20+ Workers who knew they were about to get fired for their workplace mistakes: 'I basically made [my boss] lose his entire day of work'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 23, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

You can be fired for the smallest infraction or a massive mistake, it doesn't really matter to your company. All a business cares about is protecting itself, and if it has to fire a few employees along the way, so be it. 

At some companies, employees can cost their employer thousands in silly mistakes before getting canned. But then there are places like a waterpark that fires employees who are missing more than $20 per day (less than the price of a single ticket), so that they won't let anyone in the park without paying. That's a pretty lowly amount of cash to can someone over, but it's totally the company's call. These things vary so much that it's hard for any employee to know exactly when they've crossed the line until it's already too late. 

The people below shared the stories of their biggest work mistakes. Some people did get fired, while others just got a major talking-to from their bosses. But all of them felt that bl*od-running-cold feeling that happens when you know you've made a giant mistake in front of the boss. 

Up next, read about an entitled client who got both himself and his entire company fired after insisting that "every email" should arrive at his inbox: 'He has over 100 new emails… My bosses and I are still laughing.'

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  • 01
    '[Hotel housekeeper] left the hot water tap running. 3 rooms were flooded because of that'
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "Workers, what is your best "Well, I'm getting fired" moment at work? What were the consequences?"

    vi... I worked for a small computer company doing a couple million a year in sales. One of my tasks was to update price listings and have those changes reflect on our vendors' websites. I put one less "0" on one computer model and ended up costing our company $30,000 in about one day.
    via u/vilent_sibrate
  • 03
    Someone had noticed the error and bought a shton of computers. Even though there was a QA process to catch these things after me, I knew I was getting fired. TLDR: I got fired.
    via u/vilent_sibrate
  • 04
    Edit: I should say that my boss was actually pretty cool about it, but they had to put the blame on someone. He told me I could still use them as a reference and that I could label the position as a "short term contract".
    via u/vilent_sibrate
  • 05
    agreenster I worked at an automotive parts manufacturing factory while going to art college, and part of my job was boxing up parts and attaching a tag onto the box with thin wire. But for every box I completed (one every couple hours) I sculpted a little animal out of the wire with needle nose pliers. I gave the little sculptures
    via u/agreenster
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    (bears, rabbits, whatever) to random employees, which they left on their workstation. One day as I was making one of the little sculptures, I looked over my right shoulder to see my supervisor standing directly
    via u/agreenster
  • 07
    behind me just watching me with a clipboard. I paused, looked her de d in the eye, held out the sculpture and said, "Want a bear?" She fired me on the spot. I'm now an Animator at Disney.
    via u/agreenster
  • 08
    B... I was a legal secretary. My boss was excited about our new big money case with a new big money client, "Plaintiff Smith". Boss had three attorneys write a six-page letter to our client outlining exactly how we were going to cream "Defendant Jones" - the letter included possible counter attacks and legal citations and basically our
    via u/BluegillQ
  • 09
    entire strategy. Meanwhile, I was poring over docs we received regarding Defendant Jones. I was asked to mail the strategy letter to our client Plaintiff Smith no biggie just put it - in an envelope right? I knew he lived on Maple Drive, so I pulled his address from some papers on my desk and mailed that sucker out! Next day, I'm poring over those Defendant Jones docs
    via u/BluegillQ
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    again and my bl d ran cold. No one had told me that Jones and Smith were next door neighbors. The address I'd pulled was Jones'. I'd mailed our entire strategy to the opposing side. I immediately called their local post office and used my lunch break to drive there for the next two days. People at my office knew my mistake, I think I wasn't fired immediately because there
    via u/BluegillQ
  • 11
    was some chance I might fix it. Every one avoided me or gave me tight lipped smiles. Miraculously, the postmaster finally located the letter! The carrier had it in her bag on the third day and brought it back to the post office where I was waiting. I gave the postmaster a $25 gift card and my tearful gratitude. My boss who had avoided me finally broke the silence and said "I cannot
    via u/BluegillQ
  • 12
    believe you found that letter." It became a crazy story around the office and I was not fired.
    via u/BluegillQ
  • 13
    goalieamd I was working at a Cosi (sandwich, soup and salad place) and had asked to leave early the previous day since my uncle did. I went to back to work and was still in a state of shock and couldn't check my baggage. at the door. I had this horribly bitchy lady change her order 4 times during the lunch rush when I had a line
    via u/goalieamd
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    out the door. I couldn't take it anymore and told her to either order or to the get the f out of my line. My manager heard me, before he could say anything I took my apron and hat off, handed it to him and grabbed my stuff and left.
    via u/goalieamd
  • 15
    R... I use Adium to manage my IMs while I'm at work. I'm a developer. I was speaking to a project manager at a new job. I'd been there for maybe a month. She was asking me to do some tedious work that was completely unnecessary because they promised it to a client. While frustrated, I tabbed over to my girlfriend's IM to complain how frustrated I
    via u/RageCageRunner
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    was that they were making us do all this work for basically nothing. Unfortunately, I didn't tab over. I sent the IM to the PM. My heart sunk into my stomach.
    via u/RageCageRunner
  • 17
