‘If you go, you're fired’: Boss denied employee's time off request after discovering their summer vacations are at the same time, employee refuses to reschedule

"Your work here is so important to us that we would rather fire you than let you go on vacation."

Unless your job actually saves lives, we can probably all agree that your office can manage without you for a few days while you take a much-needed vacation. The only person who doesn't agree is, for some reason, your boss. The second you hand in your time-off request, suddenly the boss cannot imagine a reality in which you are not there. How can they possibly manage without you?

The situation for the employee below is even more grave, apparently, because it seems like her vacation falls on the same dates as her boss's vacation. So now the office has to manage without both of them, and management refuses to let that happen.

Mind you, these vacations are happening in July, which means that the office has months to prepare for a week in which both this employee and her boss will not be there. And still, they will not try to find a solution, and instead demand that the oh-so-important employee reschedule her non-refundable vacation.

When the employee told management that she would do no such thing, they told her she would be fired if she went on her vacation anyway. Apparently, she is too vital to the company to be allowed to take a week off, but not too vital to be fired if she goes on vacation. Makes total sense, right?

via FatCamera

A woman walking through revolving doors.
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Noified my work weeks ago I'm leaving for a family vacation in July, tickets were bought, non-transferrable, and they are panicking, begging me to cancel

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Time off Request.
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Should this employee fight for her time off, or should she cave in and reschedule? Is the boss bluffing by saying she would be fired if she goes on vacation, or do you believe it is a genuine threat?
What should the employee do?
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