Company asks employees to donate PTO to their coworkers because the holidays are a season of giving: 'We need your generosity.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Nov 23, 2025 8:00 PM EST

They're sounding like a villain in a Christmas movie right now.

We've all heard the stories of teachers or nurses coming together and donating their sick days or paid time off to a coworker who is dealing with cancer, a loss in the family, or some other tragedy that would prevent them from working. While some see this story as a testament to coworkers' selflessness, all I can think of is the selfishness of the company they work for. It's not right that we live in a world where you can lose your job because of a life-altering tragedy that you have no control over, and therefore lose your health insurance. I know that in a lot of cases, people don't lose their jobs because they have cancer: they just lose their income, having to go on leave indefinitely, and that's the point of donating PTO: PTO and sick days are paid, and once you run out of those and your emergency is still raging on, you lose your source of income. Enter the heroic coworkers donating their PTO instead of the company giving them more paid time off than they "earned." 

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  • 01
    A group of people wearing Christmas party hats sitting at a table with laptops
    via Yunus Tuğ (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The employees in this story are not being asked to donate their Paid Time Off because of the specific suffering of a particular coworker. They're being asked to do so because it's the holiday season, and therefore the season of giving. Their company should do as they say instead of telling their employees how to use their hard-earned time off. 

  • 02

    Company asks employees to donate PTO “during this season of giving”

    My partner got a company-wide email from HR the other day asking employees to DONATE their PTO.
    via u/plastic-death
  • 03
    Apparently they have a PTO bank that employees can tap into when they have medical emergencies. Great. Love it. Except they want their employees to PAY THE WAGES OF OTHER EMPLOYEES.
    via u/plastic-death
  • 04
    And they use manipulative tactics to do it - framing it around a "season of giving." Saying "we need your generosity" and "your donations allow employees to continue receiving income." Simultaneously cringe and existentially tragic.
    via u/plastic-death
  • 05
    Relative-Gate-7230 how about, and this is crazy I know, just give people decent sick leave and benefits?
    via u/Relative-Gate-7230
  • 06
    personofshadow Now that's just being unreasonable.
    via u/personofshadow
  • 07
    Iskaporomic Wild idea, next you'll suggest affordable healthcare for all
    via u/Iskaporomic
  • 08
    A woman in a white lab coat listening to a a woman's heart with a stethascope
    via Pablo Merchán Montes (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 09
    fergie_89 Alas they are lacking in common sense I had this convo with a colleague yesterday. We are UK based so 25 days of AL base plus bank holidays, plus 6 months full pay sick leave which then goes to 70% for 6 months before stat kicks in. Also for medical appointments you can just go and not get penalized. Like no offense but America sucks for full time workers. Your health care system is screwed and honestly I don't know how anyone can afford to live.
    via u/fergie_89
  • 10
    treedecor Seriously though, if they're supposedly so supportive of giving, then why not give your employees all that or at least a living wage... The corporate hypocrisy never fails to annoy me
    via u/treedecor
  • 11
    These-Maintenance-51 "Before I donate any of my time, I'd like to ask how generous the company is being during this season of giving?"
    via u/These-Maintenance-51
  • 12
    No_Structure7185 they probably see themself as generous bc they employ others and give them money. completely disregarding that they earn more money from an employee than they pay them. so you are rude by keeping all the good stuff (PTO) you were generously given by yourself! →
    via u/No_Structure7185
  • 13
    SnooCats7584 This is very common in teachers' unions in CA, but it's managed by the union in our CBA rather than directed by the district. We don't pay into Social Security so we have to pay for insurance and this is a way to bridge the gap or cover someone who didn't know to have insurance or used up their paid leave.
    via u/SnooCats7584
  • 14
    VixKnacks Yeah this is pretty common at union jobs where I am as well. I used to work with a union rep that would calculate how much time she would earn over the next year and then donate that amount from her bank so she could start accruing again but never put herself at major risk of not having enough time(bc you could keep insane pto at her level of seniority). She was a really awesome lady.
    via u/VixKnacks
  • 15
    enjolbear The only time I'm ok with this is if they have "use or lose" PTO. Use or lose is dumb itself, but it makes sense to donate it if you know you can't use it all before it "expires". Otherwise, this is complete BS.
    via u/enjolbear
  • 16
    Jarrus_Kanan_Jarrus Use it or loose it PTO makes me angry. If we earned it, it should be paid out, either by us using it or getting a check at the end of the year.
    via u/Jarrus_Kanan_Jarrus
  • 17
    corkbeverly my company does use or lose and I hate it, they then complain that everyone is trying to take time off in december and what about coverage? but they won't let you just carry a few days over so..
    via u/corkbeverly
  • 18
    joser559 This the same thing as grocery stores/fast food restaurants with donations to "feed the hungry" knowing well that they (grocery stores/ fast food restaurants) throw away good food, than can be used daily by 100s of people. Corporations will do anything to keep their profits
    via u/joser559
  • 19
    realhumannotai This is the single reason I will never own a food business again. It is such a disgusting reality how food businesses throw SO MUCH away, (they're legally obligated to) even when other people openly accept the liability that comes with accepting that food as donations. It is so fucked up and I refuse to me part of that system.
    via u/realhumannotai
  • 20
    I always had less stock instead of more and customers would get mad, But in other countries, customers are understanding of the fact that small businesses or ANY business should not waste food, so its better to run out than throw it away. It is culturally understood, but not in america. You run out, you get bad reviews. The customer mindset is fucked.
    via u/realhumannotai
  • 21
    GrowlingAtTheWorld Why does not employer make the PTO Bank themselves? They hold the PTO Treasury and are the PTO Mint. Just make additional PTO available on an individually case basis for emergencies and catastrophic needs.
    via u/GrowlingAtTheWorld
  • 22
    mshelbz But then you have PTO hyperinflation. The company is doing the best they can to balance the tricky PTO economy.
    via u/mshelbz
  • 23
    Dstareternl Sorry. I'm in my season of taking
    via u/Dstareternl
  • 24
    Child picking strawberries in the kitchen
    via Kelly Sikkema

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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christmas antiwork generosity holiday season gift giving work coworkers reddit story holiday PTO generous reddit thread Reddit company coworker holidays
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