A boss who said they were unable to give a new employee time off of work for a prescheduled non-refundable vacation that was discussed before the employee was hired, has been criticized online.
In a post that has gone viral on Reddit with over 21.3 thousand upvotes and 5,000 comments, user Artistic-Comment20 explained the incident.
The post was made in the subreddit group “Am I the A**hole”, where users ask the community to weigh in on a variety of scenarios and situations.
The OP (original poster) said they had discussed the non-refundable vacation with the person who was applying for job, a woman named Lacey.
The OP said they would attempt to accommodate her and the job was offered to Lacey.
However, Lacey found that she was not granted the time off and opted to quit causing the OP to question whether they were in the wrong.
“I’m the manager of a small team at a large company. Each manager does their team’s schedule. I hired Lacey last week,” the post read. “Lacey told me when she accepted the job that she already had non-refundable vacation plans at the end of May. I told her that I did the schedule and would try to accommodate her.”
“I couldn’t accommodate her at all,” the poster said. “There’s already another team member out. I put up the schedule and was very surprised at an e-mail from Lacey regarding her vacation not being scheduled. I informed her we didn’t have the flexibility and that she was expected to work.”
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The OP went on to say that Lacey said she would not be losing out on $2,500 to work rather than go on her vacation.
She also said that she already had an offer from one of the jobs she had turned down, a job that promised her that her vacation was safe.
The OP attempted to defend their decision but said they had been called into his boss’ office to discuss the situation. They added that people should understand that if you are new to a job you are last for vacation.
Reddit users were quick to condemn the OP and demanded to know what company they worked for in order to avoid applying for jobs there themselves.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacation, sick leave or federal or other holidays, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor.
“These benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee’s representative),” the Department of Labor report said.
Reddit users also said that if they were Lacey in OP’s post they would be under the impression that the offer of employment was under the condition that they accepted they would not be available due to their non-refundable holiday.
“YTA (You are the a**hole). As a 20-year hiring manager, I would have never done this,” Reddit user Pineapple_Mango_13 wrote. “She told you. ‘Non-refundable’ means ‘non-negotiable’. She had options. You needed her more than she needed you. You decided to pretend otherwise and got caught.”
Another user said they would not want to work for a place that could not respect prior engagements made before employment.
“When I start a new job, I expect that they honor my pre-planned vacations,” Reddit user Jayclaw97 wrote. “If they refuse, I’m out. Any employer who doesn’t respect that I have a life that doesn’t solely revolve around work is not an employer I’d ever want to work for.”
“What kind of company is this? OP has been summoned to his boss’ office,” user Aggressive-Fudge5759 wrote. “He might be about to learn that it is the sort of company that doesn’t tolerate middle managers refusing to honor pre-booked holidays for new employees. The new employee could have gone over OP’s head to HR, but most likely recognized the red flag and decide that she didn’t want to work for him.”
Another person who claimed to have human resources experience concluded the OP was the person in the wrong.
“[Thirty-five] years HR/Payroll experience here, user WorkInProgress1040 wrote.”It was absolutely the condition of taking the job, and is routine. In fact, we normally document it in the job offer letter.”
This Reddit post is one of several that has gone viral recently. This one sparked a discussion over a company that was timing employee bathroom breaks and docking pay for people who were taking too long. Last month, Reddit users backed a woman for using a fake car key to stop her unemployed husband from driving her car.
The internet also slammed a doctor who complained that his girlfriend’s family was calling him by his first name instead of using the title “doctor.”