A female techie has claimed that her entire team was forced to sleep on the office floor and forced to work around-the-clock, only to be verbally terminated without written notices or proper documentation. In a now-viral social media post, the techie sought advice while detailing that the startup treated the group like 'garbage', which largely comprised of fresh graduates who finished their degrees just last year.
The techie explained that throughout May, the team was working under extreme pressure on computer vision and AI deployments while deadlines were pushed onto them.
"The company provided sleeping bags and expected employees to sleep on the office floor so we could continue working around the clock on the product. Some team members spent multiple nights at the office," the techie wrote in a Reddit post.
"To make matters worse, the office didn't even have a shower or proper facilities for employees expected to stay overnight. As a woman, I personally found the situation extremely uncomfortable, unhygienic, and deeply unprofessional."
Despite the sacrifice, the team failed in a major deployment, which prompted the company to blame the junior engineers who were simply following instructions. The team was told to take three days of paid operational leave before being isolated.
"There were absolutely no written warnings, no Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), no show-cause notice, and no written termination letters. Just a verbal firing and a statement that our earned wages would be withheld. When we asked for written documentation, we were told that if management had to issue formal termination paperwork, our records would not remain 'clean.'"
Despite mailing the management about the employment status, termination documentation, full and final settlement details, there had been no response.
"Any advice on the fastest way to recover wages from a startup playing silent games would be appreciated. And for any other fresh grads considering joining a startup: document absolutely everything," the techie said.
Check The Viral Post Here:
Startup made our AI team sleep on the floor in sleeping bags, then verbally fired us and is withholding our May wages. Need advice.
by u/Prize_Evidence5484 in developersIndia
'This Is Harassment'
As the post went viral, social media users expressed outrage and suggested legal action regarding the alleged labour law violations and harassment.
"Unprofessional? This is just harassment. I won't sugarcoat it," said one user, while another added: "Send them a legal notice from a lawyer who specialises in Labour law, also file a Public Interest Litigation in courts against the company."
A third commented: "Why do people tolerate this? In my first job, the product manager (PM) created a fake deadline and asked me to work on the weekend to finish a project, 30 days earlier than the actual deadline. I simply said, "Sure, I will come on weekends, as long as the PM comes too," and suddenly there was no need to work on weekends."
A fourth said: "Please please. The victims. I hope you also sue for mental harassment, unsafe workplace, overtime compensation, and criminal intimidattion."
