How to Survive Your Office Job | Renegade Cut

[@CiderShot]

Never go "above and beyond" when you're only being paid for "up to and including."

[@sweetpeabee4983]

@@Davethe3rd my granddad used to say "do something once and it's a favor; do it twice and it's an expectation" -- I'd go further than you and say "volunteering" for shit at all leaves you vulnerable to being stuck doing it permanently lmao.

[@JenniferLoveSCREWIT]

Pro-tip: if you watch this with headphones on your lunch break and your boss glances at your phone, they’ll think you’re just watching The Office.

[@aaronbourque5494]

Time theft sounds badass. If employers didn't want employees to be time thieves, they should have come up with a less awesome name for it. In fact, more workers should change their job title to "time thief."

[@rayzebbs6614]

I know right. The time thief uniform would be a cape , a zorro mask and a flavor flav clock

[@williamclarke3026]

Sounds like a time traveling Carmen sandiego. Lol

[@tsarzamancorpdna]

I think I found my last minute Halloween costume to scare the middle manager

[@amyfey3112]

What about Time Bandits! Oh wait that’s a movie lol

[@amyfey3112]

William Clarke That was an actual pc game Where in Time is Carmen San Diego? I loved it lol

[@SpoopySquid]

Meanwhile, another person dropped dead while working in an Amazon warehouse. It took them 20 minutes to find their body. Unionise and organise ✊

[@thumblesteen7696]

I can only imagine their tracking device started beeping and the manager spent the next 30 minutes lecturing them on ''the perils of being dead during business hours.''

[@astashasta1]

Thumblesteen 😂😂thank you for this

[@kuromyou7969]

😢 that's terrible. That would happen to me if I died in my graduate lab. I doubt anyone would notice.

[@OnyxAgainstTheWorld]

IWW

[@derp195]

It wouldn't have taken them 20 minutes to find the body if they had dropped dead during an unauthorized bathroom break.

[@curiousworld7912]

I realized that corporations were soulless entities, when 'Human Resources' replaced 'Personnel'. It occurred to me then that workers were no longer 'persons', but merely a 'resource', belonging to the company.

[@danielsnapcorrect5053]

oh snap!

[@unematrix]

As a non-native English speaker, when I first heard of 'Human Resources' I thought it meant slavery... About 10 years later, I realised I was right all along.

[@jackleonhart2314]

As someone who’s been working 7 years of customer service, all of which has paid only slightly above minimum, this video hit me like a truck. I’m probably gonna be rewatching it several times over. DEATH TO CAPITALISM!!!

[@FeministCatwoman]

Sharing this with all fellow coworkers and friends should count as praxis lol

[@aveia.em.flocos]

Office jobs are so much like abusive relationships that it gave me flashbacks

[@MisantropicFruit]

This video couldn't have come at a better time honestly. I'm just in the process of forming a union with my co-workers. Thank you for the great tips, Leon Thomas! Death to capitalism 👊

[@darkninjafirefox]

Solidarity comrade! I've been nudging my coworkers to unionize but being in a "right to work" state makes it harder than it should

[@rowanlavellan9755]

@@MLBlue30 they're responding to the person saying that capitalism is the best system, not to OP

[@Val_Far]

Fight the good fight, and best of luck to you.

[@battyrae1398]

Hell yeah solidarity! Good luck!

[@abhishek_beniwal]

There is a big push these days which you missed. Instead of not wanting you to be friends with your coworkers, corporate overlords wants you to be friends with your coworkers. Not only that, they want them to be your only friends. To cut your ties off the outside world, they even offer certain services at the office like a gym, a cafeteria, restaurant, laundry service and sometimes even grocery shopping and delivery. All this so that they can keep you in the office for as long as possible and even when you are out of office your contact to the world is minimized.

[@tesnimguesmi6087]

True, they push for team buildings and shit. But on the other hand, they always foster a competetive environment so even your work friends are considered "a friend that can turn on you anytime"..

[@Bobylein1337]

This really depends on the corporation though, in minimum wage jobs for example you'll not see any of this.

[@sweetpeabee4983]

This kind of practice is super insidious, honestly, in how much it takes advantage of a particular kind of lonely, displaced personality that's pretty vulnerable to this kind of manipulation. It's like, gee, do you have trouble making meaningful connections and have few hobbies outside of work? Well, problem solved: we'll satisfy these needs for you, all while you eat and sleep and breathe this job. I know a few people who've been taken advantage of this way, with varying degrees of self-awareness on their parts -- prob the most egregious was one who cancelled en route to a friend's wedding because their manager knew they could be persuaded through this false sense of camaraderie to come into work instead.

[@Leartes-vq7yg]

@@sweetpeabee4983 I noticed a lot of big tech companies use this as a means to promote working for them along with the phrase "great work culture"

[@21Arrozito]

I worked a tech start up, this philosophy was big there, approaching creepy cult levels. During company meetings there was mandatory hug and hi-5 time, you had to give hugs and hi-5's to at least X amount of people.

