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Shit your company does that is unethical

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I used to work for [Video Game Retail Chain] and have a bunch of unethical stories but the one that comes to mind right now concerns the release of 'The Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker' on Gamecube back in 2003.

You may remember how the first print copies came with a bonus disc that had Ocarina of Time and Master Quest on it and this was sold here for $99.95 RRP. They had long sold out for pre-orders and stores were informed to tell customers that there were no more available. When the delivery of the brand new copies of WW arrived in store a couple of days before the release date, there was another large box that had 'Pre-Owned' copies of The Wind Waker with a sale price of $99.95 and 'Pre-Owned' copies of the OoT/MQ disc for $49.95. What they had done is take brand new copies of The Wind Waker, opened them up and split them into two separate SKUs with individual custom cases and sold them at a premium to desperate customers who had missed out on the pre-order for the brand new Zelda game bundle.

That always stuck out in my mind as pretty gross.

I remember this! As I was never employed there I feel I can name and shame them.

Curse you EB GAMES!

Blatantly removing a free bonus disc and selling it separately for an additional $50 was the last straw for me. I never purchased anything from their stores again!

I must say I quite liked the fact employees didn't remove the sticker advertising the bonus disc and just crossed it out so you knew it was meant to have it!
 
Have been in situations where people are forced to literally work two jobs for extended periods of time and get told off by higher ups if they ask for compensation.
 
I used to do reworks and inspections of parts for a large vehicle manufacturer at another plant. It was owned by a local college and inspected once every so often by the major manufacturer.

This was my year off between high school and college, and my Dad got me the job.

- They started me off working on absorbers. Think of these as plastic bumpers, which are black. We would drill them, cut them (with saws), sand them and then stack them. I did all of those jobs.

1) They'd only give us surgeons' masks, and the plastic bits would get inside while sanding. My friend did the job daily, and he would go home and blow little black bits out of his nose.

2) The surgeons' masks didn't protect us from fumes. With my OCD, it bugged me, and I would go home lightheaded. One day, I was cutting (essentially melting) the plastic with a saw, which was on a track. Its track was cut out of metal and I'd just move it along it (two drills, two spots) then give it to the next person.

Well, I was looking away since the fumes were so bad, while pushing the drill through its routine. I couldn't screw up. However, one of the ties came loose and the wire fell in. I cut through it and everyone made fun of me.

After that, I was moved to the front of the warehouse, where they did reworks and inspections of other parts. They had us counting bolts, rotating truck doors with someone on the other side holding a flashlight to look for holes, and the like.

1) There were windows, but they were never open. The fans were hardly ever used.

2) They had two forklifts going through all the time. Workstations were on the perimeter of the large room, and parts were in the middle. They would get the parts from the middle, with the back end of the forklifts facing us, shooting propane at us constantly. It was awful.

I think I got carbon monoxide poisoning from the place, but when I went to the doctor it was too late for them to do the tests (1 month).

3) They wouldn't even know if you stayed home sick. And if there was no work, they'd just make you sweep the factory for four hours.

4) We were once told to grind metal on a grinder, with just a surgeon's mask and maybe some safety glasses on. I said I was scared after a bit, just to get away from it, and asked to be moved. The supervisor said, "Yeah, I don't know why they put you young guys on that." He moved me.

This place was checked for safety by the large automotive manufacturer! Third shift would do e, then check sunroofs for defects. We'd have to re-do their work the next day.

Later on, I got on as a temp full-time student at the large automotive factory. They would ask me to sit at a picnic table while they asked people if they could go home, or would, so that I could work. If noone agreed, and nobody was off, I had to go home. This happened half the time. I didn't get paid for waiting or for travelling in. Also, when I didn't see pay for one shift on my cheque, I submitted a form but never got the $200.
 
I used to do reworks and inspections of parts for a large vehicle manufacturer at another plant. It was owned by a local college and inspected once every so often by the major manufacturer.

This was my year off between high school and college, and my Dad got me the job.

- They started me off working on absorbers. Think of these as plastic bumpers, which are black. We would drill them, cut them (with saws), sand them and then stack them. I did all of those jobs.

