To start off with, this happened a few years ago. I’m still with the same company, but have a much better manager who’s super supportive, higher pay, work from home etc. I’m also based in Southeast England.
Bit of background, I was 20 at the time (now 24), and the manager does this thing where you don’t get paid overtime (1.3hourly rate), but get toil. It means you can have that amount of time to leave/start work late assuming there was enough staff to cover.
I had worked 4 hours extra the night before due to staffing issues. I went to take my toil the next day to work a half shift. When I went, I got called out for leaving 4.5 hours before the end of my shift compared to 4 hours. I stated it was because I was also using my 30 minutes unpaid lunch. She started to get shirty with me and claim that because I wasn’t going to work a full 8 hours that day, I wasn’t entitled for a lunch. We went back and forth until she stated that if I left early, she would instead dock me for 4 hours pay. Ended up staying the extra 30 minutes.
As a bonus, during the summer the following year, it was 32°c outside. I came in wearing a vest (company has a very casual dress code). I got called into the office and stated that I was unfit for work the way I was dressed. This is whilst she was wearing a vest, and the 3 other women in the office were too. I called her out on this.
Her reason was due to myself being a male, it was disgusting to see underarms (I actually buzz any hair off as I find it more hygienic). I stated that if that’s the case, then she’s being sexist. Ended up getting a warning for insubordination.
All in all, she was horrible to work under, and I did it for 2.5 years. The manager I now work under is her manager’s manager, and she hates the fact she can’t tell me what to do. I feel so much lighter every time I see her.
Sorry for the long post, I just really wanted to get this off my chest and to try and help some people realise that it’s not always the company, but a person they employed that makes it hell 🙂