[@se9865]

I thought I had avoided alot this bullshit by becoming a truck driver, but now they attach gps tracking and cameras on all the trucks. Now if I go "off route" by taking a shorter route they will claim we are stealing miles. They will also tell us at meetings that we should feel grateful for the cameras, and promise that they will never add driver facing cameras, but they will fire you based on what they see in the reflection of the windshield.

[@Bobylein1337]

Stealing miles? Because you used a shorter route and didn't immidiatly use the time you got from it, to work for the company?

[@abandonedchannel281]

F my dude, F

[@a.c.guerra9850]

I work in same field. With the gps. Your supervisor can track even u-turns. Even in florida where most u-turns are legal. They say instead of doing a full u-turn. Do 1/2 a u-turn then back up like a foot and finish the u-turn so it doesnt show up in the gps. Crazy. They create bizarre rules. Then like a month later change everything around and change all the rules around. I think to drive you crazy

[@Hunter85792]

Leon is really out here making just straight up agitprop in the year 2019 and I am HERE for it

[@FeministCatwoman]

He is such a comrade, I admire

[@InfernoBlade64]

I love how the Office is a parody of corporation propaganda that workers love their jobs

[@Amberk1985]

I have a disability. When I’ve had a job, the boss works me until I’m sick. I end up having to quit. ADA only protects against not being hired and not being fired. It’s a very broken system.

[@lexort4204]

That's one of many problems with Capitalism, people who have disabilities only have so much value and when they have leeched off all your value you are discarded (whether by firing you or making you "wash out" of the workplace). Which on the personal level makes people with disabilities feel less than others (bottom of the Hierarchy). I have ASD and have been through this cycle too many times.

[@johannageisel5390]

@@lexort4204 Capitalism is systemic violence against people with disabilities! The system just sorts you out and leaves you to rot.

[@StudioBrock1337]

Same. I'm visually impaired and have depression and probably fibromyalgia. So I really get ya. Nothing I say will change the realities either of us face but know that you're valuable as a Human being. I wish you good luck and good health!

[@AM-kr4pv]

@@lexort4204 and then we get told we're scroungers or leeches for being on disability benefits

[@Magnet977]

This has happened to me often too...The worst part is that I'm looked down upon as less than human because of it. Society wants people with disabilities dead. The general consensus being that while they are an effective deterrent and scapegoat, we aren't profitable enough to warrant even being treated as human. The reality is that if they don't treat us as human, we shouldn't treat them as human and worth anything but our vengeance, either.

[@KrazyKelor]

One of the great things about the movie Alien is that it’s basically an office drama, and there’s a monster.

[@Ghilhans]

This brings back memories of when all the supervisors at where I worked one time were forced to mention working there is a privilege every meeting. It felt weird.

[@phillipthegeek]

I always self unionise when I start a new job. You can join a union in the UK even if you are the only employee in the company. My last job I explained this to my boss and he signed up to be a member of a union. We were the only two people in the company(over 200 employees) who were union members. When the company let us go we ended up with a substantially better leaving package than our fellow employees.

[@johannageisel5390]

Here in Germany you can also be a union member on your own accord.

[@mus7c]

when you mentioned unions i was quickly reminded of the time i worked at little caesars and how they literally told is during training to never join a union and even expose anyone who asked us to join one to any higher ups. considering it was my first time officially in the workforce and it was a minimum wage job at a pizza place, i didn't think unionizing would be be necessary -- i mean how bad could it be working at a pizza place right? but looking back, man... the amount of people i saw get injured and overworked on a daily basis. i literally burned my hand with a bread mold, still have the scar and pictures to prove it, and the manager completely ignored even tho i had a huge fucking bubble bursting on the back of my hand and i could barely stand the pain. it wasn't until a fellow employee put some mustard on my hand that i got "medical" attention because i could barely move my hand and still had like an hour or two to finish my shift.

[@johannageisel5390]

OMG, that's horrible! :( If that happened in my workplace, it would have to be noted in a book and then you would have to go a special doctor who documented the injury and either treated you or sent you to a specialist. But we also have mandatory workplace accident insurance that the employer has to pay for, so every worker is covered. You are also covered to and from your way to work. I'm from Germany, btw.

[@MiaRBeauty]

The American working and corporate culture is so creepy and dystopian to me. If people here couldn't get breaks or got thrown the term "time theft" in their faces for taking a break, we'd riot :/

[@joshjonson2368]

Where do you live again?

[@SomeRandomG33k]

Part of me is glad and makes me feel lucky that, correctly, my boss doesn't care what I do on the company time so long I get the work done. That means a lot of hours on Facebook, Twitter, and KZbin. Also, I take a lot of time to do my tasks because I am hourly and get paid the over-time, any time over 40 hours a week. Each minute after 40 hours get pays at time and a half rate. Plenty of time to post memes and spread videos to radicalize people further. I would love to be fucking paid more. If nothing else then to pay the credit card debt and give more money to all my disable comrades who always need money because things needed to live require money, as of right now.

