8 lies most bosses tell

The boss/employee relationship has an inherent inequality of power, and since knowledge is power, most bosses will want to keep some knowledge to themselves and away from employees.
Doing so often involves telling the following lies:
1. “We can't pay you more.”
If a company has any cash flow whatsoever, the boss is making decisions about where to spend based on what the boss feels is a priority. Your salary isn’t the priority, so can’t really means won’t.
Since your compensation always reflects the minimum your boss believes you’ll accept, when you hear this lie, it’s a signal that you need to renegotiate the compensation agreement you have with your boss.
2. “Your raise is above average.”
If you’re in an organization in which the compensation for everyone in the group is pulled from a set amount of money, there’s a good chance that the boss is describing almost everyone’s raise as “above average.”
Companies that employ nonunion labor are exquisitely sensitive about anybody sharing salary information, because such sharing inevitably makes somebody feel that he or she is being slighted.
Bosses therefore tell this lie because they’re afraid that if you knew what your coworkers were being paid, you would quit in disgust.
3. “We're one big happy family.”
In real life happy families don’t keep secrets from one another, and tend to share everything equally.
The most wretched places to work are those in which bosses and employees replicate the yelling, spanking, criticism, deception, and cruelty that play a huge role in the horrors of a miserable childhood.
Your best bet is to quietly refuse the entire premise of the lie and remember that it’s not personal, it’s business.
4. “There's no truth to the layoff rumor.”
This statement means that a layoff is definitely going to happen.
Before you get too irritated at your boss for telling you this whopper, consider that your boss is probably fighting for his or her own career, is being asked to do top management’s dirty work, and may end up being the last person to get axed.
If you hear this one, you should immediately activate your escape plan.
5. “My hands are tied.”
Bosses feign helplessness when they want to renege on a commitment to an employee, or escape blame for a decision that’s unfavorable to the employee. Example: “I tried hard to get you the raise I promised you, but since sales are down, my hands are tied.”
However, there are always exceptions to policies and guidelines, but they require effort on the part of your boss to make them happen. Therefore, rather than giving up when you hear this lie, push harder for what you want.
6. “You'll be working forty hours a week.”
If your boss thinks of your work in terms of the hours you expend on the job, and you are not paid by the hour (that is, you’re salaried), your boss will constantly pressure you to work more than forty hours a week.
Whenever you hear this lie, assume that you’ll be pressured to work unpaid overtime. Not to worry, though. If you treat this demand as unreasonable, you can get out of working unpaid overtime. Then, if you manage your time correctly, you’ll get more done than the people who are coerced into working ridiculously long hours.
7. “Your response will be confidential.”
This lie is generally told when employees are asked to participate in a survey that solicits criticism of the company or its management.
The moment you sign an employee contract, however, you waive your right to privacy. So if you’re asked for a confidential opinion, your best bet is to “praise with faint damnation,” even if you’re being surveyed by a supposedly “independent” source.
For example, if you’re asked “confidentially” if your boss is doing a good job, don’t say something like, “He’s in over his head.” Such honesty will come back and bite you, so say something innocuous like, “My boss works too hard.”
8. “Your participation is voluntary.”
This lie always means its opposite. For example, attendance at a “brown-bag lunch” where top management will be giving a presentation is voluntary only if you plan to voluntarily get fired.
In the corporate world, voluntary is code for mandatory. Whenever you’re told that something is voluntary, always be the first person to sign up and the last person to complain about it.