HR demands employee take PTO instead of working remotely, sparking client outcry

Author image for Sienna Varady
Sienna Varady
Jul 21, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

As a participant in the industry, you are expected to follow the guidelines set forth by the business community. The story below is an account of a clever employee.

The original poster (OP) is employed by a company that offers services to oil and gas corporations. According to company rules, he is required to work from the office for three consecutive days per week. But after becoming ill approximately a month ago, OP decided that it would be best to remain in his hometown till he recovered. He therefore worked from home for two full weeks until HR called and demanded that he adhere to the policies of the firm and take a leave of absence instead of working remotely. Following some back-and-forth, OP ultimately agreed to comply and took the entire last week of the month off, leaving the company in a precarious situation with no one to finish the clients' pressing obligations.

Thus, make sure to read the story below if you're interested in learning the specifics of the incident and what happens next! Furthermore, once you're finished, don't forget to read the account of the junior worker who humiliates his management by ditching the company and leaving it in chaos!

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  • 01
    4+ F5 F6 *- +✡ F7 /G E $ PTO PAI JOFTIME OFF ☑ C "As you wish..." Shift Alt Ente
    via canva
  • 02
    Took 5 Days Vacation While HR and Team Lead squabbled over company policy.
    via u/St_St***r_
  • 03
    Hello, I (24M) work for and IT MNC providing services to Oil and Gas corporation. My team consists of 10 people and all of us are scattered across the country, so all of our work and calls are done on Teams and can 100% be handled remotely. My organisation has a policy where it's mandatory to WFO 3 days a week. Around 4 weeks ago I fell sick and decided to go to my hometown to get better. I worked from home for 2
    via u/St_St***r_
  • 04
    weeks and HR got to know about it called me regarding the issue. I explained her the situation but she was adamant on enforcing company policy, she basically asked me to take leaves if I can't come to office. And that is what I did, i took the whole 3rd week off. My team lead is an amazing guy. He doesn't care about remote work as long as work is getting done and I am critical to some tasks like QA checks before
    via u/St_St***r_
  • 05
    we handover any deliverable. So when I applied for whole week of holiday, he called me. Now without me and QA checks, nothing can be handed over to the client so he got worried. I explained him about the chat I had with HR. Next day I, Him and HR got together on call and HR was still adamant about the policy. I left the call midway saying that text me if you guys reach some conclusion and proceeded to take the week off.
    via u/St_St***r_
  • 06
    Eventually on starting of 4th week, which again i was planning to take off, HR called me. She said that she's "allowing" me to continue till end of this month (around 10 days) to wfh.
    via u/St_St***r_
  • 07
    WinginVegas. 15 hr. ago Some people just have to go with the rules even when they cause additional issues. I'm guessing your manager explained to someone higher up the impact of doing this where you aren't working even though it can be remote and they "explained" business to HR.
    via u/WinginVegas
  • 08
    St_S er_ OP. 14 hr. ago Yeah, I guess that's what happened behind the scenes.
    via u/St_St***r_
  • 09
    • Coolbeanschilly 14 hr. ago I'm guessing the HR woman finally realized that her strict enforcement of the company policy was costing the company time and money. All this could be traced back to her, and therefore her neck was on the line. Hence her not so sudden change of stance on the company policy.
    via u/Coolbeanschilly
  • 10
    • grauenwolf 13 hr. ago · edited 11 hr. ago It's worse than that. The company could be sued for refusing to offer reasonable accommodations for illness. I doubt that they would be unless represented by a union because the dollar amount was too low. But if they did, her as well. would be on the line for that
    via u/grauenwolf
  • 11
    TheHorizonLies · 13 hr. ago If your team is scattered all over the country, where is the office you have to work from 3 times a week? Just trying to understand the logistics
    via u/TheHorizonLies
  • 12
    Ich mag Kartoffeln 11 hr. ago Probably wherever OP is needed. I (and I'm sure many others on here) have encountered policies that were written to cover one situation being enforced in another situation where they are not relevant/appropriate.
    via u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln
  • 13
    Contrantier · 13 hr. ago No, she's being forced to step the fk , that "I'm allowing you" down. is so powerless and transparent.
    via u/Contrantier
  • 14
    Noteworthy Meagerness 9 hr. ago I had an HR person try to fire me for 4 years for various things that weren't really things that should get you fired. I was just telling this story to my brother and he asked me why she hated me so much. I thought about it for a while and I really don't know. Except that she hated my boss and I supported my boss fully because he was talented and this HR lady was not.
    via u/NoteworthyMeagerness
  • 15
    Finally, hit and the owner of the company used it as an excuse to fire a good portion of the staff. By then my former boss had moved on but I had a new boss who had protected me a couple times she thought she could trick him into firing me. (I'm not that talented or non-expendable or anything. But I'm a good worker, loyal to those who are loyal to me and I had been there in different roles for over a decade so I could cover a lot of things if people quit or were out sick or on vacation.)
    via u/NoteworthyMeagerness
  • 16
    In this instance, the owner basically said he wanted to cut a certain percentage of overhead so she threw my name on the list but she didn't tell my boss until the deed was done and I called him to ask what happened.
    via u/NoteworthyMeagerness
  • 17
    It was the best feeling in the world when I found out she ended up being let go 4 weeks later. I found a job within a month. It took her almost a year before her LinkedIn was updated with a new place of work.
    via u/NoteworthyMeagerness
  • 18
    AlaskanDruid · 14 hr. ago If it's not in writing, it doesn't exist.
    via u/AlaskanDruid
  • 19
    MM800 · 12 hr. ago Malicious compliance would have been YOU strictly adhering to company policy, and not being available to work from home at the pleasure of the HR representative. Let projects fall behind, let the company lose money, until a permanent policy change is implemented.
    via u/MM800
  • 20
    BodaciousVermin . 9 hr. ago Makes sense. If HR starts getting reasonable with OP, they'll have to be reasonable with others, and then where does it stop?
    via u/BodaciousVermin
  • 21
    Metalsmith21. 8 hr. ago My boss would have and has in the past said, "WFH as much as you need to get through this. HR, I'll deal with HR. If they get in his way he'll remind their bosses that forcing me to take leave only f the company because they need us." s up
    via u/Metalsmith21
  • 22
    T_wizz · 11 hr. ago Tell me you took those 10 days off instead. I could image the chaos that would cause lol
    via u/T_wizz
  • 23
    MusicalMerlin1973 · 8 hr. ago Once again those of us with more enlightened employers are reminded to be thankful of our "if you're sick stay home. I don't want what you have" policies.
    via u/MusicalMerlin1973
  • 24
    crash866.5 hr. ago A friend of mine who works from home 90% of the time was ordered to the office on Tuesday. Pouring rain all day and flooding everywhere. Power went off at noon and came back on at 8pm. He works noon to 8 at the office. He sat in the dark all day with no power and did nothing. Power never went off at home.
    via u/crash866
  • 25
    NebNay 4 hr. ago HR proving once again they are nothing but a glorified roadblock to productivity
    via u/NebNay
  • 26
    rhunter1980. 51 min. ago Get it in writing so when theycome after you for not following policy you can kindly hand that to them and tell them to pound sand
    via u/rhunter1980
  • 27
    St_Stoner_ OP. 50 min. ago Oh I have the call recording on MS Teams
    via u/St_St***r_

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oddly specific remote workplace-stories employee Professional At Work tales-from-the-workplace work coworkers askreddit Office PTO overworked-employees Reddit oddly satisfying vacation
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