[@AlwaysAmTired]

Best kind of boss to have. Mine always tells us to not get him in trouble. He doesn't care how we do our job as long as it doesn't fck with his job.

[@someguy9345]

SomeRandomG33k my boss also doesn’t care much what I do, as long as what’s suppose to be done gets done

[@jed52]

@@AlwaysAmTired Middle management is probably one of the worst positions to be in in a company. You have to take responsibility for things that are sometimes out of your control. Too many employees call off in the same week and upper management won't hesitate to throw you under the bus.

[@TikiTikiRumba]

I just started a new office job this month and was having a hard time getting past my anxieties and breaking into the friend groups that had already formed. After watching this video it made me realize how important it is to have some kind of community at work and it's really inspired me to make a better effort! This morning I talked with coworkers about some TV shows instead of sitting silently at my desk. Thanks for inspiring me to put out an effort and make my job a little easier to deal with.

[@Ky_AnCom]

The best praxis is watching this at work while flipping off the "security" camera my boss uses to spy on me while I do so. I've been meaning to do it for ages, but when I get paid on the Friday, you've earned yourself another Patron.

[@Godzillakuj94]

Yo 10 years of retail and I can relate hardcore to this. It's led to a lot of drinking and depression. Or led to drinking which then led to the depression. I hate it and I wanna get out.

[@oldschool657]

Do it. Getting out of corporate retail was one of the best decisions of my life

[@couldntthinkofacoolname9608]

Boss makes a dollar Worker makes a dime This was a rhyme From a simpler time Now the boss makes a hundred While the worker makes a cent That's why I'm calling For capitalist heads

[@johannageisel5390]

I would change the last line to "For capitalism's end", because a) it rhymes better, b) it's a systemic problem, not a problem that can be solved with executing "the bad guys" and c) we cannot build a better society on violence.

[@mr.goldfish1530]

@@johannageisel5390 We can end a bad one with violence. Ultimately, some degree of violence will be necessary to end capitalism. I doubt Jeff Bezos will willingly give up Amazon.

[@rivera229]

@@johannageisel5390 Yeah no offense dude but your last point is a bit naive. These capitalists will not go down without s bloody fight and history proves that. There is no such thing as a bloodless revolution.

[@cosmoreverb3977]

@@rivera229 I mean, the Iranian revolution was pretty bloodless, I think. But I must say, I'm not super aware about the history so my bad if that's untrue. Still agree with the sentiment.

[@MatthewOstergren]

I love your increasing levels of outspoken anti-captilist propaganda. Just inject it straight into my veins.

[@ColorMatching]

propaganda is telling the truth?

[@OmegaFire11]

@@ColorMatching propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view Technically, all political discourse consists of propaganda. The word just has a heavy negative connotation

[@Advent3546]

Playing this at full volume during closing time.

[@Helga-fe5xl]

🤣🤣🤣

[@heyimovrherenow6829]

I had a job where it was common to hear some variation of "If you wanna get a promotion, do the work of the position you want to get promoted to." Literally, do your job and someone else's if you hope to get fair compensation...some day....maybe.

[@Waterfall102]

At my job, I signed up for some projects my company called "Priority Areas" and "Initiatives". I did not need to sign up for them, but did because I initially thought doing so would help "develop" my career. I regret doing this since they only make doing my primary responsibilities harder and more stressful, which will in turn hamper my career progression. I worry that if I opt not do them anymore (and more in the future), I will be seen as unable to "multi-task" and therefore not advance my career. I guess you could say it's kind of a Catch-22 situation.

[@JusticeChrist]

For me, the only reason to take unpaid "development" tasks is to develop me for my next job.

[@tarawaters7240]

Another thing! If you find yourself able to launch a small business, esp if you're structured as a corporation, you may find yourself hemmed in by tax law, and/or labor laws, in your state or municipality. Restructure into a co-op, or another agressive employee-ownership model, and you can circumvent several barriers to fair compensation and fair labor practices that have been built into the system via incentives and penalties. My version of good "bosses" are co-workers and co-owners, and nothing more. Disclosure: we're in the process of doing this now, and even though it meant shutting down entirely for a while, it is already the best money I've ever invested in this company's future.

[@marvinzegarra]

I actually left my last 2 jobs this year because of all the things you mentioned here. The moment I realized what the enviroment was gonna be like I told them I was leaving. Dont think I stayed longer than a couple of months at either place. The one good thing was that because they themselves avoided a lot of their legal obligation they had no way to stop me when I suddenly told them I was leaving in a short period of time.

