Woman complains about extra workday in exchange for extended Diwali holidays: ‘Heading to 1950?’

A 24-year-old marketing manager shared her experience of workplace toxicity at an Indian IT company. She complained that extended Diwali holidays came at the cost of an additional workday. She claimed leave was granted only on the condition that employees work an extra Saturday.

The caption to her Reddit post reads, “Diwali vacataion given like a charity. One leave given on the condition of compensating for the day on a SATURDAY [sic].”

Frustrated with the company's rigid policies, the employee, whose office is located in Ahmedabad, posted a screenshot of the company's internal message circulated among the staff.

She said employees were required to work on Saturday, October 11, to compensate for a Tuesday, October 21 holiday.

She said, “We will get the leave but for that we will have to compensate” by working on a Saturday, a week before the Diwali vacations.

Suggesting that the Diwali vacations were given like charity, she added, “Also my office has only a 12 leaves a year culture…. this is my SL, PL, CL everything.”

Originally from Rajasthan, the marketing manager also criticised the inflexibility of the work environment, saying a 4-day leave wasn't enough to visit her hometown.

She shed light on the company's restrictive policies, including a clause. She posted: “Can’t leave… as they have already taken 2 cheques in the name of security with the contract signed so that if I leave midway my 2months if salary will be there’s [sic].”

Demanding more flexibility in the IT sector, she asked, “Where are we heading to 1950? Why can’t indian companies understand the need of Remote [sic].”

Social media reaction

The post sparked a wave of reactions online. A user wrote, “Not surprised, IT companies in Ahmedabad are all lala companies.”

Another user suggested, “You need to do 2 things: Make new year resolution of joining a new company. In these 2-3 months start giving interviews. Make sure not to join any IT service company in Ahmedabad. Move out to Delhi/Pune/Mumbai/ Remote, you'll find much better options.”

A third user remarked, “The leaves are from 20th October TO 23rd October. That means Monday TO Thursday. Add 18th and 19th as Saturday and Sunday, you get 6 days of leave.”

A fourth comment read, “4 paid vacation days for Diwali. And one Saturday work to compensate a little. So essentially a 3 day vacation. I honestly do not see a problem here. Most MNCs give 8-10 public days off a year. Diwali is usually just 1 day off.”

A fifth user replied, “My company has given leave from 18th to 26th. Grateful.”