Employee asks Delhi CEO for ‘late-night party leave’. Check his response

"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," wrote LinkedIn user Samina Hathiyari. "We weren't permitted to take a day off until someone from our family was either hospitalized or dead! I must say, all of us lost a lot of our relatives for us to get leaves."

"What a delightful and candid moment!" commented another user Angie Liu. "The level of openness and honesty within a team, as demonstrated by the employee asking for leave due to a party and its after-party, is indeed precious. Trust is the bedrock of a successful team, and this kind of camaraderie fosters a positive work environment. When colleagues feel comfortable being themselves, it not only leads to better communication and collaboration but also creates a sense of unity and support."

But, several others were not impressed with how Aggarwal handled the situation or why he chose to disclose the interaction on a public platform.

"Is this acceptable when your team depends on you?" asked LinkedIn user Jack Gershfeld. "Does your employee understand the impact s/he has on the team members? Surprise is a very challenging emotion. Creating relationship stress by surprising everyone is not a good trust move. I do not think if you are a first responder, that message would go over well."

Agreeing with him, another user Paul Johnson added, "While I understand employees may occasionally need an 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."

Responding to some of the criticism, Aggarwal clarified that the intention of sharing the conversation was to share how the work culture at his company is and that honesty is rewarded. "The idea is not to show my response but how open conversation is at Unstop so that you don’t have to lie to take a leave," he said.

Read more: 80% of bosses regret initial plans of asking employees to return to office: Report