[@Poorstargazer23]

This is a really important video. I've known a few people who work in an environment where the things in this video have been normalized by the employees. It makes me so mad. It's in the little things, like being looked down on for taking/needing a break or leaving after your 8 hours or stepping away from a register to take an emergency personal call. The worst part is, people don't always see its a problem or want to leave the toxic jobs. I worked in retail that was toxic and moved to a really chill store after a few years, the difference was night and day. When opening would come up, I'd try to get some of the really good workers from my old job to apply. A few were either too caught up in the toxic job, quit working altogether with issues directly due to stress. One person did jump ship and within about a month, no longer bandaged her knuckles and wrists from her RA flaring up. I work in a different industry now, but I hope more people realize that, even if your caught in a paycheck to paycheck cycle like I was, it is possible to get out of toxic work environments if your persistent enough.

[@DoctorApotheosis]

My new office job has a rule that if you take your phone past the front desk into the building, you're automatically fired.

[@Godzillakuj94]

Now that's petty

[@JC-jd1us]

Jesus crist is that even legeal it's your property.

[@DoctorApotheosis]

@@JC-jd1us It's for "security reasons". We're not even allowed to have pen and paper. >.>

[@DoctorApotheosis]

And before anyone asks.....it's the highest paid job in the area anyone can get if they need a job. $12 an hour with benefits is a lot of money to people here in Oklahoma. So. Yeah. Not a lot of choice.

[@Bobylein1337]

Enjoy all the freedom capitalism brings /s

[@LunarLady]

my boss constantly tells me he sees me like family and i just smile and nod. I'm literally the only employee so i'm just biding my time and looking for another job where i can possibly join a union or at least not think jumping in front of a bus is a better option than going to work

[@katherinemorelle7115]

In regards to joining a union- if you’re in Australia, and you work retail, your employer may encourage you to join a union.... Their union. The SDA (or Shoppies) Union is nothing but a scam union and they work for big retail, not for the workers. The Retail and Fast Food Union however- they were started by the workers and work for the workers. Join them instead.

[@samkasenberg898]

Best instructional video I've ever seen (seriously). Far superior to the terrible (though admittedly hilarious) instructional video I had to watch when I started my job... ;)

[@growlinghands4696]

I got busted for "too much chit-chat" at my job the other day - I'm a college librarian with a Master's degree and 13 years experience. If I want to talk with my co-workers on downtime (it's a library, it sometimes gets quiet) I see that as rapport-building and quality-of-work-life and it never gets in the way of me helping students. It was humiliating.

[@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254]

Can you tell me which college (so I don't consider it)....or not

[@ACTlVISION]

it's interesting how much capital interests love to co-opt words like "freedom" and "choice" with anti-union, anti-minimum-wage, and anti-healthcare propaganda, as if giving democratic structure to the literal fiefdoms that are modern businesses would be a bad thing... it really is all about control and every manner of gaslighting they can get away with as a means to that end

[@thefirebreathingleftist8648]

My friends believe wage theft is either not real or justified , while also arguing that time theft is real and makes you unproductive 😞

[@theamhway]

When I was interning with a lawyer, she used to not pay me anything, or even give me my travel / lunch money. On my first day I looked at my phone during lunch time and she FREAKED OUT. She randomly walked up to me and told me I was particularly dumb that day. I worked better than anyone in the office, behaved well with clients, yet I was ill treated everyday. She really got to me one day and I started crying and asked dad for help, who said that I should not talk about those things and it's shameful to talk about it, I should shut up and take it. I thought I was doing the right thing and worked the for 10 months. Knowing your rights is very imp of you end up being victimized for a long long time

[@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254]

Recently at a Substitute job, I took a rest from cutting construction paper with the paper cutter, because my shoulder was sore and a teacher walked into the pod and freaked out and I simply explained my shoulder was sore and just going to take a short break. She said they can give work to staple. See if a machine gets overheated or something we have to let it take a rest, but we have to be worked to the bone?

[@theamhway]

@@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254 disgusting how bad things get when we let people with money get power over us.

[@o.liveil7111]

Petition to show this to all new employee training

[@supermarrio]

Every 16 year old trying to get a job needs to watch this. Very informative. I love this

[@dakevinmg]

I’d love to join a union, but I live in Texas, which is a right to work state. We basically have no unions and people are scared of them

[@montecristo1845]

Max Garza I remember when that shameful law passed. It’s titled so it sounds like it’s on the side of employees. Right to Work (as though you can get any job and keep it for as long as you like, or quit and get another job right away). But it really benefits employers who want total control and pesky unions prevent domination. Just like “Citizens United.” Sounds like “We the People,” but really means “Bribery is Now Legal.”

[@onychophorawesome]

There are a few Industrial Workers of the World branches in Texas, they are for all workers. I joined my local IWW recently, really nice folks.

[@Jamick98Geass]

I just recently stared working an office job, and so far I’ve been treated pretty well, but these tips are super helpful. I’ll be keeping them in my back pocket.

