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I work in India in a healthcare organisation. I work for business development. I am on a 1 month notice period and have cleared my intentions of handing over my work with no loss to the organization.

Even after providing a commitment, my boss is intentionally picking on me and expecting me to wait in front of him without stating his expectations clearly. He states that you are last on priority, and therefore, you have to wait for your solution, i.e a pending task for which I need his clearance.

I am expecting to be free at the earliest with no harm done to a personal and professional cultivated relationship with him, but I am receiving nothing more than disrespect.

What should I be doing in such a situation?

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    You should note that the title and the body of your question ask two different things. Do you want to know your boss' (possible) reasons and motivations, or do you want to know what you should do under those circumstances?
    – GuilleOjeda
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 20:45
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    Can you just clarify: Is he keeping you waiting for his clearance to perform a task that he has assigned to you? In other words, why can you not just tell him, "I can't do the task until you give me the clearance. Call me when you are ready", then head off for a cup of coffee or something? I don't understand because it sounds to me like he is holding up work that he wants done! If it's another boss that wants you to do the task, you could just tell the other boss that this boss is holding things up.
    – komodosp
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 9:21
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    “I am on a 1 month notice period…” So you plan on leaving? Sounds like your boss is engaging in retaliatory behavior in light of your desire to leave. If after this notice period ends you will no longer work for this boss, correct? Then honestly who cares. Do your work as professionally as possible and just leave.
    – Giacomo1968
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 14:13
  • Why don't you ask him? Next time after he has let you wait tell him that you find it disrespectful and lacking basic interpersonal skills. Ask him what reason he has to treat you with disrespect. See what he says.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 14:40
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    What this is stating and asking is very hard to decipher.
    – bubbleking
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 15:15

4 Answers 4

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Since you're leaving the company, your boss takes the view that he doesn't care about you, and that he has no reason to try to maintain a decent working relationship. Maybe he feels that by leaving you're being "disloyal" or you've "betrayed" him. Maybe he's just an arsehole, and now he has an excuse to take it out on you.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter why he's acting like that. You've still got various options:

  • Complain to HR/senior management (although they're unlikely to do much about it).
  • Walk away and don't serve the rest of your notice period (although this may have negative consequences depending on your contract).
  • Minimise your contact with him, and do the bare minimum required by your contract. If work thing don't get done because you were waiting on his approval, that's not really your problem.
  • Put up with it for the rest of the month, and then go and enjoy your new job.

You're unlikely to be able to change his behaviour towards you, so it really depends how much you're willing to put up with it, and what the consequences are for not doing so. But from the sound of it you're not going to be getting a positive reference anyway - and if they've already burned the bridge then you've got a lot less to lose.

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    The second "maybe" is not a "maybe".
    – gnasher729
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 15:50
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    Since this is India there is one very important thing the boss still has that can make things worse for them: The relieving letter: workplace.stackexchange.com/q/20945/50529 the boss could intentionally delay/stall giving the letter preventing them from starting their new job.
    – Anketam
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 19:37
  • I would only add the it may be really helpful to confirm the problem is pending by texting/sending official email to your boss depending on your preferable communication methods. So you would have a written and documented proof it's your manager's fault that the task is pending and you've done all required from you to solve the issue
    – fixerlt
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 4:39
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Firstly, this is completely in relation to your ego and has no consequence after you've served your period. Which is not neccesarily a bad thing, after all, anything we feel (like a bruised ego) is essential a call to action.

Here's the thing. Your boss is proposing a game. The game goes like this - he behaves like an ass, you get miserable, he wins. Or some version of this. Maybe you do complain, whatever. But why play his game?

You get to change the game. You can choose whether to smile at him and ask how his day has been, just to see how it rattles him. You can choose to even put on a serious face and ask him for career advice. The point is to not acknowledge the context of the game he is proposing. This is an important social skill a lot of people learn at school. It goes a long way in establishing that you are not to be taken for granted.

Edit: I feel there may be a misunderstanding that I am preaching kindness. I'm not. I'm saying that one need not be subservient to the game put forth by OP's boss - which is what OP is doing by contemplating a reaction in line with the boss' behaviour. That a different, and a suitable game in this context happens to be "smile and have a bit of fun" is coincidental.

OP could, for example, be asking for career advice just to take the p*ss or to see the look on the boss' face. That would be equally valid in my opinion.

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  • Right. That philosophy is called "Kill your opponent or enemy with a smile and kindness". :-)
    – Job_September_2020
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 22:26
  • @Job_September_2020 right, in this instance, it has the same outcome as that. But the spirit is wildly different. The more you try to calibrate your reaction to your boss' move, the more subservient you are to the rules made by them.
    – Arshdeep
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 23:43
  • Yeah, the boss is playing a game to take out his frustrations. Refusing to play the game is the best thing the OP can do for himself. Since, at this point, it's pretty obvious that he'll get zero future help (in terms of a good recommendation) from the boss, there's no point in trying to repair the relationship, just don't intentionally make it worse. Keep up good relations with coworkers as much as possible - here in the States at least, references from coworkers are valuable, too. Five good coworker references might offset 1 badmouthing boss reference...
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 12:52
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    I'd think another variant on this would be to bring something else to do while waiting. If the boss is going to make you stand there waiting for him, instead of playing his game and getting angry just pull out a phone and go surf the web. If this upsets him, just reply that you're working on project X, which currently involves waiting for his answer, so you're waiting.
    – Bobson
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 15:50
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Your boss is deliberately disrespecting you and you have no power to change this.

If he wants to pay you to stand and wait then just make sure you're getting paid for it.

Your boss has chosen to retaliate against your departure in hopes preventing others from leaving. Unfortunately, I have no idea if this his consistent behavior or if he decided that you'd be the first victim. Yes, your boss is being a childish a$$hole.

I am not familiar with the details of common work contracts in India but based on the terrible things I read on this website I would say that you just have to deal with it.

Serve your notice, collect your money, and say good riddance as you start a new job.

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What should I be doing in such a situation?

Ignore him, you already have one foot out the door.

no harm done to a personal & professional cultivated relationship with him

This is just something you think your relationship is about, obviously not your boss, he's invested time being nice and in return you're out the door. Don't expect him to think positively about that.

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    I don't see where he said he was only there for a month - just that he has a 1 month notice period.
    – user83977
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 17:38
  • @iDriveSidewayz true that, I'll edit the answer
    – Kilisi
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 21:17
  • "[H]e's invested time being nice and in return you're out the door. Don't expect him to think positively about that." A good manager will never hold anything against an employee for moving on to a better opportunity. One may not be able to expect a manager to think positively about leaving the company, but one has every right to, and should, expect common respect in the workplace at all times.
    – TCooper
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 21:25
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    This answer is called "bootlicking"
    – iono
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 8:40
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    @Kilisi If it had to do with the question I would've written an answer, it's a critique of your answer to the question. I'd suggest that OP doesn't expect disrespect from anyone at anytime. Ignoring it sure, but the idea it's their fault and they should expect it from their manager for leaving is silly.
    – TCooper
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 16:21

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