According to an employee, an Indian manufacturing company forbids employees from using the Open To Work badge or like LinkedIn articles.

Another day comes another angry Reddit user’s tirade about how businesses are monitoring and attempting to regulate employee behavior, even after hours. In the most recent anonymous post on r/IndianWorkplace, an employee alleges that an Indian manufacturing company has gone so far as to forbid employees from using the “Open to Work” badge or like LinkedIn articles.

According to the employee, their manufacturing/plant-based company has recently asked workers not to like or comment on posts from any other companies on LinkedIn. “Not competitors, not clients, not even a basic ‘congrats’,” the Reddit user wrote. “They have also said we shouldn’t use the ‘Open to Work’ badge. Reason given: professionalism and company image. LinkedIn isn’t internal company property, and this is outside office hours.”

The message resonated with hundreds of Reddit users, many of whom started criticizing the company for invading employees’ personal space, even though the company has not been named and the charges are yet unconfirmed. In reality, employees have already criticized what they regard as unfair workplace practices on social media. Reddit has been inundated with posts over the past year from workers claiming that their workplace culture changed as soon as they indicated they could be considering other positions.

One such story, titled “Height of targeting by boss because I opened myself for work on LinkedIn,” was posted on r/IndianWorkplace a few weeks ago. The employee claimed that after seeing the “Open to Work” tag on their profile, their boss started closely monitoring their work and questioning their commitment. What was supposed to be a low-key career transition swiftly became a tense work environment.

The employee said in the post that their foreign CEO had downsized the company from 50 people to only seven after restructuring it twice in 13 months. The individual chose to keep their employment options open and update their LinkedIn status after surviving both rounds, only to experience what they described as an odd consequence.

“Now he targets me,” the employee said, adding: “Says I don’t work a dedicated nine hours just because I come by clock and leave by clock. My salary is credited two days after everyone else’s. My work is now scrutinised under a magnifying glass.”