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Employee Gets Refused 3 Weeks’ Time Off For Honeymoon, Cues Malicious Compliance That Gets His Manager Into Trouble
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Employee Gets Refused 3 Weeks’ Time Off For Honeymoon, Cues Malicious Compliance That Gets His Manager Into Trouble

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A lot of people understand that maintaining a healthy balance between private life and work is quite challenging. It’s nice if the workplace is the kind that understands this and provides people with the possibility to take some time off when needed. It is known that a happy and rested employee is more productive and brings better results to the workplace. However, this scenario is not always the case, or at least that’s what happened to Reddit user @WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch, who decided to share how his boss made an impact on him leaving the company to enjoy his time with his wife, showing that prioritizing one’s work is rarely an option when wanting to maintain a healthy life balance.

Source: Reddit

Asking for some vacation time from your workplace shouldn’t be such a hassle when you know that you earned it

Image credits: Greger Ravik (not the actual photo)

The narrator started his story by telling that his boss very often neglected his work duties and didn’t reply to emails, which resulted in him missing out on important meetings. The boss very often was not around because he played golf with his clients. Because of how unreachable the boss was, other employees would then contact the narrator so he could help them out. The man also shared that before getting married, he requested three weeks off as he was planning to go on a honeymoon. The boss knew about this as he was also aware of the engagement and the fact that the employee asked the time off 2 months in advance.

This Reddit user decided to share his experience of asking his negligent boss for a 3-week honeymoon vacation

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Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

The man knew that contacting his boss was kind of a challenge as he usually would ignore his messages, emails, and various reminders

Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

However, soon, the employee received an email stating that his vacation request was denied. This led him to immediately contacting his boss, trying to find out what happened. After a week of trying to contact him, the boss told the employee that if he thought that he could allow himself to take that much time off, then he should re-think his “position” in the company. This is when the narrator decided to quit the job and informed his boss about his decision.

Having in mind how important it was for the employee to get 3 weeks of vacation, he asked for this 2 months in advance

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Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

Soon he found out that his request was denied and the boss wasn’t ready to budge on the matter

Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

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The man was serious about his decision: when he wrote the resignation letter, he also added responsible people from HR, asking them to prepare a transition plan so that the remaining employees would know what to do once he was gone. As time passed, the boss didn’t seem to take the initiative and make sure that the company would be prepared for the employee to be gone.

The situation escalated to a point where the employee decided to leave the company and informed everyone about this

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Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

After four weeks, the now-ex-employee received a call from his boss asking when he’d show up. The man explained that he had left the company and that it wasn’t his fault that the boss didn’t read all of the emails and didn’t find time to catch up on updates happening the workplace. The ex-employee then continued by blocking the manager’s phone and informing HR about the incoming calls from the manager.

Turns out, the boss didn’t know and wasn’t prepared for his employee’s resignation

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Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

The narrator later revealed that his ex-boss was later fired for his poor performance

Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

The original poster then continued by revealing what happened to his former boss. Apparently, his lack of hard work and negligence caught up with him as he no longer had someone who would do his work for him. It also turned out that he wasn’t playing golf with clients, well, at least not with the clients, so this ended with him losing his job and severance pay. The ex-employee, on the other hand, was able to find a better workplace with higher pay. The man shared that this story happened back in the 2000s, and he is still happily married to his wife, proving that it was the right decision for him to choose his personal life over the toxic workplace.

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The man was glad that after taking the risk to leave the work, he was able to find a better position with a higher pay and better management

Image credits: WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch

People online were happy to hear that in this case, the boss got what he deserved and that his lies and carelessness were caught. A lot of them were discussing the problem of people very often not being able to get any time off, making them to go to such extremes as to either choose to go without a vacation or leave the workplace all together. What do you think about this situation? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments down below!

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People online were glad to see how this story turned out and started a discussion on an old problem of employees having to choose between their family and work

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Konstancija Gasaitytė

Konstancija Gasaitytė

Author, Community member

Read more »

Konstancija is a Content Creator at Bored Panda. She has a bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting and a master’s degree in Future Media and Journalism. She is very interested in sustainable fashion and is a perfect companion to go to second-hand shops and antiques for nearly anything: clothes, books or furniture. Her interests also include photography, literature and hiking.

Read less »
Konstancija Gasaitytė

Konstancija Gasaitytė

Author, Community member

Konstancija is a Content Creator at Bored Panda. She has a bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting and a master’s degree in Future Media and Journalism. She is very interested in sustainable fashion and is a perfect companion to go to second-hand shops and antiques for nearly anything: clothes, books or furniture. Her interests also include photography, literature and hiking.

Saulė Tolstych

Saulė Tolstych

Author, Community member

Read more »

Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

Read less »

Saulė Tolstych

Saulė Tolstych

Author, Community member

Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

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Monkey Spunk
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once worked with an account director/salesman who was creepy as hell, no one liked him. Was hardly ever in the office, always at client meetings. One day the sales director was on the phone to a client and they asked about something and she said "oh just ask Geoff, he knows about that". "Can you put me through to him then?" "What do you mean, he's in your offices today discussing X". "He's not." There's was a very large investigation after that, turns out he only actually worked about 2 days a week, the rest of the time he was "in meetings". Never saw him again.

