Time Off Requests Get Ignored or Punished
Employees consistently experience unpredictable and often punitive responses when requesting time off, whether for vacation, bereavement, or sick leave. This stems from a lack of transparency, arbitrary approval processes, and a feeling of powerlessness against employer decisions, leading to stress and fear of job security. The complaints highlight a disconnect between policy and practice.
SOURCES (60)
“i need an excuse to get off of work from 10/30-11/1 which is just three days. problem is i just started this job on the 30th it will make it 2 months and 6 days i would have been working there. i don’t want to…”
“PGL denied saying this time should be reserved for pp with kids to take advantage of winter break. I’m the 2nd person in my 20 odd person PG to request leave during winter break (so it’s not because I requested late-I requested in July). 2nd yr associate if that matters submitted by /u/BillOrBustEsq [link] [comments]”
“It sounds like they've already decided to fire you - they just are going through these exercised to cover their ass”
“if i worked with you id never see you. i never work mon or tues. so am i required to come in on days off for education? i feel like you are dodging that question. plus anyone else who doesnt work those two days has no access to a nurse educator. thats why they want you to vary your shifts. if it doesnt work for you get another job. \._./”
Ya like we have a three day close and want to move to a one day close
“Use FMLA benefit- take a short term disability leave and get paid! Then, plan your pivot while also taking care of yourself. Quit when you have the next job lined up.”
“Our company is reviewing our current PTO policy. What are current trends that are working for your team? Specifically, accural/roll over aspects? Mid-size company, all 1 bucket, no state requirements for pay out or accruals. submitted by /u/Upbeat_Zucchini [link] [comments]”
“My company’s definition of “reasonable accommodation” is actually quite punitive towards disabled and injured people. Not posting specifics to avoid doxxing, but there is zero flexibility, even if you’re chronically ill (with a federally classified disability, even) or in pain. And yet we’re the ones expected to coordinate with our doctors and the state to set up FMLA, when we’re the ones suffering and struggling to get out of bed and out the door. There’s no sympathy or flexibility from the com”
“Is it time theft though? It seems a lot of people are latching onto that, but OP said she estimated 4 hours and billed 8. She may not be great at planning her time or knowing how long these things take. Other than leaving when she shouldn’t and taking long breaks, I don’t see anything egregious. And if her mother is sick, she could be going through a lot right now. We don’t know the woman, but I’m hesitant to just hop on the wagon with everyone saying she’s awful and let her go. OP should have a”
“Just got our lovely holiday schedules, and they have changed our holiday pay to where we don’t get any sort of extra money for being required to work nightshift on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s. You’re telling me I can’t get a measly slice of holiday pay for working 7 PM - 11:59 PM? Yeah, better believe I’m calling out of work. On top of that, the PRN people who picked up when staffing was short and worked full-time hours (after being begged to pick up) will now have to work 3 holidays”
“I want to concentrate on school. One of the first things I did at my job I said was I wanna work 4 days a week. My manager did that for a bit but then switched back to 5. I requested again and she put me back to 4 Now we had someone leave and the schedule for next week had me for 5! What should I say? This would be my third time asking requesting. submitted by /u/Affectionate-Reason2 [link] [comments]”
“This is Pennsylvania. My supervisor told me this information and I have been trying to confirm if it’s true or not. I cannot find this policy in writing anywhere and I’m afraid to ask because they might fire me. What is the best way to go about this? Everything about this company feels like a law suit. I have asked for a disability accommodation because I have IBS and would like to move my 15 minute paid breaks for times where I need to use them so that i still get paid. But they won’t even give”
“I've recently put in a time off request let's say for Tuesday. And my days off are always Wednesdays and Thursdays. They give me Tueaday off but they also now have changed my days off to Tuesday and Wednesday and have me come in on Thursday. Now here's the fun part. I told them that I wanted my regular days off as well Wednesday AND Thursday. I was asking for an additional day. But they told me they didn't know that and need me to come in on Thursday. Problem is Im going to an ev”
It also usually means you don’t qualify for unemployment.
“I guess this is more of a rant. I'm a part time employee of close to 10 years and coworker "X" of 15 years left 2 months ago. Boss asked me to do some of X's work while X was around but I told him I'm unable to because it's a busy time for me (year end closing). He didn't like me saying no although I've never said no. So he decided to update my job description and tell me that I have to do these tasks because tasks were always there, that as a part timer I have”
“Document everything. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Send emails detailing what was discussed. They can fire you for anything sure. But you can sue them if they fire you for something things. DOCUMENT. If you are in a one party recording state, do exactly that. Be direct about setting solid goals thing especially if you can record. Record their bullshit responses.”
