An employee from the HR department of a company has claimed that they are being forced to work while ill, despite asking the manager for sick leave. Seeking advice on Reddit, the employee added that the manager also calls at odd hours and makes them work on weekends.
The screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation shows the employee requesting the manager for leave since they were suffering from “severe stomach issues” and feeling weak.
To which the manager replied: “Kya, yarr? Kam ke pressure ke time pe chutti marte ho (What, man? Why are you taking leaves when there is so much work pressure?). Thoda if possible, check structure supervisors for Dahej (in Gujarat). We need that urgently.”
“Manager wants me to work while I’m sick,” the employee shared on Reddit. “This is just one of the instances where he is asking me to work while I’m under the weather. He calls me at odd times, makes me work on Saturdays and Sundays. I have never had a proper day off since I joined this company.”
The employee also highlighted the irony of these problems popping up in the HR department of a company.
‘Who made him manager?’: Reddit users
The post quickly gained traction, with several users criticising the manager’s behaviour and questioning the leadership standards that allow such conduct.
“If someone says they are not feeling well, managers should understand and adjust,” one user commented. “If I had such managers, I would have left the company by now. Seriously, who made him manager?”
Others called the tone of the messages immature and unprofessional, with one commenter describing it as “childish,” while another likened it to a manager “testing boundaries rather than managing work.”
Advice to set boundaries
Alongside criticism, many users offered advice to the employee on how to respond. A recurring theme was the importance of gradually setting boundaries.
“Start pushing back, one step at a time,” one commenter advised, suggesting that employees stop working on non‑working days, leave once shifts end, and give short, factual replies to work messages during leave.
Another user warned against sacrificing health in the hope of incentives or promotions. “Do the maths: health versus salary,” the comment read. “With health gone, one cannot even lift a finger.”
A familiar workplace story
Several commenters noted that the incident resonated because it reflected a broader reality for many professionals in India, where sick leave and weekends often exist only on paper.
In a similar incident, a Noida‑based SaaS startup was recently criticised on social media after an employee claimed that his same‑day sick leave request was denied by the company’s founder, who instructed HR to mark the absence as leave without pay (LWP).