Photo: Oleksandr Pidvalnyi / Pexels & Reddit
The staff was outraged by the request.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on Feb 02, 2023
A member of the subreddit "r/antiwork," a community for those who “want help with their own jobs” and “work-related struggles” posted a request from their CEO that they deemed “pathetic.”
“I am at a loss for words,” Reddit user "@blink_bridgette," wrote, before posting an image of an announcement from their CEO.
The CEO requested that staff members ‘donate’ their PTO days to an employee of 17 years who ‘exhausted’ all of hers.
The announcement was made to all employees of the unnamed company.
The CEO stated that a “long-term employee of 17 years… has been in the hospital and rehab for several months.”
Photo credit: Reddit
“She has exhausted all her PTO days and her benefits are running out,” the CEO continued.
“As you can imagine, this has been quite a drain on her family’s income.”
The CEO asked other employees to donate ‘one or more days of their PTO’ to the sick employee.
“Thank you for your consideration,” the CEO signed the announcement.
Reddit users were outraged by the CEO’s request, proclaiming it an unnecessary guilt trip.
“This is manipulation and disgusting [that] they would do that,” said one commenter. “It’s not the worker’s responsibility to pay other coworkers.”
Another commenter took issue with the line “it’s a drain on her family’s income,” by responding, “so you the CEO can choose to pay your worker of 17 years while they’re having a hard time.”
“Wonder how many PTO days the CEO donated?” Asked another Reddit user.
“Just give her more PTO,” a different user exclaimed. “It’s not a f–-ing finite resource.”
“The sad thing is that whoever wrote this wakes up each morning thinking they're a good person,” said another commenter.
Other users felt similarly, noting that it’s in the CEO’s hands to offer more PTO to the employee in need.
“If anyone at any company has the power to just give PTO days to a 17-year veteran of the business, you would think it would be the President/CEO,” said another commenter.
“I’d write back saying I’d donate my PTO as long as management did the same and the company matched our time donations,” explained someone else.
“It’s crystal clear that companies don’t care about employees no matter how much time you give or how much profit you generate,” noted a commenter. “Once you stop being useful, you’re out.”
“Pure capitalism,” commented another user on the lack of extended PTO.
Other members of the subreddit shared their own personal experiences that echoed this employee’s experience.
“This email goes out DAILY in every school district I’ve worked in,” said one user.
“I know someone who died of cancer who had to do the same thing,” stated a commenter. “Beg coworkers to ‘donate’ their PTO. While she was dying. She was thanking people on Facebook for doing it and then she passed. Dystopian s–t.”
While it’s not known if other employees donated their PTO to support the employee in question, what’s clear is the unified disgust for the lack of care the company offers to their sick employees.
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Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.