Healthcare worker can't take vacation when colleague takes vacation, colleague makes last minute requests every time she takes vacation time: 'I reviewed the entire calendar... I noticed it's a pattern'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Dec 24, 2025 9:00 AM EST

Few people in the workplace are craftier than a slacker.

After all, nobody likes the kind of person who leaves all their work for somebody else to do. It takes practice, skill, and a somewhat ironic amount of effort to avoid doing your job in a way that is successful and does not eventually lead to conflict. There has to be a plan in place that nobody would suspect.

However, it is fair to say that the kind of employees who prefer to slack off usually do not work hard enough to make their strategies foolproof. Unless they work a job that is genuinely low effort, somebody is going to notice at some point that their workload is increasing, and they are going to try to find out why that is. 

It can be deeply frustrating and disappointing to realize that a colleague is not doing their job, but what can be even more awkward is the attempt to rectify that situation. They aren't likely to be the kind of individual who deals well with confrontation, and there is every chance that a manager has reasons for taking their side.

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  • two women with stethoscopes look at one another with a whiteboard in the background
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • Everyone deserves a break from their job now and then, and indeed, there are plenty of less fun, more practical life admin reasons that somebody may need to take PTO. It makes it all the more annoying when a coworker plots to sabotage this important time away from work. 

    In this story, a healthcare worker figured out that the colleague on her two-man team was intentionally taking last-minute PTO at the same time as she was, in an attempt to avoid doing work. Company policy was that only one person at a time was allowed to go on vacation, but their manager could often be more forgiving.

    During these times when both employees took time off, the coworker often left a lot of her work to be done by her colleague. Realizing this had been a pattern throughout 2025, the woman looked for a way to talk to her manager about the issue.

  • How to deal with a colleague that requests the same PTO intentionally?

    I'm on a 2 man team working in healthcare. Per our companies policy, only one person is allowed on pto at the time. However my manager is so nice and I know she hates saying no sometimes. When my coworker and I are both out, no one will take care of our work.
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • I have noticed a pattern recently with my coworker. I've noticed that she's been requesting the same days off LAST MINUTE. At first I thought it was a coincidence but after what happened 2 weeks ago I'm like no this is intentional...
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • a string hammock strung up above some rocks by the ocean
    via Nata B
  • So before I booked my tickets, I had asked my coworker if she had any plans for August and she said no. I requested 8 days off to travel overseas and I put in my request 3 months in advance. The week before I'm about to leave on pto(because I needed to finish my work so that she doesn't have to do them) she puts in a
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • request for the same days (5 days out of the 8 days). So I'm like wth? And my manager approved it. Okay like whatever she has the hours. I come back from vacation and found out that she didn't touch any of the work even though she was working 3 of the days. I had to do the work that was left.
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • I requested 11/13 HALF DAY off 2 months in advance. I always look at the work Calendar before requesting days off so that it doesn't conflict with anyone. On 11/12 she tells me she requested half day 11/13 off as well (which is considered a call out) because she wanted to take her dog to pet smart to get groomed. Out of all the days to do that she chose the same day I requested off.
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • I reviewed the entire calendar of 2025 and noticed that it's a pattern. On random days that I'm off, she's off as well. I have no idea why my manager is so nice and not following the policy. I'm just more fed up because lately she's been not doing her work and I have been taking care of 90% of the workload. How do I bring this up to my manager?
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • a woman's hands holding up a planner with highlighted dates on it, facing a wall with various post-it notes
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova (Unsplash+)

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

  • GreenLightt Not gonna lie OP, I'd be doing all kinds of shady moves. Cancelling PTO's last minute so she wastes hers, and making up fake time off to see if she books the same days. I'd be fascinated if she is actually copying all your PTO through you making it as difficult as possible. Sorry this doesn't help your case, but I'm intrigued to see how I'd catch your coworker up
    via GreenLightt
  • OP Sailor-Venus7 Hmm, good idea lol I'll pick a bunch of random Tuesday and Wednesdays to test her. I actually requested the 29th off last minute let's see if she will call out haha
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • me_version_2 Don't share your holiday plans or ask your colleague to confirm their availability. Ask your manager to stay silent on it too, Person #2 will be stuck unless they come into work and then take a sickie and that would be more noticeable. Person #2 is work shy, I assume there are other ways this is manifesting....
    via me_version_2
  • OP Sailor-Venus7 I stopped sharing my plans or asking for her availability. I just look at the calendar now but I have to let my colleague know the day before I'm off so that she can cover my workload since we work in healthcare. She would just request the day before when she finds out that I'm off. I'm not sure why my manager isn't say anything even though she sends out pto requests reminders
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • Natural_Donut173 Or maybe she likes OP so much that working there without her is unbearable :)
    via Natural_Donut173
  • OP Sailor-Venus7 Hmm I think you might be right. She shares way too much personal information to me.. actually I left another thing out. She told me that she has -30 attendance points for always going to work late. Per company policy, -20 points is termination and I guess my manager told her that she will try to switch her to salary so that she doesn't have to worry about clocking in late... And then there's me with perfect attendance while doing 90% of the work.. maybe my manager is the problem
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • XenoRyet So I'm clear on your situation here. You ask for PTO, and you get PTO. Is that correct? Your problem is that you don't think that work that should have been done while you were gone was actually done?
    via XenoRyet
  • OP Sailor-Venus7 So we share our tasks, we don't split our work equally. The work was assigned to us both when I was gone and she was in the office. I came back from vacation and it was not taken care of which affects our patients and doctors.. so I had to take care of it even though it was assigned 8 days prior. I guess it's been a pattern where she does this. Regardless of the the pto thing, she doesn't contribute to the work and it's frustrating
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • The_Coaltrain Could you clarify exactly what your question/concern is? Is it work she committed to do and didn't do, or just something you were expecting her to do?
    via The_Coaltrain
  • OP Sailor-Venus7 How do I tell my manager that I'm sick of coming back from vacation with all of the work untouched and stacked because my colleague would request time off the day before I'm off lol We share our workload and she just doesn't do them and leaves them until I'm back even though it's also her work.
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • The_Coaltrain But wouldn't there always be a backlog if you are a team of two and one of you goes away? Do you both do (roughly) the same amount of work when you are both there?
    via The_Coaltrain
  • OP Sailor-Venus7 We each have our own assigned 3 hospitals to work on and a shared inbox that we have to clear (assignments from drs, other staff). It will show the date that was sent to the inbox. I'd be out 20th-24th; and the task will be sent on the 20th and will be sitting until I come back. I have left it untouched for 2 days to see if she will work on them but she doesn't. Sometimes, she would write her name on the tasks stating that she will take care of them. Actually, there is a letter
    via Sailor-Venus7
  • desertvida I think you need to go to your boss and share that, because the"only one person off" policy isn't being upheld, you comeback from PTO with a burden of work waiting for you that the policy isn't meant to cover. Tell your boss how far that puts you behind when you return, like missing 8 days of work, then coming back and doing that work puts you 13 days behind, or whatever. Make it your boss's problem in that they are preventing you from jumping back in to current needs when you return.
    via desertvida
  • Entire-Flower1259 It looks like she doesn't want it to be obvious that she does no work.
    via Entire-Flower1529

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coworkers healthcare vacation manager work PTO entitled people
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