Most of us still remember the first day at work like it happened yesterday. With your heart beating like you just ran a sprint and your mind rolling "what if?" scenarios one by one, you were ready to do every little thing just to make it work. In that sense, "just hired!" is both a blessing and somewhat a curse.
But it turns out, not everyone is putting their best foot forward on the first day at work. On the contrary, when one Reddit user posted the question “What is the fastest you have ever seen a new co-worker get fired?” it all became clear: people are no saints in keeping their new job under control.
24.6k redditors replied and shared their stories, and below you’ll find the most "wut da hell"-inducing bits that will seriously get us thinking about things we thought we took for granted. And no, a crumpled shirt you forgot to iron the night before will not get you fired.
#1
One and a half hours into shift as an animal care worker, I was showing my trainee how to clean the kitten rooms and started him on the easiest cage. We’re talking neonatal, six day old bottle feeder kittens. I explained how to set up the kennel, clean them up, etc. I turned around to grab some towels and a fresh hot water bottle when I heard a thump. And then another thump. Turned around and he was tossing the kittens to the other side of the kennel to move them. Like, underhand lobbing a softball, just tossed three kittens out of his way. I freaked out and yanked his ass down to the supervisor’s office. His excuse was the kittens were ‘attacking’ him, and he felt threatened? So he threw them!!
No warnings, fired on the spot. (The kittens all were fine and got adopted out a few months later. :) )
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155points
#2
"You don't tell me what to do, you're a woman." To his trainer. Lasted until management came in that morning and heard about it.
143points
#3
He didn't show up the first day, second day, or third day.
I had to work a double shift for three days straight. Not fun. I answered the phone when he finally 'called in' on the fourth day.
He said, "I'm going to be honest with you, I've been in Orlando. My parents paid for a small vacation as a reward for getting the job. Would it be okay to start next week instead of this week?"
104points
The straight way to getting fired is making one of the big no-nos as listed in the post. But in a world full of more or less rational, polite, and understanding human beings, these cases happen very rarely.
Other times, fortune is not on our side and little things in the workplace don’t go unnoticed. For example, engaging in office gossip, especially when one complains about their work, can surely turn backs against you.
A similar case happened in New Hampshire in 2007 when four co-workers were fired "in part for gossiping and discussing rumors of an improper relationship between the town administrator and another employee that residents now agree were not true."
#4
During their onboarding training, they stole my bosses wallet on camera.... 1 hour in..
101points
#5
Four or so hours. When I was 18 I got a job at a grocery store, along with three others. We all started training together. On the first day we were training in the evening, and one girl asked to go home, she said her head hurt. They said fine, she clocked out, went to grab a grocery cart and started filling it with beer and liquor. The store manager walked over, and asked her if she was having a party. She said yes. Didn't even try to come up with an excuse. Just, "yeah, I am, so I needed to leave early on my first day." basically. He fired her.
97points
#6
About 35 minutes
I hired a guy to work for me as quality inspector for merchandise headed to Walmart & Target. He bragged about everything he stole from his last job during training and how they paid him more than I did. Well, I'm not holding him back from all that money so I had some big guys escort him off the property
91points
Falling asleep while on duty may happen if you’re drained and have been under a lot of stress and sleepless nights lately. Usually, it’s totally forgivable as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work performance. But in some cases, like if you’re an air traffic controller, falling asleep can cost your job in an instant.
Another quite common occurrence in an office is poor timekeeping. People slack for various reasons; sometimes they just don’t feel like working, other days they’re too tired or have other things to do. However, your absenteeism can become intolerable and you can get fired, like a banker that spent too much time in the bathroom.
#7
Had a co-worker get fired halfway through his first day. Was a well-qualified rep, plenty of industry experience and seemed cordial enough.. He got fired on his lunch break when management and HR took him to lunch and he made racist jokes about several ethnicities. He was going to be the rep for our El Paso market, which is incredibly diverse, so he was told not to even bother coming back from his lunch break.
89points
#8
Day one, he hit a parked car in the parking lot, with the person still inside. When he was confronted he lost his mind and even used threats. The man he hit walked up to security and said "don't let that man into my building. People like that don't work for me"
He hit the directors Porsche..
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88points
#9
A 19 year old kid got hired to work the seafood counter. See him twice and then never again. Asked a coworker what happened.
He had closed seafood one night and was walking out of the store and the 5 pounds of crab legs he'd stuffed down the back of his pants fell out in front of the closing manager.
86points
Our jobs, like our lives, are full of ups and downs and it’s totally fine. One day, we’re getting promoted, the next, we're told about pay cuts and there’s little that can be done about it. Be sure you focus on your daily, monthly, and yearly performance, and as long as you do the assignments as well as you can, you can feel safe that your place at work is not going anywhere.
#10
A man was hired to do stock at a tea store that sold lots of delicate China. Manager walked into the back on his like third day and saw him just throwing boxes of tea cups and teapots. Instantly fired.
84points
#11
Heard this from a manager I worked with when I worked in fast food. There was this one kid who didn’t show up for work. He ditched work often, so the manager called around, couldn’t get anyone to fill in his shift, so she had to fill it for him.
A few hours into his shift, the dude ditching SHOWS UP, with his friends, and orders food from that manager. She fired him on the spot.
78points
#12
I work construction. We had 2 new hires that were friends starting the same day. Boss told one take a coffee order and come back. Took everyone's money and said he needed his friend to go with him cause it was a big order. They never came back.
73points
#13
At first he looked normal. Then sometime around lunch time he suddenly screamed on top of his lungs (if the office). When people run to him to see what's going on he told them -"I was trying to see how loud i can scream". He was gone before his screams echos stopped.
72points
#14
Worked in a grocery store for awhile: new guy took a lobster out of the tank and removed the elastic bands on its claws, then proceeded to put it back in the tank. The thing murdered all the other lobsters in the tank.
70points
#15
Didn't like the boss and on the first day took a piss in the gas tank of his jeep.
Bragged about it and It was recorded too.
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70points
#16
As a teenager, I worked at a bowling alley. Within an hour, a new girl was fired on the spot for dropping a ball on the foot of a complaining patron.
66points
#17
I work IT for the Federal courts. We've had a few fired before their start dates for lying about having felonies. However, the best one was the one fired after 5 minutes - the person who showed up was not the person who was interviewed via Skype.
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63points
#18
CoWorker. Smoked like every 40min for like 10min.
Then asked the Boss if he could leave an hour early because he didnt take his Lunch Break.
As my Boss said: "Sure you can, but you dont need to come back."
62points
#19
guy got hired, while going through orientation realized that his ex gf worked there too, turned around and walked right out the front door.
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62points
#20
corporate chain restaurant
new server, aged mid 30s.
third day he was working we had to fire him mid shift. why? dude went in to the public rest rooms, with other guests clearly in there using the urinal, and started doing lines of blow off on the edge of the sink.
56points