As of late, folks have been elaborating on many work related horror stories at an alarming pace. Some have been told that the employer will schedule an appointment to come to the prospective employees home to investigate how they live. Quite a few have found projects that they were working on pulled from under them, or found that ideas have been stolen by colleagues and even by the boss, often losing the credit for all their previous hard work. Others merely put up with tests of their urine samples in a cup once a year with the veiled warning that the employer can ask for another sample at any time. In other cases, people have found themselves in a predicament where their boss or supervisor hasn’t done anything illegal or discriminatory per se, yet the body language, vocal intonation and the eye contact demonstrate a totally hostile demeanor. As of late, some in the underground goth community have found that wearing the pre-requisite black is causing a stir while their office mates share the latest outlandish gossip about their darkly clad colleague by the water cooler.

In no way should you put up with this. If you do, it is guaranteed you will have your entire working life filled with this type of behavior with no end in sight. Tolerating this inappropriate work place behavior will be tantamount to tattooing a big “V” for Victim on your forehead.

If you thought you lived in a democratic country, think again. For far too long, big business has been getting away with rather dictatorial behavior, and we the mere peons who supply the grease to keep the machinery going, continue to put up with it. Unless you plan on becoming the next Norma Ray, you will have to arm yourself with the facts of the law in order to fight back in the event that you should become the next corporate victim.

If you were promised that raise, be sure to document how you have demonstrated being an asset to the company during your time there and clearly elucidate about your accomplishments and your worth to the company. Now you may wonder what is a fair raise, and besides, what is the current market value of your job anyway? Fear not, there is a site that will allow you to investigate what you should be earning and what types of benefits you should reasonably expect in your area of expertise based upon your location. Check out what they suggest at High Tech Careers.

If your mode of dress is for all things black, you owe it to yourself to get a hold of the policy and procedure manual of the company to be sure that your attire is not viewed as an infraction to these sanctified rules the company has created. If the company policy clearly states that you cannot have 30 piercings on your ears, eyebrows and wherever else that is visible, you may have to remove 28 of them if you want to work for that company. You are legally entitled to a copy and most often are supposed to receive this type of pre-hire training and in-servicing. Most companies ignore these little rules and then use your ignorance to rake you over the coals later on. Get a copy however you can and keep it in a safe place in the event that you are called on the carpet about your mode of dress, particularly if you are a union employee. Non-union employees are at a disadvantage, however, having the documentation available will be helpful should you have to press a litigation with the employer over “invidious discrimination.”

In most cases the black attire can easily cross over into the work world, however when coupled with excessive piercings, death style jewelry such as skeletons, coffins, bats and any number of derivatives, the chance is great that the repressive folks you work with will be raising their eyebrows and judging you from that alone. Sadly, with the bad press goths have had as of late from the Columbine massacre to inaccurate news and film propaganda, the usually quiet and creative goths are finding their livelihood in jeopardy.

The main crux of a lot of job dissatisfaction stems from what is termed a bullying boss, though many co-workers clearly fall into this category as well. Despite the multitude of laws on the books that clearly make it illegal to discriminate based on sex, religion, sexual orientation or race there is no such law that prevents any boss from shoving you around with veiled hostility, extra workloads that are not part of your department, nepotism, favoritism and everything in between that gets you right between your teeth in the most aggravating way. We have all worked with these types of people. Gender does not play too much of a factor in this either, simply because power makes all bosses sterile in my opinion, while this same hostility seems to make a co-worker feel empowered. Male or female, a bully boss or co-worker will make you lose sleep, kill your concentration, create stress that often makes you physically ill, and at some point, kill your self esteem.

There are groups currently trying to change the laws to make bullying bosses accountable for their actions. You can find out more about these groups and how to identify the various type of work bullies at www.allsands.com. These folks may be undermining your very psyche and health without you even knowing about it.

Forewarned is forearmed people. All that you learned in Catholic school when you were growing up has no place in the business world sad to say. Love thy neighbor is only spoken about in church. In the real world, it is dog eat dog, and you have to know how to arm yourself before you are the next lunch on the boss’ plate!

If you find yourself in a very uncomfortable work environment and talking with the boss has not alleviated any of the tension, you will need to keep accurate documentation that details all the infractions against you. This paperwork will be able to back you up in the event that you finally decide to take the company to court.

Most younger employees in particular don’t bother with the documentation and either continue to tolerate deplorable conditions year after year or just move on to another job where eventually, the same type of treatment rears its ugly head. If you are of the latter category, you will need to also re-evaluate yourself. Are there things that you wear that is clearly beyond acceptable or is there something that you do that seems to grate on the nerves of others? Some people have a huge chip on their shoulder, so goth or not, it would cause some unsettled problems with any company they worked for. However, if you have managed to stay within the boundaries of company policy while still wearing a lot of black, and are generally congenial to work with, yet still find abruptness towards you increasing, then it is time to make the pen work for you. Once companies start finding themselves thrust against litigation’s for violation of human rights, only then will the work place become a bit more reasonable and peaceful.