Twitter user @PostOpPrincess recently tweeted about how her time off request FOR HER OWN WEDDING got denied:
Guess who's request off work got denied for their own wedding 🤪 PTO BABY prepare the others I ain't gone be there 😚😚😚
I have no words!!! 😡😡😡
Shortly after posting, people started flooding the comments with their awful experiences surrounding taking time off work.
@PostOpPrincess When my grandma passed away my unit director told me to "try to plan ahead next time." No sorry for your loss or anything else like that...
People were scolded like children for missing work.
@PostOpPrincess My boss the other week pulled me aside to scold me and told me that calling out 3 times in 2 months is excessive and sets a bad example for the team and told me to plan out things for my days off and I said "so I need to plan my emergencies and sick days on days off?"
And treated with zero human empathy or compassion.
@PostOpPrincess My dog was dying in my arms and I asked my boss if I could please not come in ( gave him a reason) and all he tells me is to put my dead dog in the freezer and show up now and to get over it
The stories are both heartbreaking and infuriating.
@PostOpPrincess My daughter died at 12 days old and I was on FMLA due to emergency C-section (severe preeclampsia). My work called the day before her funeral and asked when they could put me back on the schedule. I said, maybe let me bury my child first and I'll get back to you.
It's sad to know that this is a reality people face while working in America.
@PostOpPrincess Also, my grandma died a few weeks before my wedding & they denied my PTO because I was going to be off for my wedding, so I didn't get to go to her funeral. She was my last living grandparent. I was heartbroken. I quit that job a few months later. It was a hostile workplace.
Not only do some employers force people to give a reason for their time off...
@DatTallGyal @PostOpPrincess A lot of places require you to tell them the reason in order to get time off. I had a job where you had to put down the reason for a personal day, which included funerals and anything else, they would deny it if they didn’t consider it a real reason to be out for a day.
But some also expect their workers to be responsible for finding people to cover their shifts.
@PostOpPrincess I was denied time off for my honeymoon unless I found people to cover my shifts. My schedule was all vacation relief that summer, and I told them 2.5 months ahead of time. Still gave me 5 shifts, and I got 4 covered. Called in sick fr my honeymoon, then the Mgr 1/2
Oh, and if you have to provide a "good excuse" for your time off — which is ridiculous in the first place — court cases won't count at many workplaces.
@PostOpPrincess As an OR nurse I was denied the day off to testify in the criminal assault trial of the man who almost killed me. The DA said, “I have literally never had this happen, guess I’ll have to issue you a subpoena they can’t refuse?”
People are getting PUNISHED for fulfilling their civic duties.
@TammiLe64354278 @PostOpPrincess I got subpoenaed as a witness in a trial and my employer STILL didn't approve time off (yeah I got a write up but still testified!)
Some employers only allow ONE special time-off request every FIVE years.
@PostOpPrincess A coworker was denied time off for his brother’s wedding because he’d gone to his other brother’s wedding the year before and “you only get one special request per 5 years”. The rest of us rearranged so he could have the time. Healthcare is a mess.
A lot of healthcare workers are sharing how bad it is for them when it comes to time off work.
@stlchscltgso @PostOpPrincess @nashbash2 and let's not forget, that once you clock in, you can't leave until your replacement arrives. Nursing has become little more than indentured servitude. Little wonder hospitals can't attract or retain quality personnel.
One nurse even canceled her honeymoon.
@PostOpPrincess We were married 40 years ago. I had to go to the nun in charge of overall nursing scheduling. She asked me: “ what is more important to you, your patients or your wedding?” I knew it was a trick question. I knew we were canceling our honeymoon 😞.
Bosses aren't believing their employees when they need time off...
@PostOpPrincess i would get migraines that lasted 3-7 days and still go into work bc they happened way too often, at least once a week. some managers were nice & would cut me early or send me home without me asking. my boss would also use this against me and complain that i was unreliable
And it has really shown just how prevalent toxic work environments are today. These types of work/life balance issues aren't getting any better. Last year we spoke to a woman whose boss got upset when she told her she couldn't work because her sister was on her death bed.
When it comes to finding a healthy way to approach PTO, self-advocacy expert Selena Rezvani told BuzzFeed, "Leaders need to stop vacation-shaming and incentivizing people to have 'perfect attendance.' It’s not conducive to normal human rhythms to work like a robot. As empowered adults, people can and should be able to judge for themselves when they need time off (and of course to make an effort to help operations run smoothly while they’re gone)."
"No one else will set boundaries for you. No one else will value your time — or mental and physical health — like you can. We see real benefits of taking time off in the quality of our work and ideas, the vigor we bring to our personal and professional lives, and our resilience for the not-so-great times."