John Baker
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I confess, I don't get this. What is it with managers denying employees vacation time that they've legitimately earned? If this guy had five weeks accumulated, he should have been allowed to take it all with no questions asked.

Dodo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think it's the 3 weeks at once thing. Imo he should definitely be allowed to take it but I'm sure I've read some places have issues with it. They'd rather you take a week at a time.

Load More Replies...
Hamster
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think my last three bosses have ignored my vacation requests and then, of course, emailed or called while I was on vacation. I think in their case it was overwork and inattention, not off golfing somewhere, but it feels pretty common.

Ryan Badgley
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

First job. Had a boss whos mom was also backoffice and on the know the owner entitlement. Was ushered in as a front end manager. Wouldnt do squat to help or cover the front end. Played favorites. Had two kids my age who were brought on without ever working weekends. Should of never been hired. Worked every weekend. Then when i requested one weekend off well before the other two. Was denied. Given the excuse we have no one to work like they never had time to hire on anyone else or just manage from the office. Needless to say i quit that day and threw my key tag right at him. The grocery manager was fuming cause he had no one to do the sign on sunday anymore and was upset cause i did my job well up front. He wished he was there to see it happen cause he disliked him too. In the end though the front end manager was caught a year later stealing lottery and money cause he was a gambling addict. Apparently he was doing it for a while.

Paul Davis
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It always really baffles me how managers get away with completely corrupt and incompetent behavior -- and the people above them never find out until something extreme happens. I guess everyone in management at that company probably spends all their time "playing golf" instead of doing their jobs.

Chich
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've encountered this a few times. A supervisor passes off a lot of their work to subordinates, treats them badly, subordinate leaves, the supervisor's incompetence comes out. Would be a simple thing to figure out, no?

SuAlfons
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In many countries you are advised to take your 21 - 30+ holidays in a manner so taht you have 2, better 3 weeks of consecutive holidays. There have been findings that you only start to recover after more than a week off your job. Relaxed people return full of energy.... Since we all work as a team, why can't some people miss at times?

Jacob B.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Heh...My wife and I took a dream trip to Paris, France and Italy. I took a month off since I have so much seniority and have two months of PTO. During one meeting on a project with my manager, someone from a different dept. said "knowing you, I should see this done soon?". I responded, "actually no, I will be in Europe for a month". He laughed and looked at my manager and said, why did you let this happen? He responded "I didn't, he just flat out told me he was taking the month off to be in Europe, so I figured I had no choice". Bunch of laughs follows afterwards and everyone says enjoy your time and we can wait on a later date.

Viviane
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The lazy-ass dumb s**t boss had a lot of faith in his ability to intimidate people. Years back, I asked my boss for three weeks off for a long-distance trip, he dutifully told me it was an unorthodox request (vacations were two weeks); I offered to do the missing extra week in overtime and he approved my vacation time. He was one of my favourite bosses.

Load More Replies...
Warren P Harris
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Back in 1992, I (and 149 other people) applied for a tech support position at Symantec in Northern California. There were 2 job openings that 150 of us applied for. I was hired, and during my intake meeting I let them know that shortly after my start date I would need 2 weeks off for my honeymoon. They were fine with that. I have to say that created a lot of good will. I was with them for almost 3 years with a nice advancement into a new division about a year later.

Toothless Feline
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is one of the reasons people need to stand up to bs bosses. It frequently leads to them getting called on their crap by higher-ups, which at least can make things better for your former coworkers.

CanadianPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm happy to hear of the great outcome. The old manager needs to go back to get more training in management skills, maybe he'll stop being an idiot then and start appreciating his direct reports as human beings rather than just working bees.

Mina
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

I'm both for and against...I totally get that working for a non-responsive manager is a huge issue and should absolutely be dealt with, regardless of the denied vacation request. It seems there were issues there that should have been reported to HR so they could handle with the manager. Now. Asking for three consecutive weeks off... I get it that you accumulate however much time, but again, regardless of the less-than-competent manager, taking that much time off at once can put teammates in a crunch. When it's sick leave, that's different. But just because you get 5 weeks off per year doesn't mean you should take them all at once. At least I would try to be considerate of my colleagues and take two weeks off a couple of different times during the year and it would leave me one week to take a day off here and there as well. I'd hate to be the one to pick up for a colleague for three weeks while they are off. Perhaps this person's company had no rules for how the time off could be taken.

Jo Choto
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Call me old-fashioned, but since when does someone take A WHOLE MONTH off for a wedding and honeymoon (one of the commenters). It's not reasonable. Like, who lives like that, honestly? I thought three weeks was pretty crazy. Me, I took the afternoon off work, had a small party in the evening and went back to work the next day. That's the other extreme. I think there's a reasonable time period somewhere in the middle!

Yort
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

3 weeks off for a honeymoon?? Mr. Lush over here.

