Manager claims employee could be fired taking a vacation day for exam, employee passes and finds a better job: 'My former position is going to stay vacant for a very long time'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jul 16, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

The whole point of a management position in a company is that the person appointed to said position is supposed to bring structure, order, and support to the projects and teams that they manage. Unfortunately, many employees end up in situations where this structure is designed to control and manipulate, and the support is almost nonexistent. While there are some decent bosses out there, not everybody is blessed with one, and there are a few who seem to do everything they can to make life miserable for their underlings.

When somebody finds themselves trapped in a situation like this, there is nothing more satisfying than finding a means of revenge. It often doesn't come easily, which makes any payoff even sweeter. It is usually easiest to do when there is already another job lined up, enabling a long-suffering employee to enact a scorched earth policy that can really have an effect.

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  • 01

    Manager maliciously made me miss two days of paycheck and harassed me during her vacation. I made sure everyone that was about to enter the company know about it so the vacancy wouldn't get filled

    I used to work in a state owned company, and you could only become employed in it if you passed a public selection program. I was in the first batch of people that came in, and there should be four other batches. There were a a lot of vacancies in the company as well. When I got in, people in my area of expertise got internally interviewed so we would get directed to the company sections that best suited our skills, but we would also be interviewing back the managers. When it was my turn to ask
    via RatReporter
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10530351360
    via engin akyurt

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

  • One worker took the opportunity to do exactly that after their manager forbade them from taking vacation time to take a professional exam. While she was on vacation, this supervisor texted them the night before and insisted that they would get in trouble if they went ahead with it.

    The employee took the exam nonetheless, passing it and enabling them to move to a better working position. Informing the manager when she got back from her vacation, they didn't stop there with their victory lap.

  • 03
    Company policy also stated that we could use our overtime hours to miss a day's work if our managed allowed, and that work from home days could be changed at the manager's discretion. Not long after, I had to go do a public selection that required my absence during a monday (trip day) and a tuesday (exame day, would take about four hours). I asked to use all the overtime hours I acculated so I could miss monday, and then asked if I could remote work from the hotel at tuesday (since I had no flig
    via RatReporter
  • 04
    The substitute manager apparently went to check with her before allowing it, and I was told I wouldn't be able to use my overtime to miss one work day, because of an excepcion to the company policy I was never told about: you could only actually use your OT hours to miss work during holiday season, and it was written in an internal document of my area. Since I had to do that exam, because it was a much nicer position, I would take a one day hit to my paycheck. On monday, which was the day previo
    via RatReporter
  • 05
    I told her it those things were not what we discussed during the interview and that it was impossible for me to show up on the next day, because there were no flights that would allow me to get to work on time. She also threated me with a poor review for missing two days of work, so I could actually get fired. And even I if wasn't fired, I wouldn't get promoted either. I barely slept because not only I would have a very important exam, but also because if I failed it, I would not only not take t
    via RatReporter
  • 06
    On the next week, she returned from her vacation, and I gleefully told her I was quitting in about two weeks because I passed to that much nicer position. She "congratulated" me and then almost literally went running to HR so she could ask for one person to fill my position in the next batches of the new hires. One problem though: a lot of people are not even coming to sign the contract with the company, because the pay is not that good given the requirements for the position. So what would be s
    via RatReporter
  • 07
    My former position is very likely going to stay vacant for a very long time and she is going to get overworked....and my boss can only blame herself for lying to me about flexibility regarding work hours, threatening to give me a bad review and make me miss two days worth of paycheck. Had she allowed me the flexibility I was promissed, I would have told everyone how great of a position it was. And to show how much of an ah le she is: in the next week, a coworker (one of the people that are going
    via RatReporter
  • 08
    54 92 T0 S A 0 2
    via Christin Hume
  • 09

    Others applauded the well-deserved revenge.

    HappyGoLuckyOcean I love the fact that you told everyone what she did and what type of manager she was - she deserves to struggle to fill the position!
    via HappyGoLuckyOcean
  • 10
    Su-at-sapo The boss was sabotaging you that is why she made sure to ruin your sleep the day before your exam threatening to fire you and just making you upset and mess with your head. Glad you were able to persevere despite her attempts, my mum had to endure the very same situation throughout her law degree, every time she had an exam, bosses and coworkers would make her work a living h_l.
    via Su-at-sapo
  • 11
    jodrellbank_pants I do something similar. I give the new starters heads up to all the bad stuff that happens and all the quick fixes so you can leave asap Bosses think everyone is like me they are flummoxed.
    via jodrellbank_pants
  • 12
    Lunaris TheOne She was actually jealous and didn't want to get a better job. She wanted you to stay on the jo. Never be transparent about other opportunities you are pursuing. I've had a job where we weren't allowed to get certified after training because a certificate would mean we could either ask for a raise or have better odds at another job elsewhere.
    via LunarisTheOne
  • 13
    RatReporter OP She was actually jealous and didn't want to get a better job. It's possible. Her current job (and my former) is very nice and better than 95% the market has to offer, but the position I passed for is a dream position for pretty much every student in my area because of the wage, work benefits and prestige. It took me 8 years of studying plus 5 years in college to actually pass (and that's normal for that job), because just so many people want it and the exams are very hard.
    via RatReporter
  • 14
    AprilB916 She burned her own a by lying to you from the beginning to get the position filled. Good burn, and I like how you divided the story up :)
    via AprilB916
  • 15
    Agnessp She created this issue. A good manager, that offers reasonable flexibility, demonstrates support of career growth and dedication to getting their team members promoted, has no problems finding new employees; because the compensation might be less than people want long term, they will be willing to take the role if they know that they have other benefits that point to better situations in the longer term. I took a pay cut from a part-time food service job (after college) to work full time
    via Agnessp
  • 16
    Notmykl Is there a reason you believed what the manager said instead of looking into what is/isn't allowed yourself?
    via Notmykl
  • 17
    RatReporter OP For the overtime compensation, it is actually written in a broad document that everyone is aware of and is easily acessible. However, that document says that it is at the manager's discretion. There is a more restrictive document that is internal to my company sector and I would never know about it before choosing that sector. Regarding the switch in the work from home days, I consulted with HR right before asking to quit, and they told me that it was entirely at the manager's dis
    via RatReporter
  • 18
    F1-T_ Congratulations on the new job!
    via F1-T_
  • 19
    TequillaBear Be careful because she can come after you even if you're telling the truth. I work in a grocery store and I'm vague but slightly discouraging. Like saying the union contracts are not the same as 20-30 years ago when people ask. If you're expecting the conditions and benefits of back then, you're out of luck. In 30 years I have seen too much and know where the skeletons are hiding.
    via TequillaBear
  • 20
    jodrellbank_pants I do something similar. I give the new starters heads up to all the bad stuff that happens and all the quick fixes so you can leave asap Bosses think everyone is like me they are flummoxed.
    via jodrellbank_pants

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boss work Horrible Bosses exams promotion fired job vacation petty revenge reddit thread Reddit resignation
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