Viral Video: Karnataka Bank Manager Locks Employees Inside Office To Demand Work After Hours

A workplace harassment incident in Karnataka Grameen Bank was caught on camera and is doing the rounds on social media. A viral video shows a bank manager locking a junior employee in an office in Hassan to demand overtime after hours.

The incident reportedly took place at the Arkalgud branch in Hassan district on July 18, where a senior employee was seen expressly locking his subordinates inside the branch after working hours to make them stay back and complete other work, Kanal reported. In the video, a junior employee can be seen protesting and asking for permission to leave after the shift was extended by an hour from the prescribed 5pm to 6pm.

“Nahi jana hai toh nahi jana hai” (“If you are not allowed to leave, then you will not leave”), the bank manager can be heard saying, before declaring that “overtime is compulsory”.

A Customer Service Associate (CSA) campaigning against workplace harassment cited the employment contract and the timing underlined in it, emphasizing that he had completed the work assigned. Unperturbed, the manager closes the gate and locks him inside while filming the depressing behavior. This wanton mistreatment points to a surge in toxic pressures in the workplace that directly violates RBI’s employee protection policies.

The ČSA employee then asks the reason for being locked in with the other employees in the office, to which the manager refuses to answer. This wanton mistreatment highlights the spike in toxic banking work culture and workplace pressure, which is in direct violation of RBI’s employee protection policies. The incident brings attention to treatments such as forced labor and how the stressful work environment forces seniors to blithely inflict crushing targets on subordinates.

Reaction on social networks

One user wrote: “Working in banks is a nightmare these days, especially if you are an officer…. You will be assigned to sell crap insurance schemes, if you fail you will be humiliated, threatened with transfer. Holidays are much less. Your life will be ruined in SBI.”

Another user commented: “People like him are why life is hell for bankers. If you want to lick management’s boots that’s fine but don’t force everyone else to be like you.”

A third user said: “India is a so-called independent country. Indians have just become independent.”

A fourth comment read: “A manager certainly cannot lock up an employee as a prisoner. This is an illegal and criminal act. What the manager should do is ask the RBO that he needs more staff.”

A fifth user said: “Resign as soon as possible and find another job.

A sixth user said: “This is what happens when there are too many targets and not enough staff. Because in banking the work never ends. But treating your own staff this way is not justified.”