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Aaargh! iVillage's Top 10 nightmare bosses

If you're suffering working for a boss from hell, be comforted by the fact that you are not alone. Check out the boorish bosses below. If you think you can top our list, click here to tell us all about it.

1 The Weakest Link
The worst boss I ever had wasn't bad - just terribly weak and scared of anyone more senior to him. I started as a junior counter assistant in a shop, and after a couple of months my boss made me Stores Manager. Great, so far (apart from being on the same pay). I more or less ran the stores side of the business. All was well until a semi-retired senior manager came to us to end his working days, and resented my position at my age. He constantly found fault, and eventually my boss became too scared to back me up on any of the imagined mistakes. I was called in and sacked on the spot, without references, because this elderly senior had told him if I didn't go, he, my 'brave' boss, would be on the scrap heap.

2 The Toy Soldier
About four years ago, I had a boss who was in the territorial army and - you've guessed it - brought his toy army persona to work with him. He couldn't stand being contradicted or challenged. After a disagreement over a pretty insignificant issue, he took me by the elbow into a private room, backed me up against the wall, banged his fist on the table and screamed, 'What is your problem?' I made a complaint and took him through grievance procedures, but sadly, nothing much has changed. Human resources are obviously scared of him too!

3 The Hypocrite
I work for a man who unfortunately doesn't realise I don't have the super power of mind-reading. There are different rules for me and my colleague. She gets to take 10-minute smoking breaks six to eight times a day, while I get dragged across the coals for chatting to someone for a few minutes. My boss even dragged me into his boss's office once to complain I wasn't doing enough overtime, and that I worked too fast. I exposed him this time though. Each year during my appraisal he praises the quality of my work. So, when confronted, I argued that he couldn't complain that I do the work too quickly if he's already said that it was done well. Was he embarrassed when HIS boss agreed with me!

4 The Shirker
My old boss was a right waster. He was so lazy that he employed a new office manager to do all his dirty work for him. He never paid bills, so it meant us office staff got all the complaints from people he owed money to. He even bought his wife a big car out of the company's budget! I'm glad I left that company to work for a more honest manager, who pulls their weight.

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