16 employees share something their boss did that instantly killed workplace morale.

Nothing can crush a fun shift vibe more than a delusional boss on a micro-management power trip...

So, when a Reddit user asked, 'What's something your employer did that instantly killed morale?' people were ready to share an idea or policy their boss enforced that made for an utterly miserable work environment. Raise your hand if you're burned out to a crisp and want to head across the street for happy hour margaritas...anyone?

1.

Forbid us from talking - Google_dr

2.

On a recent call about an employee survey, said to the effect 'we see many of you commented about compensation, but we're going to focus on engagement and sense of belonging.' It's bad enough to ignore the compensation problem, but to outright say they're ignoring it? 'Sense of belonging' doesn't pay rent. - DreadfulSilk

3.

During contract negotiation the boss man said we weren’t paid to think. So we stopped thinking and followed orders only. That cost them. - CRScantremember

4.

Said everyone must refer to eachother as family members and not colleagues and coworkers. I left after 4 months. - trusted-advisor-88

5.

Accidentally email everyone in the organization contracts with everyone's salary before and after telling everyone that, despite doubling productivity in a year, the most they could do was 4% COL increases. Odd how each member of leadership got 40-60% COL raises. We were already annoyed at how they made 4-5x the average employees salary after the first one but that raise was what burned trust to the ground. - ACam574

6.

Asked me to marry his niece so she could get her green card. - Petroglyph217

7.

Promising big pay raises if we hit targets and later quoting reasons for not delivering on that promise. - chrispcool38

8.

Manipulation tactics. 'No one likes you' 'I'm the only person keeping you in this job' 'Everything you say comes back to me' 'My friend or relative came into the workplace and saw you doing this or that...' Crazy b*tch - lowbrowhumor45

9.

Made his son, who had never worked either in the industry or in the company, the CEO. Just. Like. That. - Worldbiker

10.

My hours were unexpectedly cut without warning and I knew I was going to have to start looking for another job. Another thing my work did was hire plants. Neighbors and friends of the owner that didn't do any actual work but always reported anything you did wrong no matter how minute it was. - Robot-King56

11.

Lunch is normally 12 to 12:30 and is dictated by bells; bell starts your lunch, bell ends your lunch. I arrive at my desk at 12:26 with a personal deep dish pizza from Little Caesar's fully intact and my boss yells at me for that. A few weeks later, when he's with a client, he doesn't leave for lunch until after 12:30 and doesn't come back until 2. Total hypocrite. - B*onerforeverr

12.

One summer it was really hot and I worked as a delivery driver for Domino's during the day. This was in The Netherlands so we use mopeds and e-bikes. The moped had broken down so I was forced to use a bike.

Not only did the manager not provide any cooling to my coworker and myself in the shop with temperatures at around 45°C/113°F, I had to wear my completely black uniform including long black dress pants under the blazing sun while doing deliveries.

We were so upset, hot and utterly exhausted from the heat, I ended up calling my mum to ask if she could bring a fan and in between deliveries we would just sit in the back room with the fan on and do nothing. It actually took one of our drivers passing out from the heat, as well as one of the cooks, before management let us wear shorts (as long as they were black). - FeralMoonlight

13.

They discontinued profit sharing bonuses because some employees that didn't work enough to qualify and weren't eligible to receive a bonus complained that it 'wasn't fair'. So to be fair to everyone, the company kept all the profits. - Stanyelnats3

14.

They changed the way we do annual reviews. Instead of allowing me to give the raises to my direct reports based on their actual performance, HR stepped in and made all the decisions based on random gossip, instead of actual feedback through official channels. My opinion as their manager meant nothing compared to anonymous rumor.

I quit shortly after that and told my team to get their resumes up to date. Within a year of me leaving, they saw how bad things were getting and left too. I still keep in contact with them, and am glad they all moved on to better opportunities. - jephistopheles

15.

I work in a big corporate building. The same older lady came by everyone’s desk towards the end of the day to collect the trash. Just the sweetest lady ever and every time she’d walk to my desk she’d give me a big smile and ask me how my day was and chat for a minute as she got my trash (usually I’d dump it in for her). I had some rough days but she has a way to cheer me up and send me home on a higher note. I know I’m not the only one either.

So then a few weeks back our work implemented a new policy to ‘cut down on trash usage’. It’s no longer allowed to have a trash bin at our desk and we have to walk across the room and use the community trash to throw anything away. Not a huge deal but the real reason they did it is so they can cut down on cost... ie the cleaning crew. Sad to say that I haven’t seen Sharon since. - Tricky-Ad6486

16.

I got barked at by my store manager for clocking in 2 minutes late Saturday because there was a giant street fest that sucked up all the parking. I had come in 2 hours early the day prior at her request to help out. Got a call today to see if I could come in on my day off. 'That's a no for me dawg.' - TheRatsMeow