Boss criticised for telling employee to postpone his vacation: ‘Don’t let them do this to your life’

‘This is an issue for them, not an issue for you’

Picture: (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A boss has been criticised for asking an employee to postpone his vacation, as the company would be left short-staffed during the worker’s time off.

In a recent Reddit post shared in the Subreddit “Antiwork,” u/Prestigious-Rumfield shared a screenshot of a message from his boss. The caption reads: “Just got this email, guess I can say bye bye to my vacation.”

At the start of the email, the boss noted that there was “a bit of an issue with” the employee’s “time off”. The employer expressed how one of the company’s workers has a “surgery” planned and will not be able to work, so the original poster (OP) was asked to “postpone” his vacation.

“[Redacted] has to go in for surgery [at the] end of the month, 4/8/2022,” the email reads. “She will be out for two weeks and unable to gain full strength for six weeks.”

“I have my surgery scheduled for 5/10/2022,” the boss continued. “We need for you to postpone your vacation. Please when you get the chance let’s discuss how this will go.”

As of 14 April, the post has more than 40,100 upvotes, with readers in the comments encouraging the employee to “say no” to his boss’ request.

“If you already paid for your vacation, tell them it’s already paid for and nonrefundable, and you will not be coming into work unless they pay to compensate [for] your trip,” one Reddit user wrote. “Plane tickets are not something you can get a refund on, and they are EXPENSIVE.”

“I don’t understand. Why doesn’t OP just literally say no. That’s all they have to say,” another comment reads. “What are they going to do? If they’re stretched thin enough to be this desperate, then they’re not in a well-leveraged position to fire you. Firing OP doesn’t solve their problem, it makes it a LOT worse.”

Many Reddit users also emphasised that u/Prestigious-Rumfield should go on the trip, as his personal life and travel plans shouldn’t be dictated by his boss.

“Don’t let them do this to your life,” one Reddit user wrote. “This is an issue for them, not an issue for you. To let them do this is [allowing them to own your life outside [of your] the job.”

“I can’t imagine how much pressure you feel to stay and help but if anything in the last few years we’ve learned life is so short,” another wrote.

In a follow-up post, u/Prestigious-Rumfield said he spoke to his boss and is still going on vacation. He noted how his father passed due to COVID last year and his sister was in Madrid. So, the Reddit User and his mother are going on the trip to “have a family outing”.

“My father took me and my sister to many places, even though he couldn’t walk or enjoy them himself, he thought it was important,” the post reads. “I don’t have many experiences like that with my mom, so this is truly a once in a lifetime trip. There is no rescheduling. I am going to Madrid.”

The Reddit user said he mentioned the trip’s destination to his boss, who immediately said: “Oh, s***.”

The employee still acknowledged that during the vacation, his company is going to be short-staffed for “two weeks”. However, the worker also said that through this “experience,” he learned how important it is to communicate properly with your boss.

“I was ready to be fired, but [that] didn’t happen,” the post continued. “I think this experience has shown that it’s worth taking the time to explain a situation to your boss, because they are people and people are forgetful.”

Speaking to The Independent, u/Prestigious-Rumfield said that his boss handled the situation better than he thought, as his employee has a history of being harsh with his employees.

“This man has yelled at past employees and has almost single handedly lost a client because of his temper [my boss also owns the company],” the employee explained. “I told him that I was going on the trip and he was immediately like ‘Oh right, that’s not something you can cancel.’”

“I don’t know if he was faking it to put up a facade, or if he was sincerely thinking about how he asked me to cancel this trip, but either way he was like ‘well I guess we’re f***ed [short staffed for a week],’” he added.