‘I got coerced into typing out my resignation letter’ — Office worker says, ‘One of them even tried to manipulate my time sheet’

SINGAPORE: An office worker who recently left a toxic workplace says the relief of finally resigning was immediate, but the emotional fallout came weeks later. “The immediate feeling was like being liberated,” he wrote. “Yet after a few weeks, I found myself dwelling on the past and cursing my former bosses for what they put me through.”

The experience, posted on Reddit’s r/askSingapore community forum, details a two-year stint under new management that he says slowly unravelled his mental health, ending with what he described as being coerced into resigning on the spot.

“5 colleagues resigned. Even the intern asked for a transfer…”

The worker explained that he initially joined the non-profit organisation as an intern and later returned as a full-time employee after graduation. The reason was: “My first boss was awesome,” he said.

That changed when he came back to find two new managers in charge, whom he described as “decade-long buddies from their previous companies,” with his former boss no longer around.

Over the next two years, the environment deteriorated rapidly. “In the 2 years I worked under them, 5 colleagues resigned. Even the intern asked for a transfer,” he added, before revealing that the management had also asked him to leave, but personal circumstances meant he could not do so at the time.

“I had to seek help from a psychotherapist and be put on antidepressants…”

What followed was a prolonged period of pressure that eventually took a toll on his mental health. “I was at the end of my road, and had to seek help from a psychotherapist and be put on antidepressants,” he explained.

A request for an internal transfer was also rejected. Instead, he said he was “gaslighted into staying,” as management was “scrambling to hire a replacement from the previous resignation.”

Although there was a brief pause in the behaviour, it did not last. “There was a period of time when the gaslighting stopped, then it got back to the same as before,” he explained further.

“I got coerced into typing out my resignation letter…”

When he finally decided to resign, the process itself became another point of contention. He said he was “coerced into typing out my resignation letter, signing it and submitting it immediately.”

The reason given was that management was “very busy next month,” and he was told that he was “not a team player.”

In addition, he alleged that he had “over 200 hours of time off,” and claimed that “one of them tried to manipulate my time sheet to get me to work on my day off.” However, he managed to confront them before it went further.

The manager “didn’t even turn up for my handover…”

The final interaction left a lasting impression. “The last thing I remembered him (the manager) saying was that I had a ‘terrible attitude’ and a door slam due to a misunderstanding that I was being rude to his buddy,” he wrote. According to the post, the manager “Didn’t even turn up for my handover.”

Despite everything, the worker said the hardest part was leaving behind the work itself, not the organisation’s leadership.

“Ironically, the managers had no humility towards their own staff…”

“It’s heartbreaking because I truly loved my cause and working with the volunteers who were the best part of my life, and to leave on such a bad note,” he added. “Ironically, the managers had no humility towards their own staff.”

The post connected with readers, many of whom saw it as a familiar example of how poor management practices can undermine even mission-driven organisations.

While the worker has since moved on, his account highlights how coercive resignations, time sheet manipulation, and prolonged gaslighting can leave lasting scars long after an employee walks out the door.

Read related: ‘You should leave!’ — SG fresh grad gets a shocking email from her boss within 30 minutes after she recommended how the ‘company could run more efficiently’