Every one of us needs some time off. It’s actually not just a wish; it’s necessary. Whether it may be for a vacation to recharge after working hard, some celebrations that are important to attend or family emergencies. However, unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to receive due to companies being understaffed, bad time management or just some other reason that they might create.

Well, and it’s not such a rare thing that employees choose their family or their well-being instead of their work.

More info: Reddit 

Approving and then canceling days off – that’s one of the worst things that a manager can do

Image credits: Cytonn Photography (not the actual photo)

This woman is lost after getting denied 2 weeks off that were approved for her mom’s funeral

Image credits: vanluvsyou

Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)

She shares that she put in a request for paid 2 weeks off to the manager, stating in the email that she would be out of town, and they were approved

Image credits: vanluvsyou

Image credits: Leeloo Thefirst (not the actual photo)

Approximately a month later, the woman was called into the manager’s office and informed that her days off had been canceled due to the company being understaffed

Image credits: vanluvsyou

After an unsuccessful negotiation, she just said that she would go to the funeral and walked out of the office knowing that she would be laid off

A few days ago, one Reddit user shared her story to one of the communities, confused after her manager approved her days off that were meant for her mom’s funeral and cancelled them a month later. The post received a lot of attention, support, and discussions as in just 3 days it had more than 15K comments and 1.4K comments.

To begin with, OP shares that a week after her mom died, she put a request in the system for 2 weeks off. Additionally, in the email, she explained that she would be out of town for the funeral, and in the program, her requested days off were confirmed. Well, about one month later, she got called into the manager’s office just to be told that her weeks off were canceled due to them being understaffed.

This news, obviously, was shocking and despite the woman explaining that she needs these days off for her family, the manager kept repeating that she also needed to understand them. After a heated conversation, OP just told the manager that she is leaving for the funeral even if she will be fired. However, the author shares that she is lost as the job pays well compared to others.

Community members shared various suggestions on how to deal with this situation and discussed the insanity of the company’s idea that one’s mom’s funeral can be optional. “OP needs to send a very clear email stating that they are NOT leaving the job, are leaving for some previously approved PTO time, and will be returning on X date,” one user wrote. “Staffing issues are sure to get better by letting people go,” another added.

Image credits: Lisa Fotios (not the actual photo)

Bored Panda got in touch with Deb Falzoi, who is the founder of Dignity Together, End Workplace Abuse and host of the “Screw the Hierarchy” podcast. She kindly agreed to share her professional insights about what kind of approach HR can take in such a situation, advice for effective communications and employees who had their time off denied.

“HR can take a human-centered approach to all of its policies and practices,” she starts. Speaking about exactly this situation, it was not only the manager’s responsibility, not the employee’s, to ensure adequate staffing, but it also was a violation of trust to cancel their time off and add even more stress around the death of a parent.

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Moreover, she emphasizes that when managers fail employees, HR should have a clear reporting policy. Unfortunately, but too often, HR puts company liability over employee well- being and their work culture. “This priority leads to adding another layer of betrayal — betrayal from the employer — when employees already feel backstabbed by their managers.”

Now, Deb highlights that when it comes to personal and family issues, managers should put their employees and their well-being first. Employers should have clear and fair bereavement policies and when they have approved time off, they should uphold their decisions.

And finally, the founder shares that if an employee has a legitimate and pressing need for time off but the manager denies it without a strong business reason, and Deb notes that understaffing is not a strong business reason, the employee should consider if their manager deserves them. 

“If the employee feels dehumanized and unsupported more than built up and accomplished, the toxic work culture will likely chip away at their self-worth. My advice in these situations is to build up a safety net (another job, another source of income, recuperation time, starting a business, or another plan) to get in a situation where you can feel valued. Like any other relationship, feeling supported at work matters,” the expert states.

Folks online backed the woman up and shared different options to deal with the situation

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