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“Let Me Bury My Child First And I’ll Get Back To You”: 30 Of The Worst Times Shameless Bosses Refused Day-Off Requests
The US is not only lagging behind other countries that enjoy 4-6+ weeks of vacation annually, it doesn't legally require employers to provide paid time off. In fact, there is no obligation for your employer to give paid or unpaid leave unless it’s specified in a collective bargaining agreement or employment contract that requires it.
In addition to a few exceptions and a handful of states that give paid sick time to workers, if an employee requests time off that’s mandated by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or any other labor law, the time off must be given. That said, the FMLA only requires unpaid leave. As you can see, the PTO situation in America is definitely not on the side of the worker.
And recently, Twitter user @PostOpPrincess, who works as a surgical/trauma registered nurse, shared a post: “Guess whose request off work got denied for their own wedding. PTO BABY, prepare the others, I ain't gone be there.” The post went viral, amassing 11.4K retweets and 245.7K likes, making more people share their stories of being denied paid time off at work. And it’s infuriating, to say the least.
Image credits: PostOpPrincess
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#3
Gummy_wormz 3 years ago
This is so sad and shitty. I really hope someone there felt at least a little remorse after that heartlessness.
According to a study from Center for Economic and Policy Research, the European Union requires member countries to grant workers at least 20 working days of paid vacation. But many nations go well above that number, and some offer a heap of paid holidays, to boot. France, for example, requires at least 30 paid workdays off, not including paid holidays, while the U.K. mandates 28, followed by Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain and Sweden at 25.
In America, the situation is different, to say the least. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or federal or other holidays. These benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee.
#4
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
The DA could have also prosecuted the employer for obstruction of justice.
#5
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
And her boss probably didn't see a problem in how she treated you.
Moreover, it’s no secret that in many American workplaces, especially the competitive ones, employees who take leave fear being treated badly or losing out on future opportunities. A 2018 study showed one of the biggest reasons US workers didn’t take time off was fear of being seen as replaceable. The US travel association backed up the fact by finding that 28% of people didn't take vacation days in 2014 purely to demonstrate dedication to their job and not be seen as a “slacker”. It’s apparent that the stigma around the idea of not working is very much alive.
#7
#8
Kines Tezja 3 years ago
It's awful as it is, but it would be still evil if it was about her distant relative. Who cares if it's cousin, aunt or her neighbour? If they are important to her, they are important to her, it's a dying person goddammit!
Bosses and employers also put pressure on employees' shoulders by expecting them to work hard to demonstrate their excellent performance, earn themselves a badge of honor and possibly get a raise. This becomes especially problematic in workplaces with toxic tendencies where management is particularly controlling.
To find out more about dealing with a micromanaging boss, we spoke with Dawn Moss, the founder of “Your Interview Coach” who has been helping both candidates and hiring managers through the recruitment and selection process since 2013. “It all comes back to trust and communication between the manager and employee,” Dawn noted. “Firstly, it’s best not to use the term micromanaged during those initial conversations with your manager because it often has negative connotations,” she suggested. “However, you need to start the dialogue about expectations and quality standards of work.”
#10
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Nobody is going to keep me away from an important event. I'll attend that wedding or funeral. There isn't a job that's more important than your private life.
Dawn’s advice is to be prepared, organized and proactive. “Think ahead and be prepared to provide those detailed updates to reassure your manager that they can be confident you are in control and know what’s going on. Let them know ahead of time if a deadline is unrealistic, or a target is unlikely to be met. Let them know about issues before they find out about them from someone else.”
Moreover, according to Dawn, it’s always a good idea to reflect and analyze your own work ethic, patterns and styles. “Check that this hasn’t impacted on the trust between you and your manager. For example, the quality of your work, missing deadlines, turning up late, lack of communication, or updates, etc.”
#14
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
"Hey boss can I have the day off next Friday?" "Why?" "I'll have to attend the funeral of my boss who died from a horrible work related accident."
To build the trust between you as an employee and your manager, it’s important to “try to understand your manager's behavior and the potential pressures they may have (demands, deliverables, outputs, results, stakeholder and shareholder accountability, profitability etc.) and get to know them as a person, their characteristics, their values, simply their likes and dislikes,” Dawn explained.
#16
Ria De Gooijer 3 years ago
Let's be honest readers of BP: all these awful sad stories must be happening in the USA. This is not normal behaviour anywhere else in the world.
Moreover, “working together with your manager and reassuring them you want to produce high-quality results and meet their expectations and how best you can achieve this will take the pressure from them.” In turn, you feel more productive, self-sufficient, and independent.
Asking lots of questions about their expectations and concerns and how you can address or improve is also a way to deal with a micromanaging boss, Dawn says. She encourages everyone “to ask for feedback and regular 121s as this will help improve communication between the manager and the employee. It will help build confidence and trust.”
#19
#20
Felice Coles 3 years ago
God Almighty, the medical field is stretched to the breaking point. All these monstrous bosses.
#21
Felice Coles 3 years ago
"How about I move my dad's coffin into your office while I'm waiting for my time off?"
#22
Roadkill The Brave 3 years ago (edited)
I had a miscarriage and was trying to call out of work while driving home from the doctor on no pain meds because what they wanted to give me didn't work. I was told they were sorry but I had to come in, one of my other co-workers who was pregnant had called out due to her excessive morning sickness. There were only 3 of us in the back so I drove to work and worked through my entire miscarriage that week. I'm not upset with the other woman, she's still a friend to this day and I adore her daughter, I was pissed at one of my bosses for not going back there and helping out the one in the back because both of them knew how to do the job. Needless to say I was silent the entire week, in extreme pain, and a total emotional wreck. I will give them this much they left me alone and handled all customer interactions. That entire mess still haunts me.
