Employee gets pay cut for getting stuck in office lift, asked to work

Getting stuck in an elevator can on its own prove to be a pretty scary experience but if it is followed by an apathetic HR, it surely tops the list of the worst experiences at workplace. 

A Reddit user recently shared a similar experience where he wrote that he got stuck in his office elevator for hours and after finally getting rescued, the HR of the company marked him on leave and cut his salary for the day. 

“So yesterday I was in the elevator and it stops working out of the blue and electricity also goes off. I was not able to contact maintenance department or my office, I tried to reach them on call and after several attempts I was able to inform the HR about my situation and they send maintenance guy. After 3 hours they got me out of the elevator.”

The writer of the post mentioned that due to his office being on the seventh floor, they usually take the elevator. He also added that they had been facing troubles with the elevator for the past few weeks and had already notified the concerned department about the issue who, the user claimed was “neglecting the service and maintenance of the lift.”

After getting stuck in the elevator for hours, when the employee was finally rescued, the HR not only said that the due to punching in late, he will be marked on leave but also told him that since the company was short on staff, he will have to work that day. 

Upon telling the HR and Assistant Manager that it was not his fault this had happened, they allegedly “threatened” him in the name of appraisal. 

“They started threatening me about appraisal and my work ethic how I was making excuses and do not put efforts and lacks motivation,” the user wrote.

In conclusion, the Reddit user wrote that he had recorded the entire incident and is thinking of sending the grievance report to higher authorities. 

Though the post was sent just two days ago, it has close to 500 upvotes on the platform with many commenting in favour of the author. 

"If the company rules specify that you have to be marked as on leave - they cannot compel you to work while on leave. If they do - then they will need to compensate you with another day off. If you like the place you work - then try and get them to close this amicably. Reach out to a senior manager to put in a word,” read one comment while others called it a “toxic workplace”.