No matter how dedicated or reliable an employee may be, there are moments when work must take a back seat, especially during situations involving critical illness, accidents, or the death of a close family member.
As such, emergency leaves are meant to give employees space to manage urgent matters and grieve in peace. However, a recent viral post suggests that not all employers respect these boundaries.
Boss kept asking for report
A man recently took to Threads to share his experience dealing with what he described as an insensitive employer while he was facing the loss of his mother.
According to the post, the man had initially taken emergency leave after his mother was in critical condition. During this period, he was repeatedly asked by his boss whether a work report had been completed.
Not long after, his mother passed away, and he proceeded to take bereavement leave. He informed his boss of the situation, who offered condolences and asked about his well-being.
However, despite being told that he was not in a good emotional state, the boss allegedly continued to ask whether the monthly report under his responsibility had been completed.
Requests kept coming in
The situation reportedly did not end there. The man claimed that the questions about work continued into the following day, even while tahlil prayers for his late mother were being held.
Feeling cornered, he eventually asked whether his boss had personally reviewed the report and clarified that he had already completed his portion of the work before going on leave when his mother was critically ill.
Through his post, the man expressed deep disappointment, saying that empathy in leadership should go beyond offering condolences while continuing business as usual.
“Real understanding isn’t about words. It’s about pausing. Stopping expectations. Stopping pressure. Stopping the need to chase productivity while someone is burying their mother or father,” he wrote.
‘Leadership without empathy leads to burnout’
He added that grief is not something employees can simply “clock out” from, warning that leadership without empathy often results in burnout rather than resignations.
Leadership without empathy is just management. And management without humanity doesn’t lose people because they resign — it loses them to burnout.”
The post resonated with many online, reigniting conversations around toxic work culture, emotional boundaries, and the importance of humane leadership — especially during moments of personal loss.
Read the full post here:
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