Photo: DimaBerlin / Shutterstock
The employees are being urged to quit on the spot.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Apr 01, 2023
When it comes to requesting time off, many bosses have different ways they go about it but the existence of at least some time off is pretty much a given in all jobs. At least you would hope.
One employee was angered after receiving a message sent by their boss, who announced that he was revoking personal and vacation days from his staff because he was tired of people taking time off when they should instead be working.
A boss told employees they are no longer allowed to 'request days off.'
In a post shared on the subreddit r/antiwork — an online forum where users can share job and work-related struggles — a Reddit user shared a mass message from his boss to all the employees at the company he works for.
In the messages, the boss wrote: "no one can request days off anymore. I will do the schedule and if you don't show up, you are automatically fired. If you don't like it, go find a job somewhere else."
He followed up the message by declaring to all employees that there would be a mandatory meeting "at 9:30 p.m.," where, more than likely, they would be discussing the new rule implemented.
In the caption of the Reddit post, the employee who works at the company shared that his boss will create the schedule five hours before the workday starts. Employees that have had their time off approved months ago would still be put on the schedule because their management "forgot."
It seems his boss was apparently angered about employees calling for time off, and issued the rule as a way to avoid scheduling people who won't show up.
While the post doesn't specify much else, there has been a rise over the last several months of employers often being reluctant to fire certain employees. In response, they will engage in quiet-firing behaviors to drive out employees from their companies.
In an interview with BBC, Christopher Kayes, a professor of management at the George Washington University School of Business, shared that this type of behavior isn't a good long-term solution and can lead to workers leaving who are not being targeted by the quiet-firing.
"You have the engaged employees, and then those just quietly left there, sometimes without their knowledge. It doesn’t create an inclusive or high-performance workplace culture.”
The employee explained that his boss would rather 'blame' the staff for mistakes they have made.
In the comments section of his Reddit post, he explained that this is the "first job" he's had where the "scheduling seems impossible to manage."
"The only reason it’s so tough is [that] they make it hours before the start day and scramble around to figure it out," he wrote. "They’d rather blame it on the employees that did their part exactly right over a month ago."
He added that during the scheduled meeting, he would be addressing many of the issues that need fixing.
"I’ve been the one directing these new workers in the right way. I tell them all the time he isn’t a good boss and [that] they could go anywhere and start at a higher pay and better leadership."
While the decision of employers to approve or deny allotted time off is up to them as each organization has different rules, employees are still able to claim unpaid leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This law provides certain employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year, with preserved medical benefits.
Other Reddit users expressed their astonishment at such a rule being implemented by an employer. "I would quit on the spot just to be petty," one user wrote, while another added, "I hope everyone quits and no one shows up for his mandatory 9:30 p.m. meeting."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics.