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.
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Whether it’s taking advantage of unpaid interns or false advertising, here are 19 unethical business practices that I can’t unsee.
Forcing employees to work when they’re sick.
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.
“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.
Not including wage info in the job posting.
“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
Using unpaid interns as workers.
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.
Salary discrepancies.
“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
Giving employees a set amount of personal days and then shaming them for taking time off.
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?
Deceptive wording.
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.
Using a previous salary against new workers.
“‘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
Fake promotions.
“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
Using employment as leverage to keep employees’ mouth shut.
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.”
Taking advantage of motivated entry-level hires.
“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
Government contracting.
“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
Hiring more part-time workers as a way to avoid giving hourly workers benefits.
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.
Holding interviews for a position when the company already knows who they will hire.
“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
Firing people who put in their two weeks.
“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
Planned obsolescence.
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.
HR departments pretending they have the employees’ best interests in mind.
“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
Posting a job listed as “entry-level,” but three to five years of experience is required.
“Bonus points for the tech industry, listing a job that requires more years of experience than the tech has even existed.” – u/deleted
Making workers do the job of two to three people to avoid hiring new people.
“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
