M'sian says boss demanded live location during leave — Netizens call it ‘psycho' work culture

The Sun

a day ago

A woman has sparked outrage online after revealing the extreme measures her company takes before approving any kind of leave—ranging from annual leave to medical emergencies.
On Threads, she claimed her boss demanded access to her live location just to verify that she was actually on holiday.
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'Serious question: Is it normal for an employer to ask for your live location when you apply for annual leave, just to check if you're really going on holiday?' she asked.
But it doesn't end there.
'At the company I work for, whether it's medical leave, emergency leave, unpaid leave, or annual leave, we're required to share our live location,' she further stated in the comments.
Despite complying with the process, she said her leave request was still not approved. Worse, she was threatened with being marked as absent if she didn't comply further.
'I'm so tired of getting spam calls,' she wrote, referring to repeated calls from her boss.
When another user asked if these intrusive demands were outlined in her contract or HR policies, she replied simply: 'Nope.'
The post quickly went viral, with many Malaysians expressing concern over the workplace culture.
One user called ridzwan5263 commented: 'Nope... employers have no right to know what we're using our annual leave for in the first place.'
'Once annual leave is approved, it's our right to do whatever we want with it. The boss has no right to know what we're doing... crazy boss,' angelolgovna echoed.
Others chimed in with their own stories of being micromanaged during time off, while some reminded employers that leave is a rightful benefit—not a privilege to be policed.
Teeyafaathiah shared her own experience, stating: 'Not normal. Your boss is a psycho. I used to have a boss like that. I applied for leave to go back to my hometown for family matters.
'He approved it and even treated me to lunch. But suddenly, while I was on the way back, he WhatsApp-ed me saying, 'Send me your travel proofs to Johor.' Haha, but I didn't send him anything.
'I just updated my story, and I think he was stalking me to check if I was really in Johor. Such a ridiculous trust issue.'
'Breach of privacy. Report it to HR. If HR doesn't do anything, report it to the Labour Department (JTK),' omnomnomnivore_my suggested.