, it’s called your job.”

Apprentice: “Well, I, err… I want to be doing other stuff, interesting stuff.”

Me: “You know what? I will get the report myself.”

I walk around to his desk, and he knocks the report to the floor.

Me: “Real mature.”

It’s only a small office, so everyone notices. People stop talking to the apprentice, and he eventually goes for a break and doesn’t come back. It gets late in the afternoon and I have forgotten about it, until the boss comes into the office and addresses us.

Boss: “I’ve had a phone call from [Apprentice]’s dad, claiming that he’s being bullied and that we are not giving his son any actual, meaningful work. Does anyone want to explain?”

The office is a bit tense and no one wants to say anything. Out of the blue, an older woman, the sort of grandma type — she actually bakes cookies and brings them in — speaks up.

Coworker: “He’s a lazy little s***. He’s rude, arrogant, and doesn’t want to be here. Don’t bring him back, [Boss].”

Boss: “Okay. I, err… Well, I will certainly pass on that message.”

True to his word, he did, and the apprentice never came back. We eventually took on another who was great and stayed on for years afterward.

Everyone working on the assembly line has had to move around after some new equipment was installed. I’m now working with a bunch of new people. They seem okay, but the guy down track from me seems a bit of a waste of space. I don’t know the guy, but any opportunity to slack off, he will. I’m not sure he actually checks anything, which is pretty bad as he is supposed to be the goalkeeper to stop stuff getting out.

It gets close to the end of the day and [New Guy] disappears. The problem is, if he doesn’t pass off my parts, then I quickly run out of room, and then the guy before me will do, too.

I keep working until my section is full and I literally can do no more. I ask around to see if anyone knows where he is. 

Me: “Do you know where [New Guy] is?”

Coworker: “What time is it?”

Me: “It’s 15:30.”

Coworker: “Did he leave about fifteen minutes ago?”

Me: “Yeah.”

Coworker: “Yeah, he goes for a smoke and then something to eat about this time on a Monday.”

Me: “And that’s okay?”

Coworker: “Well, no, but he gets away with it.”

Me: “The line has stopped for me. I’m backed up.”

Coworker: “Oh, just pass the parts through. He doesn’t check them, anyway.”

Me: “I can’t.”

Coworker: “Oh, come on, man. Just do it. We’ve always done it that way.”

Me: “No. I mean, I can’t, even if I did want to. I don’t have the access and the PC is locked.”

He swore and grabbed his phone. He tried to call [New Guy] but he didn’t answer. We went down to his machine, where, apparently, he leaves all his passwords. But they weren’t there.

Just as [Coworker] decided to go and find [New Guy], the timer alarm went off and management came down.

Eventually, we had to tell them what had happened. Of course, just letting parts go to the customer without a safety check is pretty bad, and they didn’t know how many parts were out there.

I think they wanted to fire [New Guy] on the spot, but they couldn’t, so they transferred him to work in the yard doing actual labour. He lasted two weeks.