In an unusual move that caused widespread discussion, a strict sick leave policy implemented by an Indian manager has gone viral on social media platform Reddit. The policy mandates that employees must request sick leave at least seven days in advance, a requirement that many find amusing given the often unpredictable nature of illness. This stringent rule has left many people scratching their heads and sparked a flurry of online debate.
The controversy erupted when an employee posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation with his manager online. The exchange began when the employee notified his manager, “My health is not well, so I won’t be coming to the office.” The manager then asked if the employee intended to take sick leave. After the employee confirmed, the manager replied, “To take sick leave or casual leave you need to inform at least 7 days prior.”
Baffled by this requirement, the employee took to Reddit to voice his confusion, asking, “How to know if I am going to be sick in the next 7 days?” The post quickly gained traction online, with users responding with a blend of humorous suggestions and personal stories about similarly unreasonable workplace policies.
One of the users wrote, “Send an email every day: "This is to inform you that I may get sick seven days from now and may thus need to use sick time," See how long it takes.”
Sharing a similar experience, another user wrote, “When I worked for ******** in 2011 I contracted mono. The doctor said: "You HAVE to be out of work for the next week as you will be at your most contagious. He wrote me a note. I presented it to my SM. He relented, but he was furious that I, a shift lead, was going to be out for a week. That was a week of pure misery. Even compared to my week with Covid, mono was worse.”
“Malicious compliance time.....every Monday morning submit a preemptive sick leave notice, then cancel it the following Monday when you submit a new one,” added a third user.