Weirdest unwritten rules in the workplace?

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Jayo
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19 Aug 2025, 7:22 pm

I mean, the weirdest unwritten rules in the workplace that you experienced firsthand...not anecdotally or generally.
Of course, such things are the bane of our autistic existence, are they not :( :x :roll:
Just silly perverse tribal bonding things is all they are, nothing terribly pragmatic about them when you think about it.

I know that in some settings, at least one that I've encountered firsthand, is that nobody voluntarily shares any work products or ideas outside of their org unit, with other org units, lest someone steals it as their own for their credit. I ran afoul of this and was rebuked for doing so in a tone that suggested "everybody knows this". :roll:

I also got laughed at one time when I went into a meeting with three others, and I'd only printed ONE copy of my 3-page plan (for myself) and they asked if I had copies for THEM too... and I said no, I forgot (white lie - I assumed they'd print their own) - and so I went back to my desk to print off more copies. (After that, I just suggested we use a projector connected to a laptop, and my boss agreed.) Funny thing is, three years prior to this mishap, I had a boss who was more abrasive and condescending, and she told me directly and harshly that I should always print off enough copies for those attending and I clearly forgot later in my new job...

Another time, in that same job with that toxic boss, she rebuked me for writing an email that was too long and needed to fit on a cell phone b/c there were certain people, like her, who regularly used cell phone for emails - this was in 2010 so it didn't really cross my mind. I guess it was one of those "common sense" things that can change with time based on the whims of the hive-mind. Who knows?



aspiemike
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23 Aug 2025, 5:48 am

We get 30 minuted unpaid lunchbreaks. On special occasions, which does not happen often, there is a BBQ, Pot Luck or Pizza Lunch that will extend lunch to 1 hour (30 minutes paid). It is implied that if you do not participate in these lunches, you stay on the floor for 30 minutes and do not even grab from the shared lunch as it is not fair to those participating. It was not even managers making up this rule to begin with, it was other coworkers. Eventually, a supervisor started enforcing this on employees.


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