‘Is this a red flag?’: Boss asks about sales closure after employee’s mom is hospitalised

When an employee tells her boss that her mother has been hospitalised in an emergency, most people would expect the conversation to pause—at least briefly—to acknowledge the situation.

For one employee on Reddit, however, the response she received was very different. After informing her director that she would not be able to report to work because she had to travel home to be with her mother, the employee was asked about the company’s month-end sales closure.

She later took to Reddit to ask whether she was overreacting or whether the response was a genuine red flag.

‘What About The Closure?’

According to the employee, she works for a small sister company of a software firm and is essentially the only person working there. She has been with the company for around a year.

Her mother had already been unwell for some time, and the employee said she regularly travelled to her native place on weekends to see her. Her director was also aware of her mother’s health. The employee said she lost her father a few years ago and that her elder sister currently takes care of their mother.

The situation became urgent when her mother had to be hospitalised following a medical emergency. At around 3 AM, while preparing to travel home, the employee messaged her director:

“Ma’am, my mom has been hospitalised due to a medical emergency, and I’m travelling to my native now. I won’t be able to come to the office tomorrow.”

The director replied:

“Ok. But what about the Closure of this Month .”

The employee said the response left her upset. She acknowledged that month-end sales closure was important but felt that the immediate concern, given the circumstances, should have been her mother’s health.

She questioned whether she was being overly sensitive because she was already under emotional stress or whether the exchange reflected a deeper problem with the company’s workplace culture.

Delayed Salary, Unpaid Incentives Add To Frustration

The Reddit post also revealed that the message was not the employee’s only concern.

She said her salary had sometimes been delayed and that she had not received sales incentives from the previous year. When she asked about the pending incentives, she said she was told there was no written agreement covering them.

The employee claimed she was told that “Oral Agreements won’t be Accepted” and that the company therefore did not have to pay the incentives. She said management subsequently told her that a written agreement would be prepared and the incentive would be provided in the upcoming year.

That history made her wonder whether her anger was really about one insensitive message—or whether the incident had brought several existing frustrations to the surface.

Reddit Calls It A Workplace Red Flag

The post drew significant attention from Reddit users, many of whom felt the director’s response was a warning sign and advised the employee to consider moving to another organisation when possible.

“No..These people at the top have sold their souls for money. They are all the same," said a user.

Another commenter focused on the way the employee addressed her director, writing: “The first red flag is you have to call her ‘Ma’am,’"

“Leave, bro; this organisation is not good. They don’t care about your emotions. Your family. They only want their money," commented another individual.