Gurgaon Employee Fired for Taking Tea Breaks

A shocking workplace incident from Gurgram has ignited debate online after a young professional shared his experience of being fired from a startup for seemingly normal workplace behaviors like taking tea breaks and leaving office on time. 

"Bad Attitude" Accusations Begin Early

According to the employee's detailed Reddit post that has now gone viral, trouble began within days of joining the company. Management quickly labeled him as having a "bad attitude" and claimed he wasn't "grounded enough" - criticisms that left the young man completely bewildered. 

"I was totally shocked when they said this and couldn't understand why they were viewing me this way," he explained in his post. "I told them I don't have any attitude problem, and if they felt there was an issue, I would improve. But honestly, I had no idea what they were talking about." The employee's confusion grew as management began objecting to various aspects of his normal workplace behavior that would be considered standard in most professional environments.

What particularly bothered management, according to the post, was that the new employee occasionally took tea and smoking breaks with two other newly hired colleagues. "The boss had issues with this too," the employee wrote. "They said, 'Don't create groups here; it's not good for our company,' along with several other strange complaints." 

The situation escalated when management began expressing displeasure that the employee left work precisely at 7 PM, his scheduled departure time. "The boss told me that leaving exactly at 7 PM wasn't acceptable," he shared, highlighting the company's apparent expectation for unpaid overtime. 

Bizarre Working Conditions Lead to Termination

By his 20th day with the company, the situation took an unu  sual turn when the employee was removed from his desk and instructed to work from the director's cabin instead. This created an uncomfortable work environment for the young professional. 

"Who works sitting in their director's cabin all day?" he questioned in his post. Later that day, he peeked out of the cabin to check if his colleague was still on a tea break - an action that proved to be the final straw. 

The director immediately reprimanded him, asking, "Why are you looking outside? I'm talking here," and then promptly instructed HR to terminate his employment on the spot.

Social Media Responds with Outrage 

The post has garnered significant attention online, with numerous users condemning the employer's behavior as unreasonable and toxic. Many commenters shared similar experiences, highlighting concerns about workplace culture in some Indian startups.

"These people are ridiculous, seriously," wrote one user, while another commented, "Good riddance to bad rubbish," suggesting the employee was better off leaving such a toxic environment. 

Employment experts suggest that such incidents, while extreme, are not entirely uncommon in some startup environments where boundaries between professional expectations and personal time can become blurred without proper HR policies in place.