If The Wolf of Wall Street or the horrifying tale of Enron taught us anything, it's that business is a dog-eat-dog kind of world.
People will go to extreme lengths to ensure their business succeeds, regardless of whether those practices are ethical or not.
Whether it's taking advantage of unpaid interns or false advertising, here are 19 unethical business practices that I can't unsee.
What's the point of a sick day if you can't use it?
There have been far too many stories of bosses forcing people to come in despite being extremely ill. This only ends up costing the company more money because the virus spreads around.
"Paying invoices late, especially BIG companies that pay a few months late. It kills small business, and seems to be quite normal here in the UK." - u/Puff_the_magic_luke. Getting paid late is the WORST.
"The salary is 'dependent on experience.' Then they inflate the job requirements so they justify paying you less, since you don't have all the experience they want." - u/SailedBasilisk
A lot of companies are guilty of this.
They hire interns that work the same as everyone else, sometimes even more, yet they don't get paid for their work. They also receive the bare minimum of training.
"It’s shady to give dedicated, long-term employees a measly 2-3% annual raise (if any at all), while hiring less experienced people for the same (or higher) salary, than the experienced employee. It essentially punishes loyal employees." - u/SmthgWicked
As this Redditor pointed out, some employers will even refuse to let their employees use them.
Similar to the sick days, what's the point of giving employees personal days if they feel scared to use them?
So much of what we're advertised isn't real.
This Redditor pointed out that 'up to 100mbps internet speeds!' means you get 5-6mbps, and that 'Made with 100% Chicken' only means that real chicken was utilized as an ingredient at some point.
"'Oh, you make $40,000? Well, we'll offer you $50,000. That's a 25% increase in pay!' Your salary shouldn't be relative, it should be what the market value of the position is. If a job pays $75,000, don't pay me only $50,000 because I only currently make $40,000." -u/BoilerMaker11
"There's a role you can apply for that doesn't have any extra pay or benefits, in which you do the same work as the role above that (which is higher paid) in the hopes that eventually you'll be the next in line to actually be given that next position. Except you won't." - u/shongage
This Redditor worked at a temp agency that tried to deduct the cost of PPE from their paycheck.
When they told them that this was illegal, they threatened to fire them. "I reported them to OSHA. They got fined and had to reimburse everyone their $15 deduction for ppe."
"Give them 50 hours a week of work, no special overtime pay, tell them it'll be back to normal at then end of the month when the regular crunch is over. Repeat until near a deadline." - u/macboot
"Building a thing to 'specs' but not entirely up to full functionality. Knowing the issues that can/will arise, doing nothing about it, and then make the government cut a whole different (and very profitable) contract to fix said problems." - u/Government contracting
This Redditor's former boss did this. They eventually found out that the boss's Christmas bonus was based on how much she saved on wages, benefits, etc.
"This used to happen all the time at my old company. You had to jump through the hoops to post a job, get resumes, and interview a shortlist of a minimum 3 people IIRC before you could give the job to the person you already hand-picked months ago." - u/deleted
"They do this so our attrition doesn't look bad. I've seen people get fired the day they put in their notice, last day, and in between." - u/iPunchOvereees
This is when manufacturers design products to "wear out" after a certain period of time or amount of use.
Looking at you, Apple! This definitely explains why older versions of iPhones start acting wonky once a new version is released.
"When really they have the company's best interests in mind and will screw over employees if it's good for the company. Seen that in almost every place that I've worked." - u/khendron
"Bonus points for the tech industry, listing a job that requires more years of experience than the tech has even existed." - u/deleted
"Employees are increasingly being expected to be 110% invested in their position while their employers don't have to show the slightest investment in you." - u/deleted