[@kevinrussell3501]

I had so many people during the crash of 2008-9 tell me that they are so happy to have a job or I must be fortunate to have one myself. No mofo, they are lucky to have ME. Such a good worker during a hard time. Lucky to have a job is a bad mentally. They are going to run you over, then back up and do it again over and over

[@antaresmaelstrom5365]

Time theft is what happens when corporations take the Men in Grey from Momo as role models.

[@tonyrigatoni766]

I had a salary job that was task-based work. Expected to work about 40 hours a week, but due to the nature of the job, some projects would go over that. However, some would also go under. In other words, there were some projects that were simple enough that I was able to get all of my work done and satisfy our clients (who paid us in advance, by the way) in less than 40 hours a week. One time, I finished a project early, had no other tasks, and there were no other active projects at the company for me to take on. So, I just worked on personal projects and studied technology (the field I work in) for a couple of days until the next project started. This didn't cost my employer a dime, since we got paid in advance for the project I just completed. Nevertheless, he found out about it and passive-aggressively asked me "do you think we're paying you to do personal projects?" (Basically accusing me of time theft). Bullshit. Rather than rewarding me for being productive and completing a project earlier than expected, I was criticized essentially for not making myself look busy, even though we really just were between projects and had honestly earned ourselves a break.

[@EmeraldLavigne]

Wait - is there anybody out there who thinks that HR is on the workers' side? HR has 3 jobs: hiring/firing; union busting, and avoiding lawsuits.

[@theillustratoryar1382]

WHY THE HELL AM I JUST FINDING THIS RESOURCE AFTER BEING PUSHED AROUND MY WHOLE LIFE? (Thank you for the channel, It's been eye-opening)

[@Ross_Schmidt]

Posted a link to this on my Unions Facebook page. We're about to start negotiations for our next contract so this should help put those involved in to the right mindset. In the Union part at the end ya could have gone more into what company will try to do and can't do about you forming a union, but over all, a great video!

[@nevskislake]

I worked an office job for six and a half years. Three months before I finally quit, I read an article from Forbes that said that if you have stayed in a job for more than three years and have no possibility of an increased salary, leave. The whole article was about how so many Americans stay in dead end jobs for too long. The idea, according to Forbes, is to stay on the job long enough to learn new skills to add to your resume and meet people who are willing to write you reference letters. This technique is also supposed to reduce burnout. Needless to say, I felt like an idiot for staying at that job as long as I did. I was raised to believe that everyone should be a loyal employee to their employer, but working in an office taught me that the hardest and most loyal workers only get more work, while the goof offs get to sit at their desks and do nothing because companies are weary of firing people.

[@NightmareMasterclass]

Excellent. Simply excellent.

[@FalkaRiannon]

Just a little victory story: In germany Amazon workers successfully founded a union. There are even regular strikes because Amazon is being a shitty little turd as allways, but the working condtitions are improving.

[@derp195]

When I worked at Starbucks, we got a memo from corporate which tried to say that it was against the rules to tell coworkers how much you're being paid, which is an illegal rule. We immediately had an impromptu meeting for everyone to compare pay.

[@hackprefect]

Worked in HR. Was explicitly told by my manager that HR works for the Company. We are there to handle the non-productive aspects of managing employees, like pay and benefits. We are there to protect the Company, even from itself.

[@hexx2211]

"You don't have to feel bad for standing up to the police." Ideally no, but I do have to fear for my life...

[@Gethazzor3]

One of the issues I fine is that do many companies have become SO efficient at masquerading the corporate system. It's not a workplace, it's a "family :))", it's not training you to be a better worker, it's "personal development :)". It's like we're not even allowed the pleasure of disliking your own exploitation. I want to keep it at an arm's length, but every Friday we have a little minibar or a casual dress day, or share pics of our kids. It's another clever corporate tactic, to appeal to your desire for social inclusivity. If you don't engage, or don't want to go to the company night out, *YOU* become the party pooper.

[@yournamebelongshere]

I used to work at a grocery store deli, and at the end of the night we would put our leftover chicken in the cooler. When I was the closer, I would often go to the fridge and eat the chicken while I was supposed to be mopping the floors. The amount of money I stole in the form of time and food from the company brings me satisfaction.

[@montecristo1845]

Okay, the last thirty seconds had me rolling. Blockbuster giving instructions on how to help your business survive by listening to the customer. 🙄😱🤯

[@TricksterModeEngaged]

a really nice thing about working in a unionized workplace is we have straightforward, set pay scales and clear guidance on OT and stuff. Like, I know basically what all my coworkers make, and they know what I make. It really goes a long way towards making me feel like I'm not competing for crumbs of generosity against my colleagues, I'm just getting paid for my job in accordance with our agreements, the job I'm doing and how long I've been doing it. Easy and straightforward all round.

