We’ve all had toxic bosses but advice to report an Attila the Hun boss to HR int he story below somewhat problematic, but needed for forms sake. A far more potent combination is seeing a lawyer and combining that advice (legal action) with a news story. The most important thing is to keep a journal as evidence. Below is from the Sydney Morning Herald and I have put my ten cents in italics.
“Who do you confide in when you’ve got problems at work? You’ll probably let off steam with other colleagues who intimately understand your workplace.
There are also close friends or family, who provide a sympathetic and objective ear. And if things get really problematic, you can always escalate it to senior management or HR.
Malcolm: Although often senior management of HR are the problem. Remember, HR works for the bosses and may work against you. A good lawyer is invaluable.
However, there’s a new, site gaining traction where work frustrations are vented, and that’s the online forum Reddit.
Australia leads the world in Reddit usage, with 33 per cent of all Australians over 16 visiting it at least once in the past month. Data from Meltwater’s Global Statshot Report (Malcolm: slightly dodgy) found that Australians read it more than users from any other country, way above the global average of about 12 per cent.
And one of the most popular and growing topics that people are turning to Reddit to discuss is workplace problems, with users posting intimate details of toxic management and annoying issues with their bosses to a broad audience for comments and advice.
Take the “antiwork” subreddit as an example. In 2013, it began as “a quiet corner of the internet to discuss radical leftist ideas about ending work”, complete with a tongue-in-cheek slogan: “Unemployment for all, not just the rich!”
However, once the pandemic hit in 2020, the number of users in the forum ballooned to 2.9 million, an increase of more than 22,000 per cent. They go there primarily to complain about how they’re treated at work, and to connect with others who feel the same way.
Closer to home, the popular subreddit “auscorp” began 2½ years ago and now has 250,000 weekly visitors. This is an Australian-based forum that features regular comments and updates from workers with questions and complaints about where they work.
Worth a look if you have a beef. Remember, there’s a big difference between management incompetence and bullying.
It recently received so many insider updates on all the changes occurring at ANZ under new chief executive Nuno Matos that it had to compile them into popular weekly threads. Every day, current and former employees add new details about the previously private inner workings of the business.
But all of this raises a knotty question: should you be sharing your company woes with the world on Reddit?
Of course, you can choose to release however you want, but please be aware that defamation and confidentiality laws still apply on internet forums, even if you’re hiding behind a pseudonym.
Malcolm: It helps considerably if you have evidence to support a truth defence.
It’s understandable to want to vent about your workplace, but the best advice I ever received came from a former colleague that still rings true today: don’t ever put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want read out in court one day.
Malcolm: Unless you want your day in court.