1) They'd only give us surgeons' masks, and the plastic bits would get inside while sanding. My friend did the job daily, and he would go home and blow little black bits out of his nose.

2) The surgeons' masks didn't protect us from fumes. With my OCD, it bugged me, and I would go home lightheaded. One day, I was cutting (essentially melting) the plastic with a saw, which was on a track. Its track was cut out of metal and I'd just move it along it (two drills, two spots) then give it to the next person.

Well, I was looking away since the fumes were so bad, while pushing the drill through its routine. I couldn't screw up. However, one of the ties came loose and the wire fell in. I cut through it and everyone made fun of me.

After that, I was moved to the front of the warehouse, where they did reworks and inspections of other parts. They had us counting bolts, rotating truck doors with someone on the other side holding a flashlight to look for holes, and the like.

1) There were windows, but they were never open. The fans were hardly ever used.

2) They had two forklifts going through all the time. Workstations were on the perimeter of the large room, and parts were in the middle. They would get the parts from the middle, with the back end of the forklifts facing us, shooting propane at us constantly. It was awful.

I think I got carbon monoxide poisoning from the place, but when I went to the doctor it was too late for them to do the tests (1 month).

3) They wouldn't even know if you stayed home sick. And if there was no work, they'd just make you sweep the factory for four hours.

4) We were once told to grind metal on a grinder, with just a surgeon's mask and maybe some safety glasses on. I said I was scared after a bit, just to get away from it, and asked to be moved. The supervisor said, "Yeah, I don't know why they put you young guys on that." He moved me.

This place was checked for safety by the large automotive manufacturer! Third shift would do e, then check sunroofs for defects. We'd have to re-do their work the next day.

Later on, I got on as a temp full-time student at the large automotive factory. They would ask me to sit at a picnic table while they asked people if they could go home, or would, so that I could work. If noone agreed, and nobody was off, I had to go home. This happened half the time. I didn't get paid for waiting or for travelling in. Also, when I didn't see pay for one shift on my cheque, I submitted a form but never got the $200.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/osha7/eComplaintForm.html

For anyone currently going through anything like this at their current place of employment, fill out this form. You can do it totally anonymously.
 
Eh.... if I am late even 1 minute past 8 AM, I will get my salary docked one day.

However if you get home 3 hours past the home hour (the rule in here is 5 PM), you would get absolutely nothing in return. And going home late is very definitely the norm.
 
Eh.... if I am late even 1 minute past 8 AM, I will get my salary docked one day.

However if you get home 3 hours past the home hour (the rule in here is 5 PM), you would get absolutely nothing in return. And going home late is very definitely the norm.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GTFO
 
Hhmm... How about frequently delaying your salary even up to 10 days just to keep the company's bottomline whatsoever green? I have been frequently getting my salary on the 10th of the next month instead of the usual end of the month due to "reasons". Oh and if that 10th of the month is a weekend, tough luck for you as you'll be getting it later.

This regularly fucks me up since I don't know when will they pay me. Which would be not so bad if I'm not paying my tuition with my salary. Oh and overtimes are aplently, must say they are almost like the norm.
 
Hhmm... How about frequently delaying your salary even up to 10 days just to keep the company's bottomline whatsoever green? I have been frequently getting my salary on the 10th of the next month instead of the usual end of the month due to "reasons". Oh and if that 10th of the month is a weekend, tough luck for you as you'll be getting it later.

This regularly fucks me up since I don't know when will they pay me. Which would be not so bad if I'm not paying my tuition with my salary. Oh and overtimes are aplently, must say they are almost like the norm.

Why are you still there? The minute a company screws with my pay I'd leave. That's the one thing you work for
 
That's some pretty scary stuff. I'd be tempted to report the management to the appropriate health authority and quit, but then you've got to find a new job and it's very likely that they'll replace you with someone clueless and things will get even worse. Of course it wouldn't be your fault if someone got hurt or sick, but still...

The company I work for has asked employees and their families to give its apps five-star reviews to artificially inflate their scores. One guy questioned the ethics of it, and our manager gave him a bollocking for questioning him.
OP would be a whistleblower I think. I'd hold out on them being dumb again and during him so he can then sue.
 
