Workers In India Many Exchange Stories About Toxic Workplaces In The Aftermath Of The Death Of Female Employees

Office illustration. (Annie Spratt-Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The tragic death of a female consulting firm employee in India aged 26 is thought to be due to stress related to routines triggering lips among workers about a toxic or unhealthy workplace environment.

The incident also made mutual stories between workers in India about their offices glorifying excessive overtime and culture of demeaning employees.

One of them is Nayantara Menon Bagla, a chef and nutritionist who lives in Bengaluru who shared his story while working at a luxury hotel in India.

Without mentioning the name of the luxury hotel, Bagla said he had felt the high pressure of working there. He and his colleagues felt unnaturally punished when they entered the office late.

Those who were forced to stand up late with their hands raised for two hours and were ordered to clean the refrigerator with their bare hands.

Even Bagla said the hotel asked its employees to work for 18 to 20 hours. He said there was no normal rest time even in a personal emergency.

"When I was sworn in at the luxury hotel, the program director told us, 'Welcome to hell'," said Bagla, who was interviewed by The Nod magazine, quoted from Hindustantimes, Wednesday, September 25.

The luxury hotel not only normalizes overtime but also strengthens outdated gender norms.

Bagla claimed that the luxury hotel management was asked to lose weight and that female employees were expected to'subject in the kitchen'.

"Of course, kitchens and restaurants are stressful environments, but they should not cover up suicide or mass bullying cases. Mental health is not even discussed," he continued.

The female employee of the consulting firm Ernst & Young in India who died was named Anna Sebastian. A former employee of the place Anna works revealed that the 18-hour shift in work is a norm at the consulting firm.