No sick leaves, 10% pay cut per personal day: Viral HR call leaves Internet stunned — ‘How is this even allowed?’

As more companies today value corporate wellness and work-life balance, a viral post has brought the focus back to the continued prevalence of employee exploitation.

During a shocking 10-minute introductory call, a professional named Upasana Sarbajna shared that the company had a "flexible" policy that did not allow any sick or personal leave. And in case an employee took a single day off for personal reasons, it would trigger a massive 10% pay cut.

Too stunned to react, Upasana questioned how some organisations actively exploit the lack of stern labour laws to penalise workers for simply being human.

“We had a conversation for almost 10 minutes where the individual explained about their company’s vision and their client base and so on,” she said, noting that everything was okay till this point, but when they finally brought up their leave policy “, things went south”.

The HR allegedly told Upasana that the company has a flexible leave policy — “You will get holidays on festivals and stuff.” However, the HR said, “Our leave policy does not entertain employees taking sick or personal leaves whatsoever.”

Upasana said she was “too stunned to dignify that sentence with a reply.”

In case an employee does take a leave for a personal reason, the HR said, “it will be considered a loss of pay.” “So, if you are hypothetically getting paid Rs. 10,000 a month, one leave might cost you Rs. 1000,” they added.

“I told them I needed some time to think it through and I disconnected the call,” Upasana shared on LinkedIn. She said she was still in shock at how companies “take advantage of the lack of a stern labour law to exploit employees to this extent.”

“How is this even allowed?” she asked.

“This is shocking, more than surprising. Holidays are not a favour or a reward, as basic sick and casual leave are a mandatory thing,” a user said. “1000 deduction for a day, how are they even calculating this?”

Another user noted that companies are supposed to frame their leave policy in accordance with the state Shops & Establishments Act and the Indian Labour Laws. However, he highlighted that there is a loophole, “There is no planned regular inspection/audit mechanism by the Labour department available. They might visit once in a year, that too with vested interest only. And thus all unethical rules followed by employers remain unchecked, and there is no improvement.”

“Calling it a ‘flexible leave policy’ when every leave is unpaid is like calling a salary ‘performance-linked’ because you can choose not to pay it,” a netizen said.