An employee working at a US-based startup from India tendered his resignation via WhatsApp after his manager denied his leave request. His manager argued that he had joined only a month earlier and that he had been “more than accommodating” in granting him leave.
The employee, who goes by the handle “scaringthepharmacist”, shared the screenshots of the conversation on Reddit’s “IndianWorkplace” community, with the title, “Joined here a month ago, leave denied, resigned immediately, asked to stay.”
‘Consider this my resignation’
According to the screenshot, the now-viral conversation took place on WhatsApp. It shows the employee requesting leave for November 11, saying, “If there would be anything urgent, I’ll be available for catch-ups.”
The boss then asked for the reason behind the request. The employee explained, “Have to visit home for some personal work. Home is two hours away.” However, the boss pressed further, asking about the nature of the personal work.
That’s when the employee said that he is not comfortable disclosing his personal affairs, and asked, “I am sorry. Can I not take a leave?”
The boss replied that since the employee had joined only a month ago, and he had already been “more than accommodating with time off,” the answer was “no”.
“I only had two days of time off last month, which were national holidays,” he countered, before tendering his resignation.
“If this is the case, then consider this my resignation. I’ll serve one week notice period if required. I am not working for you anymore,” he went on to say.
Let’s resolve this on amicable terms, says boss
In response, the boss said he would speak with him on Monday. However, the employee, who was apparently frustrated, ignored further messages.
Later, the boss attempted to reach out again, saying the issue could be resolved on “amicable terms”.
“I think there was a miscommunication here, brother,” the boss went on to say.
He also shared the context behind the screenshots. According to the Reddit post, the employee said he had developed a medical condition due to stress but decided to “push through and get better by himself”.
“I requested leave on Tuesday, and I have been working overtime too this last month just to meet the deadlines. I was shocked when he asked for a reason, and really got pissed off when he denied the leave because I didn’t provide a reason,” he explained.
The employee added that the “time off” his boss referred to was actually for Diwali – a leave he had informed him about a week in advance.
He further revealed that he revoked his access to the shared drive after resigning, fearing that his boss might withhold payment for the work he had already completed since his resignation had been sent over WhatsApp.
“Scaringthepharmacist” shared that the two had another chat afterwards. “I let him know this is not cool. If the concern is projects getting delayed, then I would’ve managed that by working at night. If the concern was that he only wants to pay for working days, then I wouldn’t mind taking unpaid leaves,” he wrote, stressing, “Also, I told him that I have worked at a lot of toxic places and I am not gonna let people rule over me.”
Reddit users react to viral WhatsApp chat
The post, which was shared with the tag “Workplace Toxicity”, has received over 2,000 upvotes on Reddit. Many even flocked to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts.
“Trust once broken can never be repaired. Please find another job and move on,” suggested one social media user. The Redditor replied that he had already cleared two rounds of interviews at another company. “Just waiting for their confirmation,” he added.
Another said, “Lol ‘brother’. Look how the tune has changed. Good reply, OP.”
“Once they realise they can’t control you, it humbles them very quickly,” shared a third.
A fourth posted, “Good job, brother. I really liked your reply to your boss. You have the courage to reply and quit the job when dealing with a toxic manager, which not everyone doesn’t have.”
(This story is based on a post shared by a social media user. The details, opinions, and statements quoted herein belong solely to the original poster and do not reflect the views of Financialexpress.com. We have not independently verified the claims.)
