An employee’s upfront refusal to work on weekends has led to an escalation at the workplace after they pushed back against their boss’s demand.
“Why have we glorified working on weekends?” read the title of the Reddit post on Indian Workplace, where the employee said their boss at a Big Four firm made it clear that meeting client deadlines would require weekend work, adding that “everyone works on weekends here” and it had always been the norm.
However, the employee refused. “I said, with respect, I can’t work on weekends because I get paid for five days, and I need the other two days for myself,” they wrote, adding that they even offered to be rolled off the project. The move angered the boss, who escalated the matter to senior management.
Enraged, the employee questioned the work culture of the company, saying that such bosses seemed to prioritise clients to an extreme extent.
In the comments section of the post, several users urged the employee to stand their ground, saying such practices needed to end with the current generation seeking a life beyond work.
Some others pointed to the realities of the job market, noting that India remains largely employer-driven, where managers push boundaries because “there’s always someone willing to say yes,” unless employees draw a line.
On a sarcastic note, a Reddit user asked whether any client was ever considered “not important” enough to avoid weekend work.
With this post going viral, the spotlight is on India’s hustle culture again, with many questioning where to draw the line between professional commitment and personal time.