Manager Denies Holi Leave, Calls it ‘Business Critical Day’

In a harrowing instance of office toxicity in India, the festive holiday of Holi was made a “Business Critical Day” by a manager. The manager refused Holi leave for all employees and asked them to “not fall ill” or have any emergencies on the day, the viral social media post claimed. The manager also threatened to label any unauthorized leaves as ‘unpaid/unapproved’ and deduct a ‘sandwich salary deduction’ as penalty, even threatening to give employees a ‘behaviour issue letter’.

The post, made on Reddit by user ‘SahilSakure23’, gained rapid popularity and invoked sharp responses online. “Not only do my Employer have the temerity to not allow any leaves for Holi but also to flag them unapproved/unpaid for those who take forcefully with sandwich salary deduction and warning behaviour issue letters and a lot more. and to classify every festival as business critical day,” the post stated.

Reddit post

The post ignited controversy among the users, with many showing their annoyance. One commenter said, “What’s worse is I don’t get how some in here condone such behaviors.” Another stated, “Did he actually say do not have emergencies tomorrow—bro the entire purpose of emergencies is.” A third commenter said, “This sounds more like a school than a job lol.” Others pointed to the ridiculous nature of the situation, with one stating, “The third point is absolute BS, it’s not like people enjoy falling ill on purpose and how TF are we supposed to prevent emergencies on the next day lol.” Some users suggested that a collective resignation might be the only option to such a toxic work environment.