Category: HR Strange But True

What’s the weirdest excuse you’ve heard from an employee to explain why they didn’t show up to work? How about they were too upset over a PG-13 movie?   At least one worker has used that excuse, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. The employee claimed to be distraught after watching Suzanne Collins’s best seller […]

Maybe David Siegel, billionaire president of Westgate Resorts, needed to read BLR’s special report on political activity in the workplace, 2012 Election Issues for Employers. If he had, he probably wouldn’t have written the e-mail letter where he tells employees they will lose their jobs if Obama is reelected. No, the letter is not fake; Siegel […]

Move over horoscopes, birthdays have a new prophetic power. According to a recent study, “The relative-age effect and career success: Evidence from corporate CEOs,” the month you were born in has a “long-lasting influence on career success.” The study, highlighted on Inc.com, found that babies born in March or April are more likely to become […]

A T.G.I. Friday’s® (TGIF) waiter, “Russell,” was encouraged, but not required, by his employer to sample new menu items, so that he could make recommendations to customers. During a food sampling, the waiter choked while eating a quesadilla. He was taken to an emergency room, where it was determined that he had a perforated esophagus […]

Get a last minute invite to a Halloween party, and don’t have a costume? Just go into your closet, and you can go as a famous CEO. SilkRoad’s “Social Media and Workplace 2012 Report” surveyed more than 1,100 employees in North America to understand how people are using social media at work to communicate and […]

We’ve covered a fair share of office pranks. The lighter ones usually involve a desk object, like a coffee mug glued to the desk, but others are more extreme and can get employees into serious trouble—faking a robbery, using a taser on colleagues, etc. A former San Diego bus driver has now joined the ranks […]

Here are a few of our most popular Halloween-themed articles from the Strange but True! archives. An Employer’s Worst Nightmare—A few years ago, we reported on a bookkeeper who was charged with stealing $6.9 million from her employer. The prosecutors presented a list of goods that the woman allegedly bought during a shopping spree with […]

Despite the rough economic climate, many employees value work-life balance over benefits or pay when it comes to staying at their job. According to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) recent Workforce Retention Survey, 60 percent of American workers said they remain with their current employers because of benefits and 59 percent because of the pay, […]

If you haven’t heard, James Bond celebrated his 50th birthday as a film icon. The successful franchise has kept audiences fascinated with the secret agent’s lifestyle, letting the public tag along on 007’s top secret missions. Aside from Hollywood’s portrayal of MI6’s top agent, have you ever wondered what it’s really like to live the […]

To say that Apple has loyal customers is an understatement. Not many companies can draw crowds to line up for new product releases. Apple even secured the number 2 spot in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2012 list, second only to Coca-Cola®. With such a strong brand presence, it’s no surprise to see the results of […]