Employee gets no coverage for long weekends off, is expected to cover for colleagues taking 2-3 weeks off at once

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Apr 1, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Should you get to use your time off however you please? 

When work gives us time off, we should use it however we want to. We likely don't get enough of it anyway, so we should feel free to use it in a way that suits our needs. We should use it to support our lives and our free time. If that means taking it all at once so you can go on a jet-setting vacation, then so be it. If it means taking a few days off here and there for some staycations and short trips, then that is your prerogative. It's your time, so you should be able to use it how you see fit. But getting coverage for work is not always a simple thing. If you're good at your job, which I'll assume you are, then there are probably tasks that would fall to the wayside when you're not there. 

Preparing for a day off can be tricky business, because you want to honor the fact that you're taking time off, and don't want to create too much extra work for yourself, but you also want to make sure all your bases are covered. This is where your coworkers come in. You can all take turns making sure each other has coverage for time off, and hope that it all shakes out equally in the end. This doesn't always happen, though, and can end up feeling pretty unfair. That's what happened here.

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  • A man uses his computer while sitting in a nook at work
    via Kenny Eliason

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

  • Anyone else get no coverage when you take a long weekend, yet expected to cover others when they take 2-3 consecutive weeks off?

    I work for a large corporation where we get 3 weeks of vacation per year with 2 floating holidays. Most years I have a lot of plans that typically involve seeing friends and family I have around the country. Since 3 weeks isn't a lot of time and my family and friends have different schedules, I've found it best to split this time over 5-6 long weekends a year (mostly taking Friday through Tuesday off).
    via Standard_Subject_401
  • I've noticed that when I outline my coverage requests on the prior Wednesday or Thursday, the only thing that will get covered is the meeting I run. Other than that, any work that typically goes to me is in my inbox along with 100s of other emails. People tend to think oh, he's only off for a long weekend, he can get to it when he gets back.
    via Standard_Subject_401
  • On the other hand, I have coworkers who take their 3 weeks all at once. They go on some big expedition around the world and get to return to no work, since our bosses are like oh well they're gone for nearly a month, we can't let this work just sit here.
    via Standard_Subject_401
  • Every year my bosses are surprised at how much more work I ended up doing compared to my colleagues, and they're too incompetent to realize that it's because when my coworkers are gone I'm doing 6 weeks' worth of work, and when I'm gone they do none of mine.
    via Standard_Subject_401
  • TLDR; long weekends aren't really vacation, because people always expect you to be able to tackle your backlog as soon as you return. Whereas if your coworker is out for 3 weeks, their expectations become wildly different.
    via Standard_Subject_401

  • Nobody should be punished for being reliable. But sometimes, if you're too good at your job, those around you will grow dependent on it and push even more onto your plate. If you set reasonable expectations, though, people will be surprised and pleased when you surpass them. You should always put all of your effort into something, but you should also make sure that the people around you appreciate it. And this is easier said than done. Sometimes those of us who are the easiest to work with actually suffer because of it. That's what one employee thought was happening to him. Keep reading to see what happened.

  • Commenters gave their sympathies and advice.

    Early_Switch1222 reading this as someone who works in europe and i just want to say, 3 weeks vacation for a large corporation is criminal. like genuinely. i get 25 days minimum where i work (netherlands) and thats standard, not generous
    via Early_Switch1222
  • A man sleeping at his desk with a coffee and laptop
    via Vitaly Gariev

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

  • but to your actual point, yeah the double standard is infuriating and its a management problem. when someone takes 2-3 weeks off, the team is forced to plan around it because the absence is visible and long. enough that things will obviously fall apart without
    via Early_Switch1222
  • coverage. but a long weekend? "oh its just a few days, itll be fine." except its not fine because the same work still needs to happen. honestly i think part of the issue is that your coverage requests are coming wednesday/thursday for a friday departure. by then peoples calendars are full
    via Early_Switch1222
  • and nobody wants to take on extra work last minute. try sending a brief coverage. doc the week before, framed as "heres whats happening. while im out, heres who owns what." make it harder for people to ignore but also, and this is the real talk, if your company culture treats 2-3 week vacations as
    via Early_Switch1222
  • something that gets full backup support but long weekends as "just deal with it when you get back," thats telling you something about how they value different kinds of time off. and its worth pushing back on that with your manager directly 3 weeks for a large corp though. i swear every time i read these posts i understand a little more why this sub exists
    via Early_Switch1222
  • godot_lover fr the penalty for being reliable in corporate is literally just more work. next time they leave for a month i'd just tape a thisto their monitor. fighting toxic corporate bs with fake bureaucratic bs is the only way to stay sane Imao.
    via godot_lover
  • Zymph616 My solution to this is this: | make sure to mention how much I enjoy camping soon after starting a new job. When a vacation is coming up that is 2 or more days I make sure to mention that I'm going camping.
    via Zymph616
  • While I am on vacation I don't respond to any messages from work and if I get a call from a number I don't know, I don't take the call. When I get back from my vacation I mention how nice it was to be out in nature. If anyone asks for details on where I will give a vague answer about a friends private land 3 hours away.
    via Zymph616
  • Keep details about your private time to yourself and don't volunteer any info.
    via Zymph616
  • JJBtch Well I would tell that manager he needs to take on some of that extra work since no one covers me. Why do people not stand up for themselves? I need my job, everyone needs their job, but lowering yourself for
    via JJBtch
  • your job harms you more in the long run. I stand up for myself. I know the job market is terrible but I be d in if I am gonna be the receiving end of a f fest because management is trash. And this management from this post is trash. They
    via JJBtch
  • should have your work covered no matter how many days you take compared to others. The work just wouldn't get done till they returned or management pitched in. I know everyone has too much to lose, and this is why everyone is willing to
    via JJBtch
  • bend over and take a fat one. I have too much to lose, but I be d in if I am taking a fat one from anybody. Plenty of ways to live and survive in this world other than lame a jobs.
    via JJBtch

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boss antiwork toxic-workplace job coworkers weekends working time off workplace bad bosses
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