Paid Diwali Party? Viral Post Shows Employees Forced To Pay ₹1,200 Each; Internet Slams Company

Viral Post: A viral image of a WhatsApp message has created controversy after showing that a company has made attendance compulsory in its Diwali party and has requested employees to contribute 1200 rupee, and team leads have been asked to pay ₹2,000. The message says that everyone must be there and tells managers to get ₹1,200 from each team member.

“Hi Everyone! We will be having a Diwali party. 100% attendance is mandatory for your teams. Collect Rs 1200 from each in your team. Rs 2000 for managers. #diwaliparty #poolparty #boozeonthehouse,” the WhatsApp text read.

The person who shared the screenshot on Reddit captioned it, “This is embarrassing for a company.”

Netizens reactions

The post attracted critical responses on the internet. The question that arose for many was how proper it was to make employees pay for a festive event and whether or not contributions to a festive event needed to be voluntary or compulsory. The use of WhatsApp to issue official directives was criticised by others who believed that it caused a mix between personal and professional communication.

One user commented, "what if some employees don't want to attend the party and would be absent or at hometown and what about non alcoholic employees?" Another said, "How is it booze on the house, if they are taking contributions?" A third user said, "Lol the audacity of saying Booze on the house after asking for money."

A user also commented, "If your company is communicating via WhatsApp, they blur the lines of professional and personal life. WhatsApp is not for professional conversations, any company that does this does not care about professionalism, and it's a sign you should move out asap."

"Wait, your company uses WhatsApp for official communication? That’s not a workplace, that’s a glorified group chat with delusions of professionalism. BC, I work for a USA startup with three people, we communicate through Slack and Google Workspace," One more user questioned about professionalism.