Category: HR Strange But True

By Kyle Emshwiller If you’ve worked long enough, you’re bound to have a few strange but true stories about the workplace. From outrageous interviews to shocking coworker behavior to audacious exits, we’ve heard many over the years. Here are a few readers’ stories: Bathrooms—We were surprised to see how many readers had strange workplace tales […]

By Kyle Emshwiller A 110-year-old woman had been receiving a $36 monthly pension for her husband’s military service. Her husband, a WWI veteran, had died in the 1970s. The woman’s son told NBC News that he applied for a higher veteran survivor benefit amount in 2008. Earlier this year, with the help of a state […]

By Kyle Emshwiller Forget about elevator pitches, it seems like more and more workers are using those few seconds to annoy coworkers and execs, rather than to network with them. A recent CareerBuilder survey asked respondents to share odd behaviors they have witnessed in the elevator. We were shocked at some of the responses, especially […]

By Elaine Quayle HR Strange but True joins in the celebration of what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday on August 15. We honor her not only for her culinary skills but as a pioneer of “distance learning” through her television cooking shows. As part of the tribute to this icon, here is a […]

By Elaine Quayle Marissa Mayer, Google alum and new CEO of Yahoo!, has the Internet world in a frenzy after she uttered these two words at her first Friday all-company meeting—“free food”! Reports say that Mayer has initiated free food at Yahoo!’s “URL Cafes” at its two campuses, liberating employees from paying over $3 for […]

By Kyle Emshwiller Looking for a way to keep workers engaged during work? Motivate them to fit in exercise during working hours. As we reported in last week’s column, sitting for a long period of time each day can lead to serious health effects. In addition to improving the health and wellness of employees, having […]

By Kyle Emshwiller Should employees spend their entire day working? What would you think of an employee doing chores, getting a manicure, or working out on company time? All of these activities are happening in American workplaces, and according to some researchers, this may not be a bad idea. Personal chores. A recent post on […]

By Elaine Quayle As athletes from around the world prepare to compete in London, workplaces in the United States appear to be hosting competitions of Olympic proportions on their own, according to a new OfficeTeam survey. In the survey of 1,000 senior managers in companies with 20 or more employees, nearly half of senior managers […]

By Kyle Emshwiller Half (51 percent) of workers reported that they swear in the office, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. The majority of those (95 percent) said they do so in front of their coworkers, while 51 percent cuss in front of the boss. However, workers seem to clean up their language in front […]

By Kyle Emshwiller Is your job harmful to your health? According to recent reports, if you sit at a desk all day, yes. A recent article in the New York Times , fittingly called “Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?” looked at several studies on the health effects of leading a sedentary lifestyle. One study cited […]