NEED TO KNOW
- A woman revealed to her line manager that she would be flying from abroad the night before her shift
- In a Mumsnet post, the woman shared her outrage after her time off request was rejected because her manager thinks she won’t be “fit for work”
- “AIBU [am I being unreasonable] for thinking it’s up to me how I spend my annual leave?” the woman asked
A woman is regretting telling her line manager about her vacation plans.
Expressing her frustration on the online forum Mumsnet, the woman explained that she works for a medium-sized company in the U.K. that requires line managers to approve any paid time off. She said there are five people in her team and there have been no issues with booking vacations in the eight years that she’s worked there.
However, last month, her former line manager was replaced by someone who previously worked in a different department. She thought her new manager’s question about her vacation plans for the fall was “just a casual passing interest type question.”
After telling them she will be would going on an almost five-hour flight, “They’ve now rejected my leave request because they don’t think I’ll be fit for work on Monday, returning from Tenerife on a Sunday on a flight that lands at 10.30 pm (at an airport 20 minutes from home),” the woman wrote.
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The woman was in shock and confessed that she wasn’t sure how to reply to her line manager.
“…AIBU [am I being unreasonable] for thinking it’s up to me how I spend my annual leave and it’s up to me to decide whether something is achievable whilst being ready for work the next day?” she asked.
In a follow-up comment, the woman added that she checked with her coworkers that no one else was on vacation before paying a deposit on the getaway.
The post quickly garnered hundreds of replies, with the majority of commenters agreeing that she shouldn’t have to explain her time off plans to her employer.
One person wrote, “WHAT?!! Absolutely none of their business, and they have no right to judge whether you’ll be fit for work. I’m astonished they’ve given that as a reason to reject the request. Utterly bizarre. Are you supposed to just cancel your week in Tenerife then?”
Another said, “I would email your HR, cc’ing in your line manager, explain line manager has declined your leave request due to your return flight at 10:30 pm the night before is too late, and ask how many hours before your Monday shift/start time you need to be back in the country as you are moving your flights and need to know what the company policy is.”
A third chimed in, saying, “Or just lie and say you’re now booked on an earlier flight. People like that don’t deserve the truth.”
Someone else added, “I’ve never heard such nonsense. What next, a memo to all staff telling them they must be in bed and lights out by 10 pm latest on work nights!”
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