What happens if you miss a day? Because that sounds like a recipe for just turning around and going home the instant you realize you're going to be late.

Maybe his salary is docked whether he goes in or not
So not going in means losing yesterday's pay + losing today's pay
Going in means only losing yesterday's pay

My Job will Move around hours if you work more than 40 a week, if you worked 45 they will list you as 40 for this week and shuffle 5 more onto next week (Yearly hours average to 24 a week)
We also take on interns that do real work until most are inevitably let go
I lucked out, I was the only intern in my wave, as the other had job conflicts and was a single mom. Even then, I interned from Aug-Nov doing the same work as the part timers until one of them was fired and I was offered his spot. We've had waves of around 10 at a time and none ended up being hired.
 
My last job, a larger electronic store, used to try to force "accessories bundles" with their gaming systems (literally rubber-banding them together) during the holidays.

1. The sets were not discounted at all.
2. Worse, said bundles weren't with the customers needs in mind, rather than trying to get rid of extra junk (for example, instead of an extra controller, nunchuck, and charger for a Wii, they would try to attach two/three useless accessories, like 2 stand-alone Motion plus adapters). Unsuspecting shoppers had NO idea what they were buying...

My contacts at the corp. office found out my store was doing this, and demanded that I do what I could to stop this; asking me to report back to them if anything goes wrong. My management pretty much laughed in my face; the corp. people did nothing despite me doing as they asked.

About a year later, I was denied a promotion for a spot I worked hard for. The reason? I was told I couldn't be trusted (and yet, keep doing the same work as a manager, only without the pay or title). Once more, the corp. folks kept their mouths shut...
 
Last year, I worked for a company that did tax returns during tax season.

Holy crap, it was terrible.

One time I noticed that the owner's father was blacklisted (or whatever it's called) on the IRS for fraudulent returns... that were made by his son. I was told to put someone's roommate as a dependent on a return so the person can claim Head of Household, which is incredibly shaky and most of the time isn't something that should be done.

Another time two "separated" people came in, at the same time, with three kids. They lived at the same address, and where both trying to claim Head of Household in the same address with different dependent, which would end up in one of the returns being rejected. The conversation with the manager went like this:
Me: "Hey, um... we might want to let them know they can't both claim Head of Household, since they live in the same home."
Manager: "How do you know they live in the same place?"
Me: "Well... they put the same address on their separate information sheets, and they came in together. They're also splitting their dependents..."
*I trail off as the manager gives me a look like I'm lying about something*
Manager: "Just do the returns anyway. If one gets rejected, then we'll fix it. It's not our job to prod into it."
...Well, actually, it is sort of our jobs to prepare correct tax returns, but hey, who was I to know? They left before they were done with the returns, anyway.

Oh, and I was supposed to flat out lie about some things, like how much we charge (the prices were fuckin' ridiculous). They probably didn't invite me back for the next tax season because I decided it was better to be honest with the clients and offer discounts when I could. Seriously, what kind of scumbag practice charges $150 for a friggin' 1040-EZ?

The kicker? They wouldn't let me do my own return for free with their software. Because I'd certainly pay the $200 it would take to do on their shoddy software. Not like I know how to do my own return elsewhere on the internet or even do a handwritten one.
 
Unpaid internships. All the time, everywhere. Where the work the intern is doing is very clearly and obviously 'work' that contributes to the company's bottom line.

Oh man, this angers me so much. NYC's economy seems to be basically built off of businesses exploiting unpaid internships.

When I first moved to NY I interviewed for an internship at a small game design studio, and the basic setup was this: two older rich dudes saw the potential in making money from cheap web and mobile games, so they "hired" a bunch of naive recent college grads and had them copy and re-skin crappy flash games. There was no one to work under, no one to learn from. It was just free labor, with the empty promise to maybe pay sometime down the line once they made a lot of money. Pretty despicable, and apparently not uncommon in this city.
 
Maybe his salary is docked whether he goes in or not
So not going in means losing yesterday's pay + losing today's pay
Going in means only losing yesterday's pay

Heh. It just reminded me of the old chestnut about the Chinese army under the rule of a particularly harsh dynasty.

