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Employee takes sick leave for stomach ache, Indian boss subtly asks to work anyway: ‘Paid peanuts’
An employee’s post about indirectly being denied leave while working at a 25-year-old Indian company has sparked a discussion on toxic workplace culture.
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An employee claimed that the boss of the small company pressured them to work from home despite taking a sick day for severe stomach pain. The worker further shared a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation that shows them being asked to work and coordinate with clients.
“I've been working as a marketing coordinator for the past 6-7 months. I barely take leaves. Even if I take leave, it would be once a month. It's a small company with only two employees (including myself) working from the office & the rest 2-4 employees working from home,” the employee wrote on Reddit. In the following lines, the worker said that the company has been in operation for almost 25 years.
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“I've been having a severe stomach ache since yesterday, and I texted my boss this morning for a leave, and this is the response I got. He's asking me to work despite taking a leave. Worst of all, I'm using my own laptop for work when the company has to provide one,” the employee continued, referring to a WhatsApp chat they shared.
“This sounds like a subtle way of asking someone to work as if they own the company but at the same time pay peanuts for the work,” the individual continued.
Take a look at the post:
How did social media react?
An individual asked, “What has he been doing for the last 25 years to have so few employees? And it's kind of justified because this is India?” The OP responded, “Biz took a hit during Covid. And the system for designers has been there for more than 15 years. Because of that, work is getting delayed & when I point out the issue, he says I'm simply giving excuses & that the work taking one minute will take 3min, and that's it. According to him, my refusal to work on Saturdays simply means that I'm behaving like a government employee.”
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Another remarked, “25 years in existence and just two employees? Does that company see any growth at all?” A third expressed, “Say that the stomach ache progressed into severe diarrhoea, and you were in the hospital all day with IV attached.”
A fourth wrote, “I would never join a startup with six employees no matter how much they pay. With this size, everyone ends up doing everything, and you can't blame anyone because of the company's size.”
