the worst boss of 2011 is…

by Alison Green on December 31, 2011

We have a winner!  558 votes are in, and the worst boss of the year is the manager who ran a contest for employees where they could win $10 by guessing which of their coworkers would be fired next … with 21% of the vote.

The runners-up:

* The boss who constantly made jokes about anorexia, told our reader that she’s “only a girl” and he didn’t expect much out of her, and warned her about what people would think if she went to lunch with male coworkers – 19%

* The manager who was trying to find out who had “betrayed” another employee by reporting suspected child abuse – 19%

* The employer who insisted on written permission from a supervisor for more than three bathroom breaks a day – 17%

* The boss who kept stealing employees’ lunches even after being asked to stop (leaving our highly allergic reader without anything to eat for the day) – 12%

* The boss who refused to give employees lists of the clients they were contractually obligated to serve – 8%

* The boss who demanded a doctor’s note when an employee wanted to move her desk three feet within her own cubicle – 3%

* The boss who allowed an employee to constantly sleep on the job, and who suggested that annoyed coworkers “drop a big book” if they wanted to wake her up – 1%

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{ 5 comments }

{ 5 comments… read them below }

  2. Ruby*

    I still think the “worse boss” is the one who stops employees doing their jobs (by not letting them have client lists) or lets other employees carry the load of dead-weight (the boss who lets you nap – good for the napper, I guess!).

  3. Anonymous*

    I”m sure this made the person who wrote this very happy. Now it’s official; their boss is the worst one!

  4. Anonymous*

    While that boss definitely deserves to be on the list, I think there were plenty of others who were more degrading – particularly the one who was so demeaning to his female employee.

  5. Kim Stiens*

    At least the bosses that are outright sexist might eventually get sued, or at least fired because of the risk of being sued. But the contest boss? If that kinda dude has already climbed that far, there’s probably no stopping that juggernaut of incredible management.

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