[@ChernaOvce]

OMG, the editing of this video! I had to keep rewinding because The Office scenes and episodes match perfectly the topic you're talking about. I kept getting lost in the actual series' plot. AMAZING! Also - it's always great to find a person who knows The Office so well!

[@FuguFae]

Working in a restaurant but it honestly doesn’t feel too different. I’m lucky to get away with drawing so long as it doesn’t interfere with my actual job, but there’s this inconsistency in rules so sometimes even when I’m doing it exactly as trained, I somehow get in trouble about it. As a result, there’s this constant fear of getting fired for not bending to a customer’s ridiculous needs or for someone twisting my words or even for doing things that preserve my dignity.

[@classchair]

A coworker works opening and revealed they cannot clock in until 9 am, but as a "good employee," she arrives and starts doing things about fifteen minutes early. The time system, on the other hand, will not give you a full hour pay unless you clock out an hour after you clocked in; it round down. When I told her it is illegal for an employer to expect employees to work without compensation and people opening either needs to refuse to work before nine, or they need to open the system so employees can clock in before nine...she gave me this confused look and said "but I've been doing this for years." I shudder to imagine the stolen wages, and only hope she understands that is what that time is.

[@sorcery861]

I'm so happy that all of this sounds very foreign to me as I live in Norway. There are ofcourse worse of jobs with lower pay, that use bad tactics, but most people are unionized and many employers will strive to keep up morale and make workers happy.

[@razormc954]

Because they are afraid of you striking

[@Mancyofsouls]

I just watched this all the way through for the second time. So good.

[@criticalthinkingconcubus]

Most of the behavior you discussed, and my own experience as a pizza delivery driver is what people are taught in school. School teaches kids that teachers are the unquestioning authority that we must obey or else risk failure and expulsion. They're our boss. If a teacher assigns more homework than is necessary for the course or has several pop quizzes that count towards their grade just because they hate the class, students are told to deal with it. “Class Traitors” are basically "teacher’s pets." The kids who show up to class 15 minutes early to clean the board and wipe down/organize the desks, call out any class clowns/texters/nappers/daydreamers, give the teacher “expensive” gifts for every holiday/anniversary/birthday, constantly compliment them, and have their parents attend all PTA meetings. I myself regularly supplied the storefront with pens, air fresheners, feminine napkins, Tupperware storage containers, and sweatbands for my coworkers out of my own pocket because I wanted my boss to like me. School has taught me that if the teacher likes you, they make the class easier for you. My teachers always like me, so as a result, they were willing to bump my grade by a few extra points and allowed me to cheat on a test a few times. Work friends are just like school friends; we generally don’t hang out with most of them outside of school unless they’re our neighbors or family. Most of the childhood friends people had come from school, even though they were not particularly close to them. If you’re going to be stuck in the same place with the same person for 8+ hours, you might as well get to know them. School has taught me that if you’re friends with an upperclassman who happens to have the same teacher as you, they can give you all the tips and tricks to get around any of the teacher’s bad habits. For example, When I was in the 7th grade, I had an 8th-grade friend who had the same Algebra teacher as me. She knew that the teacher never went over homework during class, so she told me about a website that had all the answers questions to the homework, which included the step by step process. Thanks to her, I managed to get a B in the class. Most teachers tell their students no to tell others about any exam questions, as it would be considered cheating. Most of the time, upperclassmen (or students who have an earlier class) tell other students about the curve ball questions that the class wasn’t told to study for, so they’re actually prepared. When I worked as a driver, I befriended another driver who had worked there for 10 years. He warned me that the general manager usually never lets employees clock out on time, but he might consider it if he sees them taking on double or triple deliveries. Also, it's best only to ask him when he's in his office playing with his phone. Thanks to that bit of advice, I got to leave on time every day. Who knew the best office job survival guide was public school.

[@andrewwestfall65]

I work in a kitchen, and the manager started lecturing us because we take too long to drink water (his estimate was maybe a minute or two to go and get a drink). We have a guy, 19 it's his first job, I took him aside later and pointed out that we had an hour or more of work to do every day because the same manager was too lazy to organize things as he worked so the 5 minutes of time we take to get a drink wasn't a big deal. The boss's crony sucks at the job and we always get out an hour late when he works, boss tells us it's because we stand around and talk too much. Take the guy to the side and point out that it's the crony's fault and that we get out early when that guy isn't around. Recently I took my friend aside and told him that "Management is always going to tell you that you aren't human, but if you're hitting your metrics then the correct response is to acknowledge they spoke and then ignore them"

[@writrswritrs3918]

Where was this 25 years ago when I needed it most. lol Seriously though, thanks for this.

[@bubbleboy2590]

I've come across some of that "time theft monitoring" software in my time, some companies will actually have keystroke loggers similar to ones some viruses use to track you

[@abramthiessen8749]

None of my employers have been quite that bad. But I have seen illegal unpaid overtime, had been paid under the minimum wage, have worked under tight electronic surveillance, and have never had a raise that was more than half of the rate of inflation. But I have always kept a good relationship with my supervisors, they have never prevented me from taking breaks or talking to coworkers, none of them has verbally mentioned "time theft", and most of them have been unionized positions.