    Saw the little icon that showed she was typing and was like... oh sh how do I cover this up before she responds. I reread the comment and noticed I used a lot of pronouns, so when she responded, she thought I was talking to her about the client. Dear lord I thought I'd ruined my awesome new job right after it started.
    via u/RageCageRunner
  • 18
    h... In high school I worked at an AM radio station in my small town on Sunday mornings. I was the only person there from 6AM to noon. It was mostly reading the weather and playing pre-taped programs. At one point I play. a live broadcast of a Catholic mass going on. During that time I would crawl into a ball in the break room couch and doze off,
    via u/hawkeye1200
  • 19
    hungover from the night before. One Sunday I wake up to, "Hawkeye1200! You can't sleep on the job!" I sit up and see the boss who runs the station standing over me with a frown. "But I wasn't sleeping!," I say. Just when I think he might buy it, he says, "You have an alarm clock next to you."
    via u/hawkeye1200
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    Oh yea, I brought in an alarm clock that I'd set so I didn't oversleep. Hard to explain that one. I thought I was screwed but somehow he didn't fire me...I worked there another month and then left for college.
    via u/hawkeye1200
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    12 11 10. 9 69 20. 3 4. 50° 5.
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 22
    [deleted] I work in a furniture store, mainly in the warehouse. We sell EXPENSIVE sh. Like, the cheapest lamp you'll find is $100, and that's because it is damaged slightly. We had received a shipment of a very expensive set, all for a model home we were staging. I had a china cabinet, still boxed, on our forklift. It was set on a pallet
    via u/[deleted]
  • 23
    upright on its side, so that it was very tall and not very wide. I was bringing it into the warehouse, being super careful. Well, we have a sunken manhole right in front of the warehouse garage door. The front-right wheel of the forklift went right into the dip and I watched that 350lb box of wood and glass teeter, rock,
    via u/[deleted]
  • 24
    and fall flat on the ground. It made a solid thunk and I knew it was all over. It turned out to have a not- sad ending. The lady in charge of damages knew it was an accident and ordered a new one right away, no worries or anything. BUT, when we received the new piece, my manager wouldn't let me near it.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 25
    consilioetanimis I worked at a ticket booth for a water park in high school as a summer job. It was in 2010 and so a lot of the people I was working with were adults with families and whatnot but we were all very close because it's retail, and thus gives you all a common enemy. Anyway, with school starting back up again, I had put in my two weeks notice (it was a
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 26
    summer job, so I actually had to give my end date on the first day but we still had to submit a notice). Our company was extremely paranoid about cash. We couldn't have any money or cards on us at any time while working and you couldn't leave your work area at all once you were given money unless you checked your till back in to your supervisor (including
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 27
    every bathroom break). There were cameras all over the booth and you had to explicitly count any money on the table separated so that it would show up on camera. All money was counted randomly throughout your shift twice a day and then again at the end. If you had a variance of over $20, it was considered a "Class 3" violation and you were immediately fired.
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 28
    (Tickets for the water park were about $60 a person, so one f ☐ was essentially all you got in ticketing) Anyway, a woman I was working with, probably about 45, was checking her till in at the same time as me. We talked a lot during downtime. I know she had 3 kids and was recently divorced. She kept full custody of the kids but she was essentially a housewife
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 29
    before. Her husband was very well off. And though with some support payments, she could keep afloat, she had to take the job to be able to give her kids nice things. She was frustrated at her husband always getting to be the hero who would come in to take them on vacation, didn't have to discipline them, and had the money to buy them new game
    via u/consilioetanimis
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    systems and the clothes that her daughter wanted and whatnot. She was stressed and low on sleep all the time (working other jobs too). Anyway, we're tilling out and then I realise she's taking a long time (we put our money through a scanner and there's only one so I was waiting for her to finish) and I realise she's running every thing through multiple times. So I ask
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 31
    what's going on. And I realise her eyes are getting really watery and she whispers that she's off by $36. Now we really can't make a fuss because whilst the cameras don't do audio, there are supervisors around. So I, in a split second decision, shuffled some paperwork around and slipped the money to her till and told her to just try again.
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 32
    I figured that was signing off on my death certificate. I got fired on the spot when they checked me out after. They took my gate keys and my ID card. A security officer was called and he escorted me to the break room to get my stuff and then to my car where they took my parking pass and drove behind me in their golf cart until I was out of the
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 33
    gates. I wasn't allowed to see anyone or say goodbye so there was no real closure with me and that woman. She did call me a couple days later to say thank you and how much it meant and whatnot and invited me over for dinner with her family but I was getting ready to go back to school in a couple days and said no thanks.
    via u/consilioetanimis
  • 34
    taekwondogirl My dad has a great one. He was a busboy at a restaurant, and it was his first day on the job. The place was packed, and he was rushing back with a ton of dishes. Somehow the tray to carry them fell and all of the dishes fell to the floor with a loud crash. Everyone looked over at my dad. My dad saw that there was one
