‘I would’ve much rather just have been laid off with everyone else’: Job forces employees into negative PTO debt, where taking time off means owing the company money later

Welcome to the newest innovation in workplace misery: the Negative PTO Trap, brought to you by your friendly neighborhood nonprofit and the unregulated wilds of North Carolina labor law.

In this corporate wormhole, job security doesn't mean what you think. There, it means you hang on just long enough to owe your company money for the privilege of being out of work. Why just worry about layoffs when you can also sweat bullets about going into debt with your former boss?

The employee surviving these weird corporate physics also survived round after round of layoffs, and their reward is being forced to burn through all your Paid Time Off any time projects dry up, which, fun fact, isn't ever an employee's fault. 

And when that runs out, they generously let them rack up negative PTO hours, as if your job has suddenly pivoted to running a reverse vacation Ponzi scheme. Think of it as a cash advance on time you don't have, payable in full as soon as you quit, get fired, or laid off.

Like what you see? Follow our WhatsApp channel for more.

Author image for Etai Eshet Etai Eshet
Advertisement

Stay up to date by following us on Facebook!

Tags

management boss workplace-stories hr toxic-workplace manager bosses work PTO managers supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses work-life balance
Scroll down for the next article

Also From FAIL Blog

Trending Now

16-year-old tells 14-year-old half-sister she's not allowed to spend time with her father when he visits after she insists on tagging along on their outings: 'My dad isn't her dad and that she's got her own'

16-year-old tells 14-year-old half-sister she's not allowed to spend time with her father when he visits after she insists on tagging along on their outings: 'My dad isn't her dad and that she's got her own'

01
Employee tells coworkers to stop telling him how to do his job, gets caught breaking the rules by the boss: 'We had 10 trucks to unload'

Employee tells coworkers to stop telling him how to do his job, gets caught breaking the rules by the boss: 'We had 10 trucks to unload'

02
Broke sister refuses to thank younger sister for paying off her credit card debt, calls her ‘an idiot who pays for everything’, then asks for another loan: ‘I hope she gets evicted’

Broke sister refuses to thank younger sister for paying off her credit card debt, calls her ‘an idiot who pays for everything’, then asks for another loan: ‘I hope she gets evicted’

03
24-year-old woman kicks out unemployed, freeloading friend after she turns her short visit into a 3-week all-inclusive vacation: ‘She called me heartless’

24-year-old woman kicks out unemployed, freeloading friend after she turns her short visit into a 3-week all-inclusive vacation: ‘She called me heartless’

04
‘I would’ve much rather just have been laid off with everyone else’: Job forces employees into negative PTO debt, where taking time off means owing the company money later

‘I would’ve much rather just have been laid off with everyone else’: Job forces employees into negative PTO debt, where taking time off means owing the company money later

05
Employee of 25+ years takes 10 weeks of PTO, then resigns: 'You need my help? It'll cost 1 mil'

Employee of 25+ years takes 10 weeks of PTO, then resigns: 'You need my help? It'll cost 1 mil'

06
Advertisement