Employee Seeks 'Late-Night Party Leave', CEO's Reply Goes Viral

A viral WhatsApp conversation between an employee and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has sparked a discussion on leave policies on social media. Posted on LinkedIn Ankit Aggarwal, the founder and CEO of Unstop, stated, "This arrived in my WhatsApp this morning." Additionally, he added, "Employee asking for leave because the party and it's after party is still on. This openness is critical within a team so that you can trust your team, and they are ensured that you will back them."

The screenshot of the conversation was shared by the founder and CEO of Unstop, revealing the employee's request for a "late-night party leave," to which the CEO instantly agreed. Furthermore, Aggarwal emphasised that when colleagues feel comfortable being open and honest with each other, a foundation of trust is built, leading to better communication, collaboration, and overall success.

Employee take leave to Party, amuses internet

The CEO's response received praise from several social media users. A LinkedIn user mentioned, "This is what I needed to read today. In my past work experience, there were instances where my team and I were honest and gave our manager the true reasons why we needed leave - it could be a weekend getaway, to attend weddings, or just 'we're mentally exhausted, we need a day off to do nothing.' We weren't permitted to take a day off until someone from our family was either hospitalised or dead! I must say, all of us lost a lot of our relatives for us to get leaves."

Another user expressed, "This is called real team building, team leader, leadership. How refreshing it is to witness such camaraderie between a founder and their work partners. Most organisations lack even basic levels of transparency, honesty, and candidness. They believe the so-called 'employees' will take them for a ride and stop respecting them. What they really fail to understand is the concept of mutual support and recognition. Perhaps why they have a high attrition rate and zero happiness quotient amongst the people working with/for them," as commented by a third user.

However, not everyone was impressed with how Aggarwal handled the situation. One user wrote, "While I understand employees may occasionally need urgent last-minute vacation, I don't think this would be a valid reason. The problem here is the employee was not asking but merely sent an instruction to their employer. This is not a respectful way of working, as the employer was not left with a choice as to approve or not."