‘Unlimited PTO’ company boss rejects employee’s PTO for court-ordered parenting, gets called out and faces team backlash: ‘It has backfired on them’

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Jan 21, 2025 9:00 AM EST

In today's competitive corporate world, full of employee-catching buzzwords, "unlimited PTO" reigns supreme. But for one unlucky tech startup employee, this motto had a small secret: the fine print.
 

The company, proudly flaunting its "flexibility," recently started grouching about employees using their unlimited PTO. New rules blossomed like weeds—sick time counted separately, doctor's appointments categorized, and management's tolerance for time off rapidly approaching zero. Unlimited, indeed.

And when the employee dared to request a measly half-day off each month to fulfill a court-ordered custody arrangement, you know, because raising a child tends to require actual time, he had to deal with unlimited inconsideration.

After approving these requests for over a year, management suddenly decided this time off was an apocalyptic blow to company productivity. The employee was told he might need to take the time unpaid or "make it up" by working weekends or coming in early. 

What management didn't expect was for the employee to stand their ground, bypass the guilt trip, and punt the nonsense straight to HR. The fallout? A department scrambling to explain why unlimited PTO apparently has its limits.

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  • Unlimited PTO, but Not for My Court Ordered Child Custody Obligations

    "Time to tell this manager she could be taken to court if she doesn't allow the court-ordered situation to happen"
    via StockSnap

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Some background: I work for a midsized tech startup in customer support. We have unlimited PTO when advertising for new hires, but if you join certain departments, they have their own limiting PTO policies. Our dept has not had one of these sub- policies, but this year, we're going to
    via RebeccaParrO5n
  • adopt that at some point. The director and managers just shamed all of us for the amount of our unlimited PTO we took last year (that was approved by them, mind you). Also, they began tracking "sick time" separately from regular time off which is new this year, but also unlimited, and doctor's appointments have to count as sick time. I am a salaried exempt employee.
    via RebeccaParrO5n
  • This week I put in requests for the one day a month I have to transport my child for visitation with my co-parent. This arrangement is outlined in a court order. I work 12pm to 8pm (12 to 9 of course if I have the audacity to take an hour lunch break), and I put in a half day (4.5 hours) to be able to pick them up from school and drive to another city and back to drop them off.
    via RebeccaParrO5n
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • My manager has implied that the impact of me taking these days would be so large that I may need to take this time unpaid. This is nothing new, I've been doing this since I've been in the dept (over a year). They said that I could "make up for the time off" by
    via RebeccaParrO5n
  • coming in on a weekend (I do not work weekends) or coming in early on the days I have to take off. I cannot do this because of other obligations. I also have a full time university course load so I'm not going to play into that BS and I told her that was why. She said we were shift work (but my hours are 12 to 8 as I stated, never changing).
    via RebeccaParrO5n
  • Cheezburger Image 10457107200
    via kelli_mcclintock

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • When my manager implied I'd need to take unpaid time for these days possibly, I told them I'd need to take that up with HR. Would love to hear any and all thoughts on the matter.
    via RebeccaParrO5n

  • Treating employees this way doesn’t stay quiet for long. Word spread like wildfire. Suddenly, their colleagues had questions: if a simple, court-ordered half-day can spark threats of unpaid time and weekend shifts, what does that say about the rest of us? The department’s morale took a nosedive, and the company’s shiny, employee-first image started cracking under the weight of all those unspoken restrictions.

  • Prcrstntr Unlimited PTO is a trick to get people to take less PTO
    via Prcrstntr

  • It’s clear unlimited PTO at this company means unlimited hoops to jump through, and unlimited reasons for workers to dust off their CVs. because If flexibility is just a trap, it’s only a matter of time before employees start leaving for jobs that doesn’t come with unlimited headaches.

  • Garrden It's also a trick to not carry accruals because they are financial obligations on the books. Win win for the company, but it's workers who lose.
    via Garrden
  • CatLadyInProgress Right, I got paid about $2k for accrued vacation when I left my last job.
    via CatLadyInProgress
  • Rebecca Parr05n OP Geez I never knew this part.
    via RebeccaParrO5n
  • Garrden Yeep. This is why lots of companies have caps on vacation accruals. Some also require to use at least X number of vacation days, or you'll lose them. It's also money driven.
    via Garrden
  • Moontoya Unlimited PTO is a pay cut They also don't gotta pay out entitlements
    via Moontoya
  • Darkwing DuckHunt Before everyone did it I considered it a red flag for a job. Now they all do it. It's bulls. We need unions back.
    via DarkwingDuckHunt
  • judgethisyounutball So a yearly total of 54 hours (4.5 x12) to transport your child doesn't seem like an unreasonable amount of PTO, especially if it is 'unlimited' PTO and you are salaried and exempt. Idk man, doesn't seem like a great place of employment
    via judgethisyounutball
  • Lookatme And with being salary and exempt - they shouldn't even have to take time off unless it's a full day. We can't take partial days as a salary employee where I work. So we either take the full day off, or work part of the day and "make up time" later in the week.
    via Lo0katme
  • NumbSurprise Because "unlimited" never means unlimited. It means "your boss will decide, on an arbitrary basis, however it suits their whim."
    via NumbSurprise
  • rustys_shackled_ford I've started asking potential employers who offer "unlimited PTO" as some kind of benefit to me, when the last time they turned down someone's PTO request and why.... That usually tells you exactly what they sent trying to say out loud.
    via rustys_shackled_ford
  • tarnishau14 Assuming you are in the US, Employers cannot deduct pay from a salaried employee's paycheck for partial day absences, like leaving early for a doctor's appointment or custody driving.
    via tarnishau14
  • TacticalSpeed 13 I'm glad it backfired on them but I'm not glad they're putting it on you. Unlimited PTO is just a scam so they don't have to pay out PTO when someone leaves or they fire someone this is why we all should be negotiating a severance package before we signed a job offer
    via TacticalSpeed13
  • InstructionNeat2480 Yeah, every time somebody tells me that they have unlimited PTO I think to myself -yeah right. Come on! how on earth does a business make a profit when they grant their workers unlimited PTO. It's a trick. Having said that, it's
    via InstructionNeat2480
  • very admirable that your child is priority and I think you should stick to your guns. Professionally ask for a meeting and discuss the situation. It's your child. Your child is not gonna be young forever. I hope your company realizes people with Good family lives make good employees. People who have a balanced life are better than those who are trying to impress us with their long office hours. Nobody's impressed.
    via InstructionNeat2480
  • alexanderpas Have HR/Legal draft a letter you can provide to the court on why they can't provide you, a salaried employee, with the time off, and why the time has to be made up at another time.
    via alexanderpas
  • Altruistic_Lock_5362 Time to tell this manger her may be hauled into court if he doing not allowed court ordered situation to happen.
    via Altruistic_Lock_5362
  • Altruistic Lock_5362 It sounds like the employer is not letting the employee off to get he court ordered child care accomplished, that was the way | interpreted it., I could be wrong
    via Altruistic_Lock_5362
  • Relative_Sky4232 So is the trick to having and using unlimited PTO to...use it? Any tricks/tips to not let it be a detriment to you, the employee?
    via Relative_Sky4232
  • Rebecca Parr05n OP It has backfired on them
    via RebeccaParrO5n

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management boss workplace-stories hr toxic-workplace manager bosses work PTO managers supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses work-life balance
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