Monkey Spunk
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once worked with an account director/salesman who was creepy as hell, no one liked him. Was hardly ever in the office, always at client meetings. One day the sales director was on the phone to a client and they asked about something and she said "oh just ask Geoff, he knows about that". "Can you put me through to him then?" "What do you mean, he's in your offices today discussing X". "He's not." There's was a very large investigation after that, turns out he only actually worked about 2 days a week, the rest of the time he was "in meetings". Never saw him again.

John Baker
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I confess, I don't get this. What is it with managers denying employees vacation time that they've legitimately earned? If this guy had five weeks accumulated, he should have been allowed to take it all with no questions asked.

Dodo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think it's the 3 weeks at once thing. Imo he should definitely be allowed to take it but I'm sure I've read some places have issues with it. They'd rather you take a week at a time.

Load More Replies...
Hamster
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think my last three bosses have ignored my vacation requests and then, of course, emailed or called while I was on vacation. I think in their case it was overwork and inattention, not off golfing somewhere, but it feels pretty common.

Ryan Badgley
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

First job. Had a boss whos mom was also backoffice and on the know the owner entitlement. Was ushered in as a front end manager. Wouldnt do squat to help or cover the front end. Played favorites. Had two kids my age who were brought on without ever working weekends. Should of never been hired. Worked every weekend. Then when i requested one weekend off well before the other two. Was denied. Given the excuse we have no one to work like they never had time to hire on anyone else or just manage from the office. Needless to say i quit that day and threw my key tag right at him. The grocery manager was fuming cause he had no one to do the sign on sunday anymore and was upset cause i did my job well up front. He wished he was there to see it happen cause he disliked him too. In the end though the front end manager was caught a year later stealing lottery and money cause he was a gambling addict. Apparently he was doing it for a while.

Paul Davis
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It always really baffles me how managers get away with completely corrupt and incompetent behavior -- and the people above them never find out until something extreme happens. I guess everyone in management at that company probably spends all their time "playing golf" instead of doing their jobs.

Chich
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've encountered this a few times. A supervisor passes off a lot of their work to subordinates, treats them badly, subordinate leaves, the supervisor's incompetence comes out. Would be a simple thing to figure out, no?

SuAlfons
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In many countries you are advised to take your 21 - 30+ holidays in a manner so taht you have 2, better 3 weeks of consecutive holidays. There have been findings that you only start to recover after more than a week off your job. Relaxed people return full of energy.... Since we all work as a team, why can't some people miss at times?

Jacob B.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Heh...My wife and I took a dream trip to Paris, France and Italy. I took a month off since I have so much seniority and have two months of PTO. During one meeting on a project with my manager, someone from a different dept. said "knowing you, I should see this done soon?". I responded, "actually no, I will be in Europe for a month". He laughed and looked at my manager and said, why did you let this happen? He responded "I didn't, he just flat out told me he was taking the month off to be in Europe, so I figured I had no choice". Bunch of laughs follows afterwards and everyone says enjoy your time and we can wait on a later date.

Viviane
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The lazy-ass dumb s**t boss had a lot of faith in his ability to intimidate people. Years back, I asked my boss for three weeks off for a long-distance trip, he dutifully told me it was an unorthodox request (vacations were two weeks); I offered to do the missing extra week in overtime and he approved my vacation time. He was one of my favourite bosses.

Load More Replies...
Warren P Harris
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Back in 1992, I (and 149 other people) applied for a tech support position at Symantec in Northern California. There were 2 job openings that 150 of us applied for. I was hired, and during my intake meeting I let them know that shortly after my start date I would need 2 weeks off for my honeymoon. They were fine with that. I have to say that created a lot of good will. I was with them for almost 3 years with a nice advancement into a new division about a year later.

Toothless Feline
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is one of the reasons people need to stand up to bs bosses. It frequently leads to them getting called on their crap by higher-ups, which at least can make things better for your former coworkers.

CanadianPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm happy to hear of the great outcome. The old manager needs to go back to get more training in management skills, maybe he'll stop being an idiot then and start appreciating his direct reports as human beings rather than just working bees.

Mina
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

I'm both for and against...I totally get that working for a non-responsive manager is a huge issue and should absolutely be dealt with, regardless of the denied vacation request. It seems there were issues there that should have been reported to HR so they could handle with the manager. Now. Asking for three consecutive weeks off... I get it that you accumulate however much time, but again, regardless of the less-than-competent manager, taking that much time off at once can put teammates in a crunch. When it's sick leave, that's different. But just because you get 5 weeks off per year doesn't mean you should take them all at once. At least I would try to be considerate of my colleagues and take two weeks off a couple of different times during the year and it would leave me one week to take a day off here and there as well. I'd hate to be the one to pick up for a colleague for three weeks while they are off. Perhaps this person's company had no rules for how the time off could be taken.

Jo Choto
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Call me old-fashioned, but since when does someone take A WHOLE MONTH off for a wedding and honeymoon (one of the commenters). It's not reasonable. Like, who lives like that, honestly? I thought three weeks was pretty crazy. Me, I took the afternoon off work, had a small party in the evening and went back to work the next day. That's the other extreme. I think there's a reasonable time period somewhere in the middle!

Yort
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

3 weeks off for a honeymoon?? Mr. Lush over here.

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