Heartless Boss Cancels Employee’s Time Off for Mom’s Funeral, Threatens to Fire Her if She Goes

We've heard of managers reneging on vacation approval, but this is just cruel. When u/vanluvsyou requested two weeks off so that she could arrange and attend her mom's funeral, the request was approved by her manager. A month later, OP's manager called her into the office to inform her that she had to cancel the time off because they were "understaffed." As you can imagine, OP was furious and pushed back, which the boss didn't like. The heated conversation ended with OP's manager basically denying that she'd even approved the time off and then threatening to fire her if she didn't miss her mother's funeral. Did this manager have to undergo some sort of training program that transformed her into a heartless robot? Seriously, where's the compassion?

Posted by Mel Dawn

“I might get fired because I pushed back on my management canceling my time off for my mother’s funeral” Posted by u/vanluvsyou
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Via u/vanluvsyou
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Via u/vanluvsyou
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Via u/vanluvsyou
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The comment section
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"Imagine being such a loser that someone you work with is like 'my dad died I have a funeral to go to for TWO DAYS' And you're like 'ugh losing a parent is awful, know what's worse? When lines are slightly longer than normal at the bank we work at'" —u/King_Hamburgler

Via u/cooldart61
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"The short-sightedness of some businesses is amazing - 'We're short-staffed, let's bully a loyal employee. Wait, why are we even more short?'" —u/goodie23

Via u/ThatCranberry5296
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"OP needs to send a very clear email stating that they are NOT leaving the job, are leaving for some previously approved PTO time, and will be returning on X date. Send it to as many people as possible and even set up an out of office email referring to PTO." —u/lydriseabove

u/Mermaidtoo offered a perfect example of an email for OP to send to their boss: "Absolutely. OP only knows what their manager has told them. It may be that the manager messed up or doesn't want to be inconvenienced. OP - be completely factual and professional in all communications. Send something like this and cc everyone in management and HR you can:
Boss - I'm following up on our conversation from (date) when you informed me that you cancelled my time off that had been approved on (date).
As I'd shared at the time of my original request on (date) and brought up again during our recent conversation, this time off is due to a family bereavement. I will be attending services for my mother from (date to date). It was on (date) that you approved this time off.
In the month since your approval, I've set the date for the services, coordinated with family members, and made traveling plans. None of this can be rescheduled.
During our recent conversation, you informed me that my time off is now cancelled due to issues with other staff and the status no longer shows as approved in the system.
Due to this exceptional situation, I am not able to comply with any scheduling change other than what was previously approved. I hope that you can understand and manage accordingly.
To reiterate, I will be taking my previously-approved leave from (date to date). My first day back to work will be (date)."

Via u/Raging_Progressive
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"Yes and she made it seem like it was my issue, I'm a grown woman and she sat me down in there and talked to me like I was in trouble or something" —OP

Via u/K1nsey6
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Via u/Hekinsieden
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Via u/El_Cartografo
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Via u/oo-mox83