#23
Eric Cestero 3 years ago
in some cases for organ transplant, if the patient had to be prepared with chemo (like in blood cancers), if you reschedule, the patient will probably die. I donated a liter of bone marrow and was told several times, you have until this date, after that date, if you go back on your promise to donate, the child will die. I obviously did the surgery to donate (it was not stem cells but the older collection style) and my boss wanted me back at work asap.
#24
#25
#28
Tony Berna 3 years ago
You can get an open FMLA exception for chronic migraines. Worked with a gal who suffered from them.
#33
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
One of my jobs wouldn't give me time off to go to my high school graduation. It meant a lot to me because I had become emancipated at 16 and had worked 3 jobs and still attended high school, got good grades and participated in community activities. I was VERY proud of myself, one of the few times I had ever felt that way in my life at the time. I told them they couldn't fire me if I quit and walked out. Attended my graduation and went to work right after (different job- they told me to come in whenever I could after the graduation to finish putting together a couple desks for the next morning and I could clock out whenever I was done).
#35
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
This sounds like the plot of a shojo manga. XD “I don’t think you should get married to him… because it is I who love you!!”
#37
Felice Coles 3 years ago
Just be aware that HR is never in favor of employees. They are paid by employers to look after company interests.
#39
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
A lot of bosses are bosses until they actually have to do their work. Than they want the employees to act like they are the boss and solve problems.
#43
#46
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Of course. I can't run a business if all of you want time off for emergencies and sick days and, God forbid, holidays. /S
#49
#51
Bexx 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 3 years ago (edited)
My coworker just booked a trip to a city 6 hours away to sell his trailer. His trailer sale didn’t work out but he was still in the city so he enjoyed his 2 day weekend there with his family. Middle management is currently furious that he didn’t return to work the instant his trailer sale didn’t work out even though he had already booked his 2 days off. They gave him so much s**t today. Can’t wait to see this one hit upper management.
#52
Felice Coles 3 years ago
"We all SHARE our burdens around here, la la la. Oh, except when it comes to events that we don't give a s**t about..."
#53
#54
Jo Johannsen 3 years ago
I don't think I understand this one. Did his union rep throw him under the bus?
#57
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
In Western European countries employers get fined if their employees don't get their vacation. No matter how inconvenient it is for the employer, the employees have a legal right to their 4 weeks of vacation.
#59
Darla Taylor 3 years ago
Nothing like nepotism in companies to make the workplace a hostile and toxic environment to work in, not to mention losing several talented individuals to other competing companies!
#60
Felice Coles 3 years ago
I swear to God, paid assassin is looking like a good job option now...
#67
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What do you think ?
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
All the in between comments and advice that Dawn Moss gives reflect how she thinks that it's the employees responsibility to keep their boss satisfied. According to her, employees should bend over backwards, kiss the bosses a**e and make sure they cater to their every whim, wish and expectation. It's people like her that brainwash people to believe that employees exist by the grace of bosses, while in reality bosses exist by the grace of their employees.
Carol Emory 3 years ago
She fails to also mention the turn around rate these bosses experience because of people being pushed too far. It also costs a lot more money to hire replacements than it would in lost revenue to let the employees have the time off. People that are used and abused get fed up eventually and will do what they have to in order to protect themselves. I remember one business expert that told a boss to his face "If you have high turn around and have a problem retaining employees, you're the problem, not them."
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Random Panda 3 years ago (edited)
The majority of these would be illegal where I'm from, you can't be denied PTO for your wedding, a death in the family, a medical issue or any time off that was requested a month in advance. I have no idea how people can live like this, it's inhumane.
Dekker451 3 years ago
Sometimes we don't. Live, that is. Or at least in many cases it's a lot harder to than it should be.
Load More Replies...
John L 3 years ago
It's a sad state of affairs, the workers here are treated like serfs. And I don't think it's too much of an assumption that most of these are in the US.
A Parker 3 years ago
... actually, medieval serfs got more time off than we do in the US :/
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
All the in between comments and advice that Dawn Moss gives reflect how she thinks that it's the employees responsibility to keep their boss satisfied. According to her, employees should bend over backwards, kiss the bosses a**e and make sure they cater to their every whim, wish and expectation. It's people like her that brainwash people to believe that employees exist by the grace of bosses, while in reality bosses exist by the grace of their employees.
Carol Emory 3 years ago
She fails to also mention the turn around rate these bosses experience because of people being pushed too far. It also costs a lot more money to hire replacements than it would in lost revenue to let the employees have the time off. People that are used and abused get fed up eventually and will do what they have to in order to protect themselves. I remember one business expert that told a boss to his face "If you have high turn around and have a problem retaining employees, you're the problem, not them."
Load More Replies... Random Panda 3 years ago (edited)
The majority of these would be illegal where I'm from, you can't be denied PTO for your wedding, a death in the family, a medical issue or any time off that was requested a month in advance. I have no idea how people can live like this, it's inhumane.
Dekker451 3 years ago
Sometimes we don't. Live, that is. Or at least in many cases it's a lot harder to than it should be.
Load More Replies... John L 3 years ago
It's a sad state of affairs, the workers here are treated like serfs. And I don't think it's too much of an assumption that most of these are in the US.
A Parker 3 years ago
... actually, medieval serfs got more time off than we do in the US :/
Load More Replies...
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