It’s nearly impossible to find the perfect workplace in this day and age, but it’s important to know how to spot and get out of a toxic workplace quickly. The longer you stay in a stressful and unpleasant workplace, the harder it becomes to leave. Also, the longer you stay, the more damage it will do to you and your mental health.

A toxic workplace can have extremely negative effects on your life, as you sleep less, feel more stressed and your mental health can drop to an all-time low.

So, what are the signs that you’re working in a toxic workplace? First, let’s see how to spot an unhealthy work environment through the behaviors of your coworkers.

How does a toxic workplace affect its employees?

1. They don’t care about their work
   Employees are responsible for making sure they do their work well and on time. It’s an integral part of the business. But in a toxic work environment, they may regularly miss deadlines because they simply don’t care about their work. If you feel as though you can’t be bothered to give your job your all, you may want to consider a new job or even a career change.
2. Frequent fighting between employees
   Whether it’s a workplace or a relationship, constant fighting is never a good sign. A company that allows arguments to get out of hand does not care about the mental health of its employees. It wouldn’t be a good place to work, even if you weren’t involved in combat.

Related : How to Deal with Empty Nest Syndrome When Your Adult Children Move Away

Disagreeing is normal and often encouraged, but full-blown arguments are awkward, uncomfortable, and hinder your ability to work effectively.

3. Negative energy in the workplace
   Workplace energy is reflected in how satisfied people are with their jobs. If they are tired, unmotivated, and lacking any interest, it will be an incredibly stressful place to work. Over time, this will drain your energy and leave you feeling extremely frustrated at work and at home. I think we can all agree that we’ve all played one of these roles before. A toxic, draining workplace is not where you thrive.
4. An office full of gossip
   There is gossip in every office, it’s inevitable. But if the entire office is talking past each other, it’s a terrible environment to work in. Often, if it is very bad, gossip can lead to bullying, which is not acceptable.

There is also a distinct lack of actual work getting done if everyone is just talking. The worst of all is for the employer to engage in gossip. Get out while you can!

5. Unmotivated workplace

When you need to know if your workplace is toxic, you need to assess the energy and enthusiasm of employees. If there is an air of unhappiness and a lack of motivation, you can assume that this is not a good workplace to work in.

When you feel happy and excited about work, it creates a positive atmosphere around you and you actually look forward to going to work. If not, maybe it’s time to look for a new job.

6. High employee turnover
   It’s a bit of a stretch to go out on a limb here and say that this is the most obvious sign of a toxic workplace, where there’s a high turnover of people. It should send red flags flying at you if you are constantly seeing new people replacing old people. People don’t stay at their jobs if it makes them miserable, so if you notice that your workplace has a lot of new employees replacing old ones often, get your resume posted on job boards.

How does poor management contribute to a toxic work environment?

Now, let’s take a look at the ways a bad boss and unfair policies can make a work environment toxic.

7. Totally ineffective communication
   Rumors generally spread when people don’t know what’s going on, and this is a warning sign of a negative workplace if there is a poor communication system. Whether it’s a new product launch, a review, or even when the next company meeting is taking place, it’s important to have a good communication machine. And if you don’t? It’s time to update your resume.
8. Lack of or ineffective infrastructure
   Whether it’s a faulty new system or a slow old system, if you leave it unresolved, it can hold you back from getting your work done. The worst part is that if it is left, it shows that the company does not want to invest in making the business the best it can be. If they won’t invest in a new server, they certainly won’t invest in you, so go out with a bang.
9. Absence of a leader
   If you haven’t seen your boss all week, and it’s Thursday, you need to reconsider whether this workplace is the right place for you. An absent leader sends a terrible signal to employees that they don’t care about the work and they certainly don’t care about you. An absence of a boss means a toxic workplace, so start looking for a new job as soon as possible!

10. Unfair treatment
    If your colleague is late and nothing is said to him, but you are late and get pulled into a meeting, this will likely make you angry. And she’s right about that. Not applying the same rules to everyone creates an annoying hierarchy that will only lead to bad results for you. It’s frustrating for everyone and shows that your boss doesn’t respect the protocols you may have.
11. Lack of interest in the employee’s personal life
    A toxic workplace and employer won’t care about your personal life, and that’s a big problem. Anyone who has run a successful business will know that if you value your employees, they will serve you well. So, when you are asked to work longer, perhaps for less pay or even no pay, this should raise red flags.

If your employer does this more than once, you should know that your company does not care about you. In this type of situation, you will not be able to create a work-life balance because there is no balance. A toxic workplace prevents you from having a decent personal life. Is the job really worth it?

12. Abundance of work

A company that burdens its employees with more and more work that they cannot complete does not value the worker. Having too much work to handle can lead to stress, which we often take home. This will damage your home life, so you can never escape from it. Studies have been conducted on this matter and the results showed that 28% of people suffer in their personal lives due to work pressures, which is a very high percentage of 28%!

13. Exploitation of employees
    Any form of manipulation or blaming from senior to junior employees should be reported to the HR department (if there is one). If you’re just starting out and notice that your senior colleagues are asking you to work more shifts or take on their workload, report it and leave. You don’t want to start your career in a toxic workplace.
14. Favoritism among employees
    This is probably the one thing that demotivates employees the most, as one employee gets the best shifts, the best projects, or is treated much better than everyone else. It’s toxic, but unfortunately it happens, and there’s no solution to it, despite how you feel about your colleagues’ role. It’s best to leave and find a place where you’re all treated the same.

15. Ignoring employees’ emotional health
    We’ve all been there and been told, no matter what, that work comes first before anything else. But this is a dangerous situation, because it shows that your boss does not care about the personal needs of the company’s employees and that this is not where you want to work.

If you find yourself turning down a drink after work more often than your boss asking you to work late, it’s time to change your priorities.

16. Harassment behavior towards employees

This type of behavior is a major sign that the workplace is toxic. Any type of harassment, whether sexual, verbal or mental, is unacceptable and must be reported. Then you must leave immediately. The only thing worse is when the boss involved disguises it as a “little prank.” Don’t stop for it, leave.

If you notice that even a few of these signs resonate with you, you’re probably working in a toxic workplace and need to evaluate your next steps and get out of there.