“I work in tax and we have the 9/15 and 10/15 deadlines coming up. Trying to leave the office at 1 pm so I can go to a football game that night. Will I look like a dick asking to leave at 1 pm? Or is this a no no this close to the deadline. I'm more than willing to come in at 5 am and put in a full day and work extra hours to make up for any lost time. submitted by /u/Birb_Chirb [link] [comments]”
“Man, you guys get to block a day off just for work? I wish that was a policy for us. I WFH on M/F and those used to be sacred days for work and now they’ve got meeting creep.”
“I am a behavioral health case manager and I've been in this job for almost two years. I am a temp and don't get PTO, so if I take time off it's unpaid. Due to that, I hardly take time off. I took 2 weeks of FMLA in April when a family member was in the hospital and since then I've had 1 week off. I'm exhausted and burnt out and want to find another job with better benefits. My friend suggested I take FMLA for mental health reasons. I really want to but it feels like there'”
“I’ve been at this job for 4 months and have a sign on bonus that is set to be given at 6 months and 1 year. I was hired for weekends and some day or evening shifts. Well, know I’m experiencing burn out (I’m in healthcare). I went to my manager to ask about having one Friday off a month and she denied it because “she needs me” (there are 8 other staff members who can work a single Friday, I was working by myself on Fridays and now more people are picking them up due to incentive that I am not get”
“The company I work for recently implemented a policy requiring PTO requests be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance, or 3 weeks in advance if requesting a holiday off, with the possibility of rejection if we don’t meet those timeframes. I’ve heard from multiple colleagues who submitted requests with less than 2 weeks notice that they were formally reminded of the guidance by our manager, with an HR rep involved in the communication. One colleague requested a 3-week trip for early *next year* an”
“Hi all! I work one evening a week currently, but I no longer can. I have a commitment (a weekly game night) but I doubt my boss will let me get off this responsibility without a reason, and game night is probably not good enough. What will be enough of a reason to not work later one day a week that I can give her? For context, there’s about 7 people on my team, but only two of us do the evening shifts - the others have kids and thus leave at 4 or just have seniority and don’t do it. This may sou”
“Where I currently work I get 8 weeks unpaid maternity leave even though I’m part-time. So yeah not really FMLA but still some sort of time off.”
“Hi all, My due date is estimated to be on March 13th, 2027. I’m a teacher in Louisiana. With only getting 6 weeks I’m worried about having to take FMLA. That leaves me with about a month left of school that I’ll have to take FMLA for. I won’t really have sick days or PTO to take. My district does payments during leave but they take from other months. A few questions: Can I take FMLA for only a month and then my paychecks return to normal over the summer? If no, how much are my paychecks affected”
“I want to take a career break for 6 months. Ideally, the firm would let me come back in 6 months. Anyone do this? I am wondering how to approach this conversation. The alternative is to hand in my notice. I am a senior associate with good credit at the firm. submitted by /u/Remarkable_Try_9334 [link] [comments]”
“No, you're not insane, you're in a scary and stressful situation that would make anyone unsure what to do. Start whipping out those resumes immediately and simultaneously start contacting recruiters (in the current economy over the past 2-3 years I've had way better luck contacting recruiters in my network compared to directly applying to things). Don't let yourself fall to fears that you're doomed, you're not, you'll find something better. It's a silver lining to”
“You are right, and i got rebuked for just asking an emergency. They are too stupid it seems to even think of that. I cant imagine myself how i have to deal with that. 8 other people paid more than I do and still cant do nothing without my producing the code. The only insane person all along was just me i guess.”
“Hello. i Have toxic job. Call center. What do you did to yourself to get over 2 days free s week? i want some job to have at least 3 days free per week. Do you have some experience to get free time but still having some chill job. submitted by /u/devetorepalisica [link] [comments]”
“Oh yeah, I wish!!!! Nope, they don't have to match contributions until the 5th year because I asked about that. And if you pull out before retirement for any reason apparently OPERS doesn't pay you that portion, cause I asked about that too.”
“So your mantra is don’t respect employees personal time and I have an issue? What flavor koolaid are you drinking?”
“Via an email today. She told me that she was removing my "cancel lunch deduction" from Saturday as she saw me picking up a Jersey Mike's order at that time. That time? 7:30pm. My shift? 8am-7pm. I was off the clock and grabbing dinner on my way home for my fiancée and myself. 1) That's embarrassing as fuck for her. 2) To so boldly accuse me of time theft and issue me a warning about clocking out when you're so blatantly wrong? She better be apologizing to me and giving me m”
“I think that if somebody is delivering on every metric, is performing above their role, and is completing work so quickly that they run out of it and can't get their hands on more, terminating them because they jiggle their mouse is a bit silly. That being said, I never said "I feel like I shouldn't be fired" lol”
“It’s my first time being pregnant so I wanted to get opinions on when to stop working before giving birth. I’m also an associate, not an owner, so I have a little more flexibility in terms of leave. But of course all my time off is unpaid so I’d like to work as much as realistically possible. Thoughts?? submitted by /u/BlueishSunflower [link] [comments]”
“And more importantly - are all the timelines, extensions, options, etc spelled out clearly?? For my first, it was not. The policy document just said 6-8 weeks of short term disability pay depending on type of delivery (vaginal or c-section) with 12 weeks of FMLA running concurrently. And then an optional 4 week extension after that (also unpaid) for a total of 16 weeks leave all unpaid except for the STD. BUT, after the fact, I learned of some moms taking 6 months off. How did they get that? Cou”
“I would approach management and ask if you can rescind your resignation. You won’t be the first to do that. If they say no, thank them and lesson learned. If they do let you stay another lesson learned.”
