A Reddit post by an employee claiming he was publicly humiliated after his manager allegedly monitored his private Microsoft Teams conversations has gone viral, triggering a wider discussion about workplace surveillance, employee privacy and toxic office culture.
A Reddit post by an employee claiming he was publicly humiliated after his manager allegedly monitored his private Microsoft Teams conversations has gone viral, triggering a wider discussion about workplace surveillance, employee privacy and toxic office culture. The employee shared his ordeal on Reddit’s r/IndianWorkplace forum in a post titled, “Got Humiliated Today, Getting Fired Tomorrow.”
According to the post, the confrontation began when his manager called him to a meeting and allegedly questioned whether he came to the office “for work or for fun” after reviewing his Microsoft Teams chats.
The employee said he objected to his conversations being monitored, but claimed the manager grew furious and warned that screenshots of the chats would be forwarded to the company owner, who would ultimately decide whether he remained employed.
Providing further details, the employee alleged that the company’s HR representative had resigned just a week earlier after refusing to carry out duties such as monitoring employees and handling dismissals.
He also claimed the company’s owner had built an in-house HR management system capable of tracking employees’ office check-in times and even monitoring restroom breaks. According to the employee, he usually spent around six-and-a-half hours at the office and was required to compensate for every minute of late arrival by using his leave balance.
The employee said he earned a monthly salary of Rs 28,000, in addition to a variable performance-based incentive (fluctuates between nil and 12k). He further alleged that the company did not offer benefits such as health insurance.
Explaining his punctuality, the employee said he was frequently around ten minutes late because he suffered from hypothyroidism while also managing household responsibilities and caring for his wife, who he said was dealing with nutritional deficiencies as the couple tried to conceive.
He explained that preparing meals every morning often delayed his commute, adding that sacrificing sleep would leave him too exhausted to perform effectively at work.
The employee further claimed that five team members were required to share a single ChatGPT subscription, forcing him to purchase his own subscription to complete his work efficiently.
He also alleged that he independently redesigned the company’s outdated website after teaching himself coding, only to be criticised by the owner, who allegedly dismissed the effort by saying that “anyone can code” using AI tools and accused him of being lazy.
In another incident, he claimed he created blog infographics during his free time after previously being encouraged to do so, but was later reprimanded for taking the initiative without explicit approval.
According to the employee, the latest dispute stemmed from a message he had sent to a colleague expressing frustration over poor office hygiene and the medical expenses he had incurred after developing health issues that he believed were caused by mould in the workplace.
Although uncertain about his future at the company, the employee said he felt more disappointed than emotional. He added that he no longer believed switching to another SEO-focused content writing firm would necessarily resolve the workplace issues he had encountered.
He also alleged that the company had started hiring fresh graduates at lower salaries while increasingly relying on AI-generated content for client work.
The post quickly gained traction, with many Reddit users urging the employee to begin searching for a new job instead of trying to repair the situation.
Some advised him to remain with the company only until he secured another offer, while others cautioned that employees should always assume workplace communication platforms could be monitored and avoid sharing messages they would not want management to read.
Several commenters also described the alleged work environment as deeply concerning. Referring to the employee’s claim that the HR representative had resigned over similar issues, they argued that, if the allegations were true, leaving the organisation would be a far better option than continuing to endure such conditions.