[@alchemicpunk1509]

5:15 We have an electronig stamping system. Last month they installed a "mandatory to use" button to signal that the break you're taking is a smoking break. Naturally me and my other smoking coworkers keep using the normal break button. We see no reason that the time we take off to smoke should be transparent to our employer in any way. God I hope I can get into a job at a unionized company after this year.

[@johannageisel5390]

4:15 The workers are ALWAYS working harder than they are paid to. ^ ^

[@Desourouez]

When I worked in an office I was an office assistant and people would always ask for favors which was just stuff that was part of my job

[@macgyvermankirk572]

Krusty Krab is unfair Mr.Krabs is in there

[@mathematicalcoffee2750]

That part about always looking for something better is something I didn't learn until my department was eliminated and I got the boot 3 months after going cross-country for a new job. I wish I'd heard that advice sooner

[@wes8424]

I used to work at Enterprise Rent a Car several years ago and when I initially started there they told me I would work at most two Saturdays a month. I was too desperate for a "real" job at the time to argue against it or see what they were setting me up for but fast forward a year and a half they had me going three straight Saturdays and when a new manager rolled into my branch he scheduled me for a 4th because we "needed more help" on the weekends, nevermind that I had scheduled a Friday off to get a much needed 3 day weekend and was schedule to work Saturday again the following week. I told him all this, flabberghasted that he couldn't afford me one full weekend in a month and all he said was "is this going to be a problem?" Two weeks after I told him I'm quitting and starting a new job and cited that moment as the final straw that broke the camel's back. These places really could give less than a shit about the time you put into their business, they just want you to bleed and sweat for them on command and I decided not long after that to never work in the private sector again (currently in non profit which is a whole nother animal but still far less irritating).

[@danielsnapcorrect5053]

watched this at work, on my work computer, with my work google account logged in.

[@nerdteacher]

One thing to add is that this will depend upon location, structure/power of union, and local laws. (I know, it's obvious, but people do tend to forget.) I say this because, despite having been a foreigner, I was a part of CISL (an Italian union) while working as an international school teacher. Their protections were, at best, quite minimal; this is largely due to language barrier (I was learning Italian, but my Italian wasn't good -- this applies in many places where one doesn't speak the local language) and also some Italian laws and the national teacher's contract. It also depends upon how an institution structures your contract. Despite having signed a contract that said I was a teacher AND having a legal copy stating as such, my job changed my contract to "office worker" post-signing. I never signed another contract, but the law sided with them while I was having issues (this is because the law is largely for capitalists and owners). After joining the union, they kept slamming me with disciplinary letters. My current job (in another country) has a staff handbook and wanted you sign a form of "acknowledgement of receipt and read." I haven't signed it, and it's largely because there's a clause in it about not discussing wages. When I brought it up (with a manager), he stupidly told me it was because "the non-foreign teachers are being underpaid." I'm now looking into finding an international teachers union, finding a way to start one (if there isn't), and trying to find ways to link it to local movements. My job, probably more than others, plays a lot of these notes but on a different instrument: they use the fact that our kids are impacted by the school to gain more work. Another thing: They don't like it when you're smarter than they are, even when that intelligence can honestly help them improve in every way. I'd also like to suggest that people read David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs. It's probably been one of the best things I've read in a while and discusses a lot of how this works.

[@gregaaron89]

Watching this on my lunch break in the conference room of my office which is my only opportunity to see sunlight because my cubicle has no windows in view (managers get huge windows in their offices but I’m a lowly peasant)

[@since78]

What blows my mind is that most people have no choice but to submit themselves to wage labour (as your video alludes to) however they go through their lives accepting it as reality and just tolerate it. It's amazing that nowhere near enough people have woken up to their ever-increasing exploitation under a constantly festering hyper-capitalist system. You'd think we'd have at least a solid social democratic system in place in most Western countries by now, but here we are still struggling to even keep reactionary and far-right politics at bay, which would only serve to intensify and exasperate the very problems your video has addressed.

[@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254]

Some people think not pondering it or "being grateful" is the way to do, also it feels there are a lot of nosy people and people who sound like little kids.

[@asdffjsdjasd]

You kind of touched on this but threatening to quit is a powerful tool. Most places are "right to work" or "at will employment" in the US. Usually this is leveraged against employees but it does cut both ways; you can just up and leave in the middle of a shift and never come back. The companies that treat you poorest tend to need you the most because they are intentionally understaffed. If your workload is unreasonable, that means that if you walk they suddenly have at least one person's worth of work to deal with on top of finding and training your replacement.

[@SPARR0E]

Informative, AND with clips from the office? Heck yeah, dude!

