An employee in Hong Kong shared a bizarre story regarding his boss’s reaction to asking for a bereavement leave to pay respects to his ancestors on Facebook. He asked for a leave of 12 days to attend the annual ‘tomb sweeping’ festival, Qingming, where people visit the gravestones to pay respects to those before them.
When asked about the leave, the employee’s boss asked him for a picture of the gravestone in question as proof that the employee would actually be visiting the site to pay their respects.
Shocked by his boss’s reaction, the employee resorted to Facebook as an outlet. “I took time off to pay respect to my ancestors, but my boss made me take photos of the graves to prove it,” he wrote.
The employee had to travel to a nearby region in mainland China, Foshan, adjacent to Hong Kong, nearly a two hour drive from the city.
While asking for the photo of the gravestone, the employer also seemed to have questioned whether the employee really needed to take 12 days off to pay respects to their ancestors.
Seeing the post, many on social media urged the employee to quit their job and find a workplace more suitable to them. Many also told horror stories of their bosses. One user claimed that the boss at the insurance firm they work at asked underperforming employees to slap each other as a form of motivation.
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