Take this Redditor, for instance. When the woman lost her beloved grandmother, she was only granted three days of unpaid leave – so instead of complying, she went to a walk-in clinic and got a doctor’s note for a two-week leave. 

This woman went back to her hometown to say goodbye to her sick grandmother

When she passed away, her “religious” workplace only allowed 3 days of unpaid leave

“Religious workplace wouldn’t give me time off for my grandma’s death” – this internet user took to one of Reddit’s most popular communities to tell its members a tale of how she maliciously complied with her work’s demand and got a 2-week leave to grieve her late grandmother. The post managed to garner nearly 7K upvotes as well as 347 comments discussing the situation. 

Now, it’s no big secret that employment is somewhat of a gamble. I mean, you either get a company that puts the well-being of their subordinates first or one that couldn’t give a hoot about that stuff.

Either way, we are all required to take a leave of absence at some point or another – and it’s not always as easy as it perhaps should be.

Vacations, medical reasons, maternity/paternity leave, mental health, educational pursuits, religious observances, personal days, jury duty, childcare needs, emergency situations, or, like in today’s story, bereavement leave – life is an unpredictable thing, and each and every one of us hopes for the place where we spend the majority of our time to have our backs!

In an ideal world, you should be able to have clear and straightforward communication with your boss, which will let both parties reach an agreement that works; however, sadly, that’s not always the case.

If we were to speak about bereavement leave specifically, usually, there’s no limit, but organizations tend to grant around three to five days. It’s a no-brainer that this amount of time is not nearly enough for folks to grieve their loved ones – but if your boss is not a coldhearted tyrant, there shouldn’t be a problem in getting as much time off as you need.

In worst-case scenarios, you can always get unpaid leave covered by the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), which allows workers to take up to 12 weeks, or find a loophole and go to your walk-in clinic and get a sick note – however, again, why should you have to?

So she went to a walk-in clinic and got a sick note for 2 weeks from her doctor

The author of today’s post, u/Sea_Somewhere2297, knowing that her grandmother’s health was declining, informed her workplace beforehand and said that soon she might need some time off to go and say her goodbyes. The woman got a phone call just a couple of weeks later and headed to her hometown, where her grandmother passed away shortly thereafter.

Needless to say, the Redditor took it very hard – however, she was only granted three unpaid days and was told that she must return immediately after. The OP was taken aback by such a request as she works at a childcare company that is said to value religion and family, but instead of wasting her time, she decided to maliciously comply and head to a walk-in clinic to get a note from a doctor. 

The doc in question was also puzzled, and instead of giving the woman a week off, wrote her a note for a 2-week leave. 

What do you think about this story, Pandas? Have you ever had to deal with a similar situation? 

Fellow online community members shared their thoughts and opinions on the situation