[@TubiTuesdays]

I love the direction your channel went.

[@wvu05]

After a while, I lost track of the number of times that my then-wife worked for free because "so-and-so is my friend." Finally, I said, "In that situation, you are her employee. She is getting money for your work."

[@unluckycloverfield4316]

my current company is everything this video is talking about. I can say unironically that these are great tips that can actually work and protect you in the workplace. Don't be afraid to fight for yourself. Do it calmly, consistently, and keep records. Bonus tip* when being assigned too much work, showing boss a list of your work and asking him to clarify his priorities is like throwing cold water on their wage-slavery boner.

[@Mt.Dwezzy]

Since this video was posted I've watched it multiple times and at my office everyday. Keeps me going till I can leave.

[@maggieedna]

Im an EMT and my job is immune to a lot of this (it's okay and in some cases encouraged for you to take a nap on company time. As long as calls are getting done and the base is clean, it's all good) but not all of it. Sometimes I consider what it would take for us to unionize (I was part of the leadership for getting my previous job unionized. Ama.) And one of the interesting challenges is all the ways our job isn't like a typical job.

[@jeffreyhinzmann945]

Best one yet. Keep 'em coming.

[@amaliapursell]

My favorite video of yours so far for two reasons: 1. Incredibly concise, nor nearly your longest entry but says the most. 2. Applicable to every day life for the greatest majority of viewers. One could argue that the purpose of media criticism should not be masturbatory jargon in an echo chamber, but rather accessable to the public for whom the media is produced. Though your videos are always applicable to a great number of people, and certainly accessible, the fact is that wage slavery affects a larger swath of the viewers of said media than other political minorities. Demographically speaking (in the US, where the footage used was produced) only 51% are women, roughly 30% are racial minorities, but more than 60% are legally employed. This of course does not count anyone working under the table. Anyway. I also like the format where you don't pick apart the television footage per se, instead using it to make a greater point. It was refreshing. Great job.

[@TheoneandonlyDrops]

rewatched this, and completely lost it (again) when you said 'this fucking Narc' Love you man, keep up the good work

[@idna832]

Michael Scott really upped his production value

[@habeashumor9814]

Brilliant. Reminds me of the law firm orientation video in Harvey Birdman. And thank goodness for the ACA! I could never have switched to self-employment without it.

[@habeashumor9814]

Also, re. “time theft” the employers conveniently discount all the little (or big) occasions when employees go above and beyond at work, such as staying late.

[@Magnet977]

I can echo the sentiment. For better or worse, the ACA is likely the only reason I've survived this long. Health Insurance is a collar wrapped around the neck of people with disabilities or mental illness. A collar that can very easily be used as a noose.

[@obviouslygay7184]

Being a time-thief and subverting my employer is like, the most fun I've had this year. They fired me because of bootlickers.

[@floppy280]

And now I feel even worse about my terrible minimum-wage job. I'm sending this to all my friends with terrible minimum-wage jobs.

[@lucidexistance1]

I'm watching this at work in an office. :P I'm a rebel.

[@TheBronzeDog]

I could have used the advice about being off the grid, if only so that I could get an unlimited data plan to listen to the friendly voices on Twitch that kept me going.

[@gamingwithpuff2302]

I'm honestly surprised this hasn't been banned, corporations do not want their workers seeing this or even starting to think this. I realized this at a call center, I swear so many people praised the Company for what they're doing for them. They always shared their "stories" and it's always propaganda for the Company. Something needs to be done about this, the longer I think about these poor individuals who don't realize this is happening, and how stressed out they are about losing their jobs, the more terrifying it gets to me.

[@thepenguin114]

I threw up in my car from the stress of having to go back inside the building and go back to the "call mines" as we morbidly joked. Call centers are the absolute worst. I would rather work in an actual coal mine.

[@Ironorchids]

I love your videos but they also kind of remind of my chronic, crippling depression.

[@vallarieastman3519]

That email tip is real. I got written up over it once at an old desk job I had.

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

So slash your boss's tires when he/she lays you off?

[@Magnet977]

Well as long as they don't know its you, go for it.

[@ladysamxoxo]

This was literally made for me... I started an office job today. Bless you, Leon.

[@Vickynger]

i worked for a medium sized agency with about 100 employees. the owner of the company was a straight-up tyrant. ppl would run out of his office crying on a regular basis, he would yell at ppl that hes the only person in the building who actually knows how to do their job, he fired a guy for wearing shorts once etc etc well, my office didnt have a boos for a while (the guy had a bad reputation in our industry and nobody with any work experience wanted to work for him) so i am glad to report that we stole time every day we were at work bc nobody could stop us. we would do all our private stuff on company time, sometimes we just sat there and ate lunch for three hours, we started drinking beer at noon, a guy just regularly vanished for several hours to pick up his kid from kindergarten and nobody would say anything! felt really good, esp since the CEO was (still is) such an ass.