Noida Startup Founder Rejects Employee’s Sick Leave; His Email Reply Goes Viral

Over the last few years, the topic of toxic work culture has been receiving a lot of attention, particularly within fast-paced industries such as startups. Perhaps one of the biggest indicators of a toxic work culture is the absence of respect for an employee’s health and well-being. There are many employees who do not prefer to take a leave when they are not feeling well because of the fear of losing their salaries, and also because of the fear of how their peers might view them and their professional reputation as an employee.

A recent incident regarding a startup founder in Noida, who allegedly refused to grant sick leave to an employee and also deducted his salary, was recently highlighted on social media. Needless to say, people are condemning such a move. Many also criticized the non-sympathetic work culture that startups endorse and promote. Here’s what happened:

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Employee shares email exchange regarding sick leave request on Reddit

The incident surfaced on the subreddit r/IndianWorkplace and has sparked a wide conversation about the toxic work culture of Indian startups after an employee from a company in Noida was denied a request for sick leave and had their salary deducted for the same. The employee shared screenshots of an email exchange on the online forum Reddit.

According to the post on Reddit, the employee is a technical support professional in a SaaS startup in Noida. The employee explained that his area had an electricity outage the previous day, due to which he was unable to sleep properly. This caused them fatigue, due to which they were not feeling well. That’s why, the next morning, they decided to send a request to the HR department for sick leave.

However, the response allegedly came from the founder, who instructed the HR team not to approve the leave. In the screenshots shared on the internet, the founder wrote:

Mark this as leave without pay. Don’t approve same day leaves.

The employee also stated that the founder of the company dismissed their illness by saying, “You sound just fine,” even though they were reiterating the fact that they were not feeling well.

The post was accompanied by a caption, where they asked if it was a sign to change companies and if they had done something wrong by taking leave.

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How did netizens react to the incident?

The post has gained traction on Reddit, with many users paying significant attention to it. At the time of writing, the post had garnered more than 4,700 upvotes and over 600 comments. Many users have expressed their views on the matter.

Some users have criticized the response of the founder while pointing out that a lack of sick leave and deductions in salary can lead to a stressful work environment. Others have suggested that the employee should look for a new job. Many also opened up about their experiences regarding a strict leave policy in some companies.

Have a look at some of the reactions:

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What do you think about this incident? Do share your thoughts with us in the comment section of this article.