“I shared this story in another thread a while ago, but I wanted to share it here too because I think people should understand how different employment protections can be when you work for a very small company. I worked for a company with fewer than 15 employees when I became pregnant. For most of my pregnancy, I genuinely believed I had an incredibly supportive employer. I had a difficult pregnancy, including kidney stones, and still only took ONE pregnancy-related day off the entire time. I ful”
“Staff at my school have been taking PTO and sick leave since week 2! Believe me when I say you will never look back and tell yourself you shouldn’t have taken the day off. No one is going to be upset with you. Take care of yourself.”
“I used to go to work at like 6am so I would never have anything to take home. Parents would ask for 6:30 and 7 am meetings hoping we’d say no and they could get huffy. I always said yes. The parents never, ever showed up. I just asked guidance to let the principal know I was there. It did make me mad because they were totally wasting guidances’ time.”
I just take all of days as sick days. No one has called me on it yet.
“Basically, I have already had a couple interviews and my manager has been mad that I need to take days off for my interviews. I told my manager today that I got another interview that I am already scheduled for and need that day off. She just responded "we will discuss this tomorrow". Is it a bad look if I have to quit my job to be able to continue doing interviews, and should I bring it up to medical schools if I have to quit? submitted by /u/Fit_Meaning_8055 [link]”
“If it were me, if there aren’t any work in-office, I wouldn’t sit there just to wait to see if there are any work. I would just go home or not show up. Roll the work into the next day and see if next day fills up. Look for another position.”
“No. But a coworker of mine got a doctor’s note that prevents him from being floated, which is similar.”
“I also would’ve said something similar as a way to politely explain my boundaries as well. I don’t want to think about work from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.”
“Do it. You’re only going to get more burnt out if you don’t and soon it’ll be winter and you won’t be able to enjoy your time off as much if you prefer summer which for what you’re saying I’m thinking that might be the case. I think once you do it, you’re gonna look back and wish you had done it sooner. I’ve been in this position or similar positions a couple of times where I didn’t know what my next move was and as long as you’re aggressive once you are ready to start looking, you’ll find the r”
“ADA is for reasonable accommodations and not having to work night shift is not always deemed as reasonable.”
“so my work recently pulled me aside and told me they're reducing my shifts to one a week for a month and were likely going to ask me to resign at the end of that period, I got a call and text from the trainer asking me to come in to cover someone else tonight, is this a test? a second chance? are they just desperate or shitty communicators? their words and actions aren't lining up, what's happening here? submitted by /u/meeseekstodie137 [link] [comments]”
“There will definitely be days where you will not get 8 hours, my advice is to not burn yourself out too early, the deadlines are gonna suck no matter how hard you work early on.”
“Wondering if anyone’s been laid off or fired while they were on FMLA. Want to hear some stories. submitted by /u/Calm_Palpitation462 [link] [comments]”
“Internal is easier about 95% of the time. As long as you aren’t working for a call center, hospital, or start up you should he ok. Health issues due to a job is a very real thing. Glad you are getting distance from that. Hoping the best for you in the new job.”
“I have not known I was supposed to work and gotten that phone call. I have had the same biweekly pattern for 6 years. But sometimes, they move your schedule to fill holes, or you agree to a shift trade and forget. It sucks, you feel bad, but as long as you eventually show up, all is good.”
“I live and work in Massachusetts. I work for a large company with at least 50 employees. I’ve worked there for 6 years. I had a baby in late 2025 and took 6 months of state paid leave and bonding. After my baby was born, I developed a condition and needed surgery on both of my hands. My first surgery was in July and second one scheduled for the first week in September. Since I used my state leave, I had to apply for leave as an ADA accommodation. It was approved for my first surgery then I found”
“I had this exact same situation 3 weeks ago. I’d actually scheduled things so that all 3 of my pt people were working the same days - I figured there’d be a little accountability with them being together. One of my employees decided she’d just come in on days when no one was there (I found out after the fact) - and I know she did jack shit those days but cannot prove it. The other 2 appeared to have done some of what I asked but I wish I’d just shut everything down for the week. There’s nothing”