A 30-year-old woman in Thailand, an employee at an electronics factory, tragically passed away just a day after her request for sick leave was denied by her manager. The incident has raised concerns about work-life balance and employee welfare in the workplace.
May, who had been diagnosed with an inflamed large intestine, had previously taken sick leave from September 5 to September 9, supported by a medical certificate. After four days of hospitalisation, she returned home but continued to feel unwell and sought an additional two days of sick leave.
On September 12, May approached her manager to request another day off, citing a worsening of her condition. However, her manager required her to return to work and provide a new medical certificate, as she was deemed to have already exhausted her sick leave days. Fearing for her job security, May reported to work on September 13, only to collapse just 20 minutes into her shift, as reported by a friend.
Following her collapse, May was immediately rushed to the hospital where she underwent emergency surgery. Despite medical intervention, she succumbed the next day to necrotising enterocolitis.
In the wake of this tragedy, Delta Electronics Thailand issued a statement on September 17, expressing its profound sorrow over May's death. The company announced it would conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to her untimely passing, seeking to address the apparent shortcomings in workplace policies regarding employee health and leave protocols.
The incident comes following the outrage around the death of an EY employee in Pune in July. Anna, who had worked at EY's Pune office for just four months, passed away from a cardiac arrest this July.
Her mother, Anita Augustine, recently reached out to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani, expressing concerns about the "glorification" of overwork within the company.