So I left my previous job after 3 years because I was being taken advantage of and I was being grossly underpaid for all of the responsibilities that were piled on to me (a tale as old as time, I know).
I then moved on to another job that was a few dollars higher and promised regular bonuses based off of performance, so I took it. I was desperate to leave.
I was one of the highest performers in the office even though I was new and I was receiving a mountain of praise from the clients, the higher ups and my boss. I'd only been at this job for six months and I was already starting to see the cracks.
I started on a hybrid schedule due to COVID and I was content with that. But in January, they sent their employees a poll asking how we feel about going back to the office full time. This was when Omicron was emerging. Despite every single employee in the office voting against it, they forced us to go back just a few weeks later. HR and IT got the option to work from home, but we didn't even though we had the capability to. I absolutely hated it and my anxiety got worse as a result. That was strike one.
Strike two and three came pretty closely after that. I texted my boss to let him know I took a day off so that he can approve it, and the conversation instantly devolved into how I'm using too much of my PTO (uh, I'm entitled to it. I EARNED it.) Mind you, I only started using my PTO because leaving an hour early and making it up (which we were allowed to do before) was being cracked down on. We also couldn't request to occasionally work from home anymore either.
Then he asked why I was getting up from my desk so often and told me “it wasn't fair to everyone else” that I was getting up so much. I was literally going to the bathroom. I have an overactive bladder, but it will be a cold day in hell before I have to explain something like that to my employer. I freaked out at him and told him how dehumanizing that was and that wasn't something I could help.
He tried to back track and tell me that I was “taking what he said out of context”, but no. I read what he said verbatim and I know I wasn't overreacting.
Mind you, just a day or two earlier I was being praised to the high heavens about how well I'm doing. I met and exceeded goals from the first month I started here. My performance review that I just had was glowing. He said he spent all afternoon nominating me for an award after I freaked out at him over text, which felt more like a guilt trip to me.
So all of this to say, if my productivity at work isn't being affected whatsoever, truly, why do you give a damn how often I get up to pee? Seriously, I would like an explanation because the only conclusion for me is that this is all about control and I'm not going to have someone monitoring my fucking bathroom breaks. That's disgusting.
The next week I handed in my two weeks notice. I received an offer for a fully WFH job that will be paying me almost double what I'm making currently. I made sure to let both HR and my boss know exactly why I'm leaving. HR asked if she could share my feedback to the higher ups in a meeting later that week, and while I doubt anything will change, I hope they take my feedback to heart.
I've had enough experience with bad employers and I refuse to be micromanaged anymore, especially when I'm doing everything right and giving it my all. So as a result, they lost a good employee over absolute nonsense. I hope it was worth it.