For a 31-year-old woman, the price tag was exact: ₹ 2 lakh in bond penalties, a canceled vacation, and a 50% pay cut at her new job. What does it cost to escape a toxic workplace?
It gave me a severe UTI,” she revealed. I could not stay with my husband or in-laws,” she revealed. Madhurima (who did not wish to reveal her last name) spoke to Hindustantimes.com about why she decided to quit her job at a government-owned bank — a job, incidentally, for which she had prayed and prepared for two years. My leave requests were denied and I could not even use the washroom during work. Many Indians see a bank job as a ticket to a secure future. That’s what Madhurima thought when she spent two years preparing for the IBPS exam after completing her master’s. “I also got a house rent allowance, so I didn’t have to worry about rent either. However, Madhurima soon realised that her high salary came at the cost of her mental peace. She was barely allowed any leaves. Not being allowed to take leaves would soon become a recurring theme in her lives. This was just one of many instances of toxicity that the assistant bank manager faced at her branch. Couldn’t breathe’ )
“I was working more than 12 hours a day, sometimes even on Sundays. During the course of the conversation, Madhurima elaborated further on the harsh realities of working in a toxic environment, saying that she paid ₹ 2 lakh as bond penalties to quit the job that was giving her suicidal thoughts. The 31-year-old, who is originally from West Bengal, was eventually selected and posted to a bank branch in rural Karnataka. She joined the bank in October 2022 and had to undergo a mandatory nine-month training. When Madhurima got married in December 2024, she was in the middle of her training period. “I got married within 4 days and then left for my training again. “As a cashier, customers start coming in around 10:00 am and up until 3:30 pm. The reason I developed a UTI was that from 10:00 am to 3:30 am, I could not take a break. At her bank posting, Madhurima was not allowed the luxury of a 9-to-5 schedule. Instead, she describes working over 12 hours a day, getting extra work on top, and then getting berated for not being able to complete the extra work. The 31-year-old told HT that her day usually began at 8:30 am, and she sometimes worked past 10:30 in the night. Even on a good day, working till 7 pm was the norm. (Also read: Bengaluru woman warns of burnout after 6 months of 14-hour workdays: ‘Heart was racing.
Because she could not take washroom breaks during the hectic work day. (Also read: Pregnant public sector banker alleges toxic workplace harassment by manager: ‘First trimester was tough’ ) Even more shockingly, she was then denied sick leaves by the bank, madhurima told HT of one instance when she got a severe urinary tract infection.
“I was crying every day after work,” the 31-year-old told HT over a phone call. “My salary was good; I was getting ₹ 70,000 in-hand at that time,” she said. I was sitting constantly at the cash counter,” she said. “I suffered from a severe UTI for 2 to 3 months while working at the bank—there was bleeding and everything—but I couldn’t take leave because I had to report to the office,” she revealed. “I had to go to the bank on Sundays as well,” she said.
“I was getting ₹ 70,000 at the bank. I joined the startup at a salary of ₹ 35,000,” she said. On top of that, she had to pay a bond of ₹ 2 lakh to quit the job. As Senior Customer Support Executive at the startup, she now earns ₹ 60,000 working from home and gets to live with her husband in Hyderabad.
What she lost in terms of money, Madhurima gained back in happiness. Because there is transparency in the organization,” she concluded. (Also read: ‘Like signing away your dignity’: Banker vents about toxic government job, explains why he won’t resign ), now I can go to my hometown for a month, stay there, work remotely, and take leaves. It was a tough time in the job market, and she wanted a work-from-home opportunity. Her new workplace is blissfully free of any toxicity — “My manager is so helpful. Over the last two years, her salary has also doubled. “Even though I was earning good money and getting benefits at the bank, it wasn’t worth it. My mental peace was gone. “Even though I took a pay cut and my salary isn’t as high as my friends in banking, I have the freedom to choose when to take leave. “When I worked at the bank, I couldn’t visit my parents’ place or anywhere.
Eventually, she found a Bengaluru-based startup that hired her, but she had to take a massive pay cut in the process. (Also read: Techie quits job without backup, then takes ₹ 4 lakh pay cut for peace of mind: ‘I did what I felt right’ ) “My salary became half,” she said. He and others in the organisation have taught me so much,” she said. I was so depressed and was having suicidal thoughts at that time,” she said.
Madhurima said that after wrapping up at 7 pm, she was expected to go around the village where she was posted, selling insurance policies and trying to get new customers. “My branch head told me that after closing cash at 7 pm, I had to go out and collect new accounts from customers. For me as a girl, it was very risky to go out after 7 PM to collect accounts,” she revealed. For almost two years, Madhurima endured 12-hour work days, unrealistic targets, no sick leaves, working weekends and even verbal abuse. Her breaking point came in February 2024, when she was not allowed to take leaves to attend a friend’s wedding.
I reported it to HR in Mumbai, and they called my senior, after which he changed,” she revealed. Because i was so irritated and cried every day,” she said, when I reached home, they were afraid I would snap at them. Because i was still on probation.”, i only had to serve a one-month notice period.
For a young woman who did not speak Kannada, walking around alone in the village after nightfall was a frightening proposition. I thought, this is a village, and people don’t understand English or Hindi—how am I going to convince them? Madhurima got candid about the toll that her toxic job took on her mental health. “I cried every day after work. She became so irritable that she stopped talking to her parents over the phone, afraid that she would snap at them. “I stopped talking to my parents. They came to visit me at my home near the bank, but I could barely talk to them for half an hour. “Something else happened as well: I had to report to a senior who wasn’t my direct manager, and he verbally abused me. “I had applied for leaves three months in advance. Madhurima alleged bias in the organisation, claiming that certain seniors were allowed to go on leave during the audit. For her, this incident became the metaphorical straw that broke the camel’s back. “Immediately after that incident, I put down my papers in March.
I was so exhausted,” she said. “He said, “You are a girl; they shouldn’t hire girls in banks,” and things like that. Three days before I was scheduled to go on leave, my boss told me that an audit was going on and I could not leave,” the West Bengal native said. “I resigned immediately after that,” she said.