They're marching along through rough terrain and difficult weather, and the going is really slow. And at last they stop marching and the general goes to speak to the troops.

"Troops!" he says. "What is the penalty for rebellion?"

"DEATH!" they shout.

"And what is the penalty for being late?"

"DEATH!"

"Troops," he says. "We're late."
 
I work for my University, which has done some pretty unethical shit.
  • Investor funds were used for personal shit in a major Football scandal
  • Selling land that endangered species are known to live on to a developer
  • Lowering scholarship money while raising tuition
  • Somhow allowing an underage girl to be date raped by two students on-campus
 
My former job was just full of unethical practices, mostly of the lying kind. The company was in the competitive fighting sports business. And the root of it all was the Top Dog, the Chairman. He was a neurotic who trusted NO ONE, and yet he was the most untrustworthy person of all.


He would draft these documents and have the fighters sign them with promises of "$x,xxxx bonus for a knock-out win" for example, but even if the fighter manages to achieve this and asks about his bonus, he would say something different. Fighters rely on promoters signing them up so they can't really retaliate in case they don't get their pay or not be called in future events. While working for him, I had to send out a lot of communication that I doubted myself..all in my name.

I worked my ass off in that company (it was in shambles and falling apart at the seams) and was promised I would become a regular employee so I stayed. I even had to lie to my placement agency because they wanted to hire me directly without the agency in between. But just a couple of months later, they called me into a room and said I was fired. I wasn't even that surprised because people had been leaving left and right. I knew the company was broke but I still felt betrayed.

In the end, I'm actually glad they let me go. Staying in that company would definitely not have been good or healthy for me.
 
I work in Japan. The number of companies that have unsafe working conditions and worst of all, insane amounts of unpaid overtime or overtime pay scams. I tried to talk to the labor department and they said my shitty as fuck ex employer covered their tracks with a pile of loopholes. Fuckers. I hope my last employer and overtime house of hell and terror goes under.
 
Why are you still there? The minute a company screws with my pay I'd leave. That's the one thing you work for
I'm still an undergrad, and this is the best paying company to work for in my country (Philippines). Finding a job while having no college degree here will mean low paying, dead end, contractual jobs that are only a little bit above the minimum wage. I have a good standing on our company, so I can have unlimited leave without someone gossiping over my back, and have health / medical insurance plus they automatically file my taxes. They are just basically waiting for my diploma to make me a regular or if you want things to turn dark, fire me. Shame about the delayed salary part because this could have been the best to work for as an undergrad.

Companies here have insane job requirements for newly grads (2 years working experience, really?) so my time here counts while still looking for another company to hop to.
 
That's not unethical. You're just a bad person.

This has turned into a general thread, that's why I pitched in like this.

I felt bad. But some of the stuff the students were writing were truly and perhaps sadly, hilarious.

3rd year university courses and students.
 
i'm really interested in this thread itks an eye opener and also kinda concerning.

This has turned into a general thread, that's why I pitched in like this.

I felt bad. But some of the stuff the students were writing were truly and perhaps sadly, hilarious.

3rd year university courses and students.
my research methods class just used arrow to score and peer review papers, i have to say i agree. the level of technical and professional writing is really really low.
 
I had a former employer force me to exaggerate my qualifications to meet an outstanding contract position, they originally filled it honestly but the person couldn't do it anymore.

I was fairly out of my element, did a lot of late night cramming and BSing to get through it. Apparently I somehow did a good job at the end.

I was livid at being put into such a position but no one else seemed bothered by it.

Luckily I'm no longer there but there was all sorts of unethical shit happening as I later found out.
 
My last job, a larger electronic store, used to try to force "accessories bundles" with their gaming systems (literally rubber-banding them together) during the holidays.

1. The sets were not discounted at all.
2. Worse, said bundles weren't with the customers needs in mind, rather than trying to get rid of extra junk (for example, instead of an extra controller, nunchuck, and charger for a Wii, they would try to attach two/three useless accessories, like 2 stand-alone Motion plus adapters). Unsuspecting shoppers had NO idea what they were buying...

