Employee Resigns After HR Reprimands Him For Excessive PTO Despite Taking the Same Time Off Every Year

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jun 9, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Can you imagine being told that the vacation time you took, which you rightfully earned, was suddenly considered excessive?

It's safe to say that this is not how you treat a loyal employee who has been working with you for over half a decade. This man, who shared his story with the r/antiwork subreddit community online, found himself taken aback when, on the first day of the same annual leave he had been taking for five years, he was notified by a coworker from human resources that he needed to come into the office to discuss his "excessive leave."

For context, not only was this the same amount of time off he always took each year, but the argument from HR's perspective also incorporated the bereavement leave he took earlier this year when he was handling a personal family matter involving his grandmother. It was company policy that bereavement leave and paid time off were not one and the same, so we find it interesting that all of a sudden, when it suits upper management, they have deemed that they can, in fact, conflate the two. Not to mention, there seems to have been zero expression of empathy for what their employee has been going through with his family.

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  • A model poses as a frustrated man sitting on the steps with his head in his hands.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    A model poses as a frustrated man sitting on the steps with his head in his hands.

  • Accused of taking excessive leave on my first day of annual leave

    Today is the first day of my annual leave. Each year I take annual leave at the same time each year for the same amount of time each year to go see my wife's family. This is
    via One_Prune_6882
  • common knowledge around the office and has been routine for the past 5 years.
    via One_Prune_6882
  • A photograph representing an angry employee sitting on the steps of a building screaming on his phone while working on his laptop.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    A photograph representing an angry employee sitting on the steps of a building screaming on his phone while working on his laptop.

  • Today is the first day of my annual leave and I receive an email from the HR lady asking me to come into the office for a meeting about my excessive use of personal leave this year.
    via One_Prune_6882
  • Only other time I took time off this year was bereavement leave because my grandmother d d after a series of large strokes and I had to be present at the hospital
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  • because I had medical power of attorney and because it's my family.
    via One_Prune_6882
  • A model poses as an employee submitting his letter of resignation in an office.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    A model poses as an employee submitting his letter of resignation in an office.

  • Now instead of using my regular leave to take my annual trip to see my partners family I'll be using all my time to handle the complex estate my grandmother left behind.
    via One_Prune_6882
  • This email from HR really upset me and I've decided when my leave ends I'm going to hand in my resignation. Fingers crossed I can find a job asap.
    via One_Prune_6882
  • A photo depicting an employee carrying a box of personal supplies away.
    via Unsplash+ (Curated Lifestyle)

    A photo depicting an employee carrying a box of personal supplies away.

  • (Worth noting this is just the straw that broke the camels back realistically I should have quit a year and a half ago)
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  • The Redditor responded to several members of this online community with some further clarification about his employment status, along with a promising update. The good news is that the author has spent no time dwelling on the matter and has instead used a good chunk of his time off looking for better opportunities. Of course, we wish he could take an actual vacation given the year that he has had, but here's hoping that he will have some time to recharge before the next employment opportunity begins.

    For more stories about PTO debacles in the workplace, check out this ridiculous story about a new hire who couldn't take off any time between September and June, as well as this article about the mixed bag that is unlimited PTO.

  • Clarification update. I'm seeing lots of speculation in the comments and I'm not overly comfortable getting to granular but there's a couple things I want to address.
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  • 1. I'm not in America I'm in Australia/New Zealand so none of the American legal suggestions are viable.
    via One_Prune_6882
  • 2. I'm part of a medical non profit corporation so I have a legally binding contract with stipulations like required notice periods for quitting.
    via One_Prune_6882
  • 3. Quiet quitting is not viable if I did the bare minimum or only what is outlined in my job description
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  • the people I care for have a massive decline in their quality of care and I know that is by design so me and my coworkers are expected to work Ourselves
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  • 1. into the ground because we have a strong moral compass and compassion.
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  • And lastly positive note to end on I've sent off dozen or so job applications and booked 4 job interviews already. One of the emails
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  • i received back is from an old manager I had that changed companies right before the change in upper management back in 2024 so cautiously optimistic.
    via One_Prune_6882

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employee work stories annual leave i quit satisfying quitting story PTO human resources resignation vacation
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