    via u/taekwondogirl
  • 35
    lone dish intact, picked it up, held it out at arm's length, then dropped it. It broke. Everyone in the restaurant applauded. He was then fired.
    via u/taekwondogirl
  • 36
    [deleted] I once was chatting with a higher-up manager about how a lot of people were away on the holidays. She said she may leave early, but was stuck pulling a couple extra hours with all the people out getting their stuff handled. As she was walking away, what I wanted to say was "Yeah, don't want to have
    via u/[deleted]
  • 37
    anyone working harder at their job than they have to this time of year" or something like that. What came out of my mouth was "Yeah, don't want to have to make you do your job." She was already around a corner by the time I got that far, so my brain made me stop talking.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 38
    Then I realized what I had just said. But it was too late. She was already gone. I heard about it QUITE A BIT from my direct superior later, but nothing came of it.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 39
    cmlglrslcrd I worked as a media buyer and on my third day on the job my boss asked me to find some information and update the (huge) spreadsheet he was working for the client's annual plan. As I was about to update it, he opened the file to finish a few things and asked me to wait. Now I'm the new girl, wanting to show service. I decide to open a copy of the
    via u/cmlglrslcrd
  • 40
    spreadsheet and update it there, so when he finishes I know where it goes. He finishes, lets me know I can open the file, I just get mine (updated) and save ON TOP OF HIS WORK. I basically made him lose his entire day of work. The year-round
    via u/cmlglrslcrd
  • 41
    spreadsheet was ready and the one I had was a rough draw. I really thought he was going to throw his monitor on my head. He changed colors and had to leave the office in order no to curse me... I apologized the next day, so did he, and we agreed to ALWAYS save versions from that day on.
    via u/cmlglrslcrd
  • 42
    [deleted] I work tech support for my university's School of Engineering. It was late, and I was in the labs doing homework with people. After I finished, I was just wandering the halls because I was bored. One of my coworkers left his ID in a classroom. We use our ID's to unlock each classroom, so I had to let him in.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 43
    Usually, we only have to slide our wallet over this black box, and if our ID is in there, it will unlock. I decided that since my wallet is in my back pocket, all I'd have to do is put my but up against the wall, and the door would open. It was a little high, so I had to jump.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 44
    I took a step, jumped up, spun around to scan my bt, and immediately put both feet through the dry wall. I stuck the landing, made eye contact with the other employee, and walked away.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 45
    I came back, slid a "Wet Floor" sign in front of the holes I made and put in a work order to have them filled. They were filled, and nobody besides me, and that coworker ever knew I did it. I still work there.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 46
    [deleted] Worked at a pet-store, manager asked me to move a koi from one tank to another. Big giant 100$ koi, rips through the net, lands head first on the ground and flops twice before dying. Manager and I made eye contact and all he said was:
    via u/[deleted]
  • 47
    "That's the first one I bought when I started the store. His name was patches." He went into the office and gently closed the door. I grabbed my jacket, waved to the others and left.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 48
    catchafire678 Well, this was actually kind of funny. I was hoping I didn't get fired, and no one confronted me because it was not REALLY my fault. I lived in fear of the day people would finally notice. though. My company came around the call center and took pictures of people in their everyday lives in order to
    via u/catchafire678
  • 49
    put on our website. Well, me being cheery and dressed in a cute dress that day, I somehow managed to be on the front of our website as the face of our company. We have a few hundred thousand visitors to our website a month.
    via u/catchafire678
  • 50
    Little did they know, if you looked really closely at the writing on my desk, you could see I had a bumper sticker that said 'life is too short to argue with stupid people" and I had Reddit open on my desktop. Win.
    via u/catchafire678
  • 51
    OBear Came into work, saw there was page left in the copier. It was a memo about me getting fired. As a result, I was fired.
    via u/OBear
  • 52
    [... The female chef at my job was for some reason - - allowed to have her eleven year old son running around in the restaurant. He was the most obnoxious eleven year old you can imagine (and I know they can be obnoxious!), he thought because I was a waiter and his mother was a chef he was my supervisor.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 53
    One day I had been taking a cup of coffee in the back and I heard customers coming in. I walk through the kitchen to the reception and halfway there the kid runs in to me and says "Why weren't you working??" and I just lost it and yelled "SHUT THE F AND LET ME WORK!" and walk out to the reception. I plastered on a smile and hoped the customers didn't
    via u/[deleted]
  • 54
    hear me. They'd heard me, and I did my best to explain to them that there was a kid around and I did not apply for a job as a babysitter and gave them as good of a service as I could. I thought this was the point at which my temper would finally catch up to me but it turns out that the chef did not hear and my boss was out on town to do business- stuff or something.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 55
    I can't believe I managed to keep that job.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 56
    Cheezburger Image 10483718912
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 57
    snakey_nurse Not me, but my coworker. I work at a hotel, and she is in housekeeping. She went in a room to strip it of dirty linen, washed her hands, and left the hot water tap running. 3 rooms were flooded because of that
    via u/snakey_nurse

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