My local mom and pop videogame shop did this during the PS4 launch, was total bullshit. All PS4s were bundled with a game and a second controller, no discount and no exceptions
 
Places will do that because most of the time the console manufacturers will allot more consoles to a store if they have higher attachment ratios

A store selling (or forcing) 3 attachments/accessories with a console will be given more inventory than one simply selling the consoles alone, because the manufacturers want their stock to be prioritized to the people who will get the manufacturer the most bang for their buck, ie controller/kinect/stand/etc sales than give the high sales store less inventory so mr. nobody can just sell a console, making the manufacturer less money.

Source: Worked electronics at Target, we had a 2:1 console/attachment goal
 
Child labor employed by one of the vendors that the company I worked for was using. All they gave a fuck about was getting the product really cheap and on time.
 
My Job will Move around hours if you work more than 40 a week, if you worked 45 they will list you as 40 for this week and shuffle 5 more onto next week (Yearly hours average to 24 a week)


My job does this too. Overtime is anything over 40 hours per week in my state. Company still averages the weeks so like you said, if you work 80 one week and 0 the next, no overtime for you. Sucks but I just make sure I work over 80 every pay period. Course when I quit I'll make sure to give a call to the board of labor, lol.
 
When I worked in retail, they'd often rubber band the wrong sku's (which weren't discounted), leading to customers either complaining at the register and having us (who had no hand in the original process) fix it, or unknowingly pay full price.

Not unethical or intended per se, but everyone was all talking and stuffs.
 
Almost 6 years working in the same place

I haven't taken vacations in 5 years

I get 15 days of paid leave each year, so i have like 3 months of paid leave available
 
I work at Wal-mart. Where does one begin? We're under-staffed and the entire store's workers are being exploited. You have typically three workers in charge of half the store (pet's fish area, hardware, fabrics and crafts, sporting goods, automotive, pushing carts, unloading the frozen and trucks, and anything else the managers might ask). Just last night the area manager said as she was walking away; "Anytime I need help from those guys, they always run toward the break room and take their breaks". This is only one example of how just three are treated, it's needless to say that this is scratching the surface of the reality of having to work in my store.

I'm a DM and it sucks ass. Our area managers have given up, the salaried managers exploit us and expect us to kiss ass. Insane.

It's well documented at this point that Walmart routinely adjusts the specific hours employees work to avoid paying them overtime. I worked a few 12 hour shifts and none of it was ever reflected on my paycheck. I later changed positions within the company and had access to the clock systems and management applications. I worked software maintenance for a store in an extremely rural area where few people could even spell the word "engineer" so I was surprisingly well paid compared to the other less fortunate employees. Upon closer inspection into the backend employee punchcard system was I able to see that the administrators regularly (once a week from what I could see the 4 times I checked) re-positioned shift start/end times to different days.

Apart from the blatant hour fixing (which is hardly rare in this economy) and noted under-staffing, there didn't seem to be any other majorly shady business going on at the employee level.

Errr, they can't because an associate can view their last punch in. That would raise a big stink if they were caught. Plus they need an associate approval to do it.
 
I'm kind of drunk right now but all i'm gonna say is GAF, always have a conversation with your lifeguard and ask him how the chemicals are. There is one head lifeguard at a location nearby who is literally half retarded. She has no idea what she is doing and amazingly enough, she's in charge of training all new lifeguards. So lastly, if you're an LA member and a swimmer, find a new gym. I have seen people swimming in chlorine levels high enough to bleach clothes and whiten skin.
 
The place I just got fired from (attendance issues, not related to this) currently employees an HR who feels it is okay to defend individuals (her daughter-in-law) when they send pictures through company e-mail to other employees that make Barack Obama look like a monkey (extreme racist, this HR).

She's also told someone during a training session (who was African-American) to "sound less black" on the phone.

God damn I wish I could get her fired. But the people around her seem to think this sort of behavior is alright. Whatever.
 
At my last job, we received an email talking about how for the second year we weren't getting raises because of the economy, and in the same email they congratulated my boss on keeping the department under budget by giving her a week all expenses paid vacation to the Bahamas.
 
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