'employee-unfriendly' is a compound word formed from 'employee' and 'unfriendly'. 'Employee' originates from French 'employé', meaning 'one who is employed', and 'unfriendly' is derived from Old English 'unfrēondlīc', where 'un-' meant 'not' and 'frēond' meant 'friend'.

'Employee' evolved from the French word 'employé', and 'unfriendly' from Old English 'unfrēondlīc', eventually forming the modern English compound 'employee-unfriendly'.

Initially, 'unfriendly' meant 'not friendly', and when combined with 'employee', it evolved to describe environments or policies that are not supportive of employees.