‘Don’t want to make it a habit’: Redditor on senior who asks fresher to work after hours, 

A young employee recently wrote on Reddit that a senior asked him to work beyond official hours, sparking a larger conversation about respecting work-life boundaries and potential exploitation of freshers in India’s corporate culture. The employee explained that their shift runs from 12 PM to 9 PM. 

While they are willing to put in extra hours on occasion when there is a genuine requirement, they do not want this to become a routine.

“Honestly, my shift timings are from 12 PM – 9 PM IST and I can personally work for some days when there’s a requirement. But I don’t want to make it a habit or routine and give the idea that they can take advantage of my after hours time,” the poster wrote.

The situation became more complicated when the senior asked the employee to send the same statement over email. Sharing the message with their senior, they wrote: “However, I said the above to my senior and now he’s asking me to send the same in mail. I’m not sure why. Is it to leverage me on this mail saying I’m not flexible? Or is it to forward that to any HR or my manager to show that I’m abruptly saying no?” the employee wrote.

The post quickly went viral, with fellow professionals sharing advice based on their own experiences. 

One commenter suggested a tactful way to handle it and wrote, “Yes. Tell your senior. Sure, I’ll share it in email with you, can you email me requesting to work beyond my shift timings and I can communicate the same in the email chain.”

A second user weighed in, “Ask him to drop an email first regarding it and mention when you need to be available outside shift hours. Once he responds, you can reply that you will be available during emergency situations only.”

Another commenter commented, “Stop normalising overtime. Boundaries need to be maintained. I am proud of the current GenZ population.”

A fourth commenter said, “Switch off your Teams. I don’t associate myself with office WhatsApp groups. I clearly tell them WhatsApp is personal. Give me a business account, a company phone, and then I will be part of the WhatsApp group. I shut down notifications after my office hours.”