Apathetic boss disallows employee to take a yearly vacation with their sick mother, but allows the rest of their colleagues to take them without hesitation: ‘My boss told me that I was "bringing down morale"’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jul 8, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Unexpected things happen in our lives all the time—we simply cannot control everything that life throws at us. If you said you could prepare yourself for any obstacle, you'd be lying through your teeth. It's difficult to navigate unexpected hardships in our lives while simultaneously balancing a career and other familial obligations, so it's important to give yourself some grace in the moments you can catch your breath. We're all on this floating rock trying to figure out our best foot forward, and with that comes a lot of ups and downs.

However, the workplace is known to be a very unforgiving landscape. No matter how much you think your managers want to see you win, they will always prioritize workflow over their employees' well-being. It's a difficult pill to swallow at first, but once you release yourself from the shackles of a toxic workplace mindset, the weight on your shoulders is lifted, and you begin prioritizing what we were supposed to be doing on this earth the entire time—spending time with loved ones.

In this next story, a dedicated employee's time off is barely considered after their mother has and is recovering from brain surgery. They want to take their annual vacation with their family, especially given their mother's health condition, but are struggling to make it work at their workplace. Scroll below to read the entire story.

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  • "This is the only vacation I take time off for."
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • "My job is allowing everyone to go on vacation but me"

    My job is allowing everyone else to take extended vacations except for me.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • I have a family vacation I take every year, my job knows I take this vacation every year. I requested my time off 3 months in advance, and my boss told me that he was explicitly told I cannot go. No explanation as to why.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • This trip is extremely important to me because my mother recently had a medical emergency that required brain surgery. She is
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • okay now but she will never be the same physically or mentally. For all I know this could be my last trip with her, especially since she is older. My employers did
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • not even try to make this trip happen. It took me jumping through hoops and bargaining for them to even let me go for less than half of the time I requested.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • Cheezburger Image 10526660352
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • On the days they needed me so desperately for, there is other staff there to cover.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • Because of how important this is to me, I fought for the ability to go longer (I am part time). There are multiple other full time
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • employees there all of the days I need off. They do the same job as me. I even asked them if they would be willing to cover my shifts and they agreed.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • After I asked them to cover it, my boss told me that I was "bringing down morale" by asking coworkers to cover the shift so I can go. They also said I had "guilt
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • tripped" them. I have not mentioned anything personal that could be considered guilt tripping or bringing down morale.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • Everytime I try to bring up my vacation it's treated as extremely taboo even though I will be gone for 9 days, and every other employee has been allowed to
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • take their vacations which have been much longer. On top of that, I covered for those employees while they were gone for weeks at a time. They do not want to let
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • me go during these "busy" times despite everyone else taking weeks vacation around this time. Nobody else will be on vacation during my planned dates.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • I then overheard a supervisor talking sh about me for a mistake they made. I do my tasks to the best of my ability every single day. I give 110% to this job
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • and I have loved what I do, but this whole vacation thing really seems personal and the work environment has slowly become toxic because of the people in
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • power. I really want to quit so I can just go on the vacation and find another job. But it's extremely conflicting and I feel so defeated.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • For extra context- I only ever call out if I'm sick. Even then, I let them know what I have and see if they want me to come in or not. This is the only vacation I take time off for. I always come in on
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • my days off when someone has called out. I am never late, always at least 10 minutes early. I always take on extra duties and tasks to
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • help out when I can. Coworkers even ask me to house sit when they go on vacation, and I always say yes just to help them out.
    via TraditionalOcelot601
  • DM504HK They are going to fire you the moment they have a suitable replacement lined up and approved, so take your vacation, update your resume, and start looking for a new job.
    via DM504HK
  • Open-Savings-7691 These people don't value you and are trying to make you quit. If I were you I wouldn't bother to return to this job once your vacation time is up. Start looking for a better environment immediately.
    via Open-Savings-7691

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terrible coworkers workplace-stories toxic-workplace work coworkers reddit story horrible-management entitled people karma workplace Horrible Bosses reddit thread family vacation summer vacation entitled people vacation toxic-work-environment
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