12 Dead Giveaways That Your Workplace Is Toxic
Have you worked in a toxic workplace before? Oof, I have, and it’s rough. From high turnover rates to high school semantics, several indicators exist that a workplace is toxic. Here are some of the more common factors.
1. High Turnover Rates
High turnover rates are an immediate tell that a workplace is toxic. There are many reasons for high turnover, from not paying liveable wages to disrespecting employees.
I worked in the food service industry for over 20 years, and except for a small family-owned Chinese restaurant, all were toxic environments with high turnover rates.
Those places refused to approve time off, wouldn’t let you call in sick, only scheduled enough hours to ensure you didn’t qualify for the crummy benefits package, and knew you were replaceable, so they made no effort to keep you there.
2. “Work Hard, Play Hard”
If the company’s motto is “Work hard, play hard,” prepare to work tons of extra hours, nights, and weekends with minimal financial incentive. A connotation also implies that the work is not enjoyable and that you must play to make that bad day disappear.
3. “We’re Like a Family Here”
Have you ever worked for a place where they insisted: “We are like a family here?” It’s a setup; run! Many employers who run with this motto work you long hours, provide minimal pay, and may even expect you to participate in shady shenanigans.
Some suggest that it is much worse when you’re working for a place that is actually staffed by a family. You’ll never be their firstborn.
4. Gossiping Coworkers
A general rule of thumb is that if your coworkers gossip about other coworkers, they will gossip about you, too. An environment filled with hate-spewing gossip will always be toxic.
5. Crying Coworkers
Are you or your coworkers crying regularly? I’m sure some people have no idea what I’m talking about, but trust me, it happens. It’s another trademark in the food service industry that people cry in the walk-in coolers. From the rudest customers in the world to abusive management, it’s a daily occurrence in walk-in coolers nationwide.
6. Enmeshed Staff
If the employees’ only friends and romantic partners are each other, not anyone else outside of work, it’s toxic. While this one is absolutely true, my husband and I met working together at Olive Garden many moons ago, so sometimes it works out.
7. High School Cliques
Another indicator of a toxic work environment is when most of the staff are in cliques; it feels more like a high school than a professional work environment.
8. Pizza Party Rewards
One of the biggest corporate slaps in the faces that I’ve ever received was when I worked for a casino. It was the largest resort casino in the state, and they were breaking massive money records. We were told anytime we came early, stayed late, or picked up extra shifts; we would receive an entry into a raffle they held at our quarterly meeting.
We were severely understaffed at Christmas, and I worked double shifts, all the holidays, and weekends. I had more entries than anyone on staff. Still, at the meeting time, they decided it wasn’t fair to the employees with no slips. So, everyone was only entered once. Yes, all my coworkers who did not earn it needed participation trophies.
They sat us down, told us we did more than three times what was projected for sales, and told us to pat ourselves on the back. The worst offense came when they didn’t raffle off the big-screen TVs, Playstations, and PSPs they said were the prizes. The ones they had physically displayed as the prizes. Instead, they had the audacity to give us the free promotional trash the beer trucks give them.
For example, blow up palm trees that said Bud Light. I got a football-shaped Bud Light charcoal BBQ. Did I mention it came with a pizza party? Pizza parties are an insult to staff, and they are common “rewards” for working to break sales records.
9. “We Wear a Lot of Hats Around Here”
When you hear, “We wear a lot of hats around here,” you can expect to do a bunch of work that is not in your job description because no one else wants to do it — without extra compensation, of course.
Often, these companies frame it as giving you more training and experience, but it’s honestly an excuse to work you to death and not hire an adequate-sized staff for the workload.
10. Being Hired on the Spot
There was a time when I believed getting hired on the spot genuinely spoke to my character and interviewing skills, but I eventually understood it meant the place hiring was desperate. Typically, it indicates high turnover because they can’t keep staff who will tolerate their bologna.
11. They Don’t Put Things in Writing
If they don’t provide anything in writing, run for the hills. For example, an employer promised me health benefits, company shares, bonuses, and other perks, hiding behind the guise of being a “startup” business.
I was their top performer, put in many unpaid hours, drastically exceeded the goals put in place, and never received any of the things promised. Six months later, after multiple times being verbally assaulted and gaslit over asking about these benefits and incentives, I quit. My boss was a walking nightmare of a narcissist, and there are plenty just like him. If they don’t put it in writing, they will never honor it— run.
12. Asking You to Do Unethical Things
Have you ever been put in a situation of doing something unethical at work? I’ll never forget my first and only time being written up at work. It was my first week working for a cell phone carrier. We made a commission from setting up new lines of service, and my boss pulled me into the back office, a common practice in these types of businesses.
She instructed me to offer this customer a prepaid option instead of what they were asking for, so it counted for the store’s activations, and then to make a phone call to the store on the SIM card to activate it. But really, it gave the customer a free prepaid phone that they could use to put their old SIM card in. So it wasn’t a new line. It was an existing customer.
I followed her instructions and was congratulated for getting an activation. However, not long after, I had to sign a disciplinary form because what she had instructed me to do was unethical. It was widespread, and many company employees had to sign one. I was honestly irate because I didn’t know it, and it was the only time I had ever gotten in trouble at a job.
My boss and the higher-ups assured me it wasn’t a big deal. However, as I’d imagine in any commission-based job, there are many shady things going on in the backrooms of cell phone stores.
Bosses and employees will find unethical ways to meet their quotas and pad their paychecks, and their interest is not really in helping you. They are pressured to meet quotas in daily meetings and weekly stop-bys by the higher-ups. I didn’t last long. Most people don’t.
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Elizabeth Ervin helps people embrace a change in money mindset to achieve their financial goals. After struggling for a decade as a single mother, consumed by the American debt cycle, she recognizes the value of financial education and lifestyle changes and aspires to motivate others to make those changes to obtain financial freedom. She heavily advocates for praying about and over your finances and speaking positive money affirmations to manifest abundance.
