Work vent - Upated #53/79

[jen0610]

I am so ticked I can't see straight. Here is what I am dealing with.

The company I work for has a policy in place that you can split 1 week of vacation into single days. They also have in place a policy that all vacation requests are filled on a first come, first serve basis.

Knowing that we had no plans to go any where or money to do a go outta town vacation, on June 26th I turned in my written requests for July 10th, 17th, 24th and Aug 7th off. The kids are out of school and DH is on lay off for the entire month of July, we could spend the day doing things with the kids that were cheap. NO ONE ELSE had the office vacation calendar noted that they had those days off approved or were waiting on pending approval back. If any one had marked these days, I would NEVER have put in my own slip asking for the same day.

So fast forward to today. I still haven't gotten my slip for this Friday back. DH is asking if I have it off. He is going to make other plans if I don't. I go to the boss and ask about it. The boss tells me "I suppose you can have it off, but I don't think I am going to give you the 7th off because you've been hogging all the Fridays and Heather wants it off now, too".

Now my issues are.....#1 - Per the policy, I turned my request in 1st, so I should have the day off. The other girl is boo-hooing that her baby turns 21 that weekend and she really wanted to be able to do something with him that weekend. My responce is - YOU have know for HOW MANY MONTHS when you baby was hitting this milestone....YOU should have turned in your request for time off request MONTHS AGO, not last Friday!!!

#2 - Since when is taking off 4 Fridays hogging them, there are 48 other Fridays someone can take off. I have taken off summer Fridays every summer that I have worked here, except one. I am the only one in the office with grade/middle school aged kids, every one else has/had high school/college aged or older kids. I ALWAYS check and double check to make sure NO ONE else wants one of the days I am asking for off, before I turn in my slips. I have only taken 1 full week off the entire time I have worked here and the 2nd time I took a week off, I actually had to come in and work 1 day, because the person who was to have done my job that day was off due to a death in her family. Yes, I was nice enough to give up one of my vacation days, so that payroll could get done. DH and I still disagree on this one. I feel I did the right thing, he says I got used. I got paid both a vaction day and 8 hours of pay for the day I was actually there. Would not let me move a vacation day for later use, which is why he says I got used.

DH is of the option, that if my day off is denied and hers is approved, that I need to get a rip roaring migraine on Aug the 6th, leave work early, go to the dr's then not go into work on the 7th. While this is appealing, it's not very classy and just lowers me to the bosses and the other girls level. Every where else I have ever worked, between the girls we have always made sure that no one doubles up days off. If someone already had it off or had asked for it off, you selected another day. Last year, I pull one of my Fridays, just so this same boo-hooing girl could take it off, as it was the date that her freshmen daughter could move into her dorm. It was a I'll scratch your back, you can scratch mine later.

I am just so ticked off at both of them I can't see straight. It doesn't help that I have already been looking/thinking of make a change, but this just might have been the straw that broke the camels back.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[Piglet]

Vent away. Seems like rules only apply when it is conventient for everyone else. I feel your pain.

 

[LoraJ]

Is there something you have planned for that day? If not I would let Heather have that day off and maybe take off the Monday instead.

 

[mickeyboat]

I am so ticked I can't see straight. Here is what I am dealing with.

The company I work for has a policy in place that you can split 1 week of vacation into single days. They also have in place a policy that all vacation requests are filled on a first come, first serve basis.

Knowing that we had no plans to go any where or money to do a go outta town vacation, on June 26th I turned in my written requests for July 10th, 17th, 24th and Aug 7th off. The kids are out of school and DH is on lay off for the entire month of July, we could spend the day doing things with the kids that were cheap. NO ONE ELSE had the office vacation calendar noted that they had those days off approved or were waiting on pending approval back. If any one had marked these days, I would NEVER have put in my own slip asking for the same day.

So fast forward to today. I still haven't gotten my slip for this Friday back. DH is asking if I have it off. He is going to make other plans if I don't. I go to the boss and ask about it. The boss tells me "I suppose you can have it off, but I don't think I am going to give you the 7th off because you've been hogging all the Fridays and Heather wants it off now, too".

Now my issues are.....#1 - Per the policy, I turned my request in 1st, so I should have the day off. The other girl is boo-hooing that her baby turns 21 that weekend and she really wanted to be able to do something with him that weekend. My responce is - YOU have know for HOW MANY MONTHS when you baby was hitting this milestone....YOU should have turned in your request for time off request MONTHS AGO, not last Friday!!!

#2 - Since when is taking off 4 Fridays hogging them, there are 48 other Fridays someone can take off. I have taken off summer Fridays every summer that I have worked here, except one. I am the only one in the office with grade/middle school aged kids, every one else has/had high school/college aged or older kids. I ALWAYS check and double check to make sure NO ONE else wants one of the days I am asking for off, before I turn in my slips. I have only taken 1 full week off the entire time I have worked here and the 2nd time I took a week off, I actually had to come in and work 1 day, because the person who was to have done my job that day was off due to a death in her family. Yes, I was nice enough to give up one of my vacation days, so that payroll could get done. DH and I still disagree on this one. I feel I did the right thing, he says I got used. I got paid both a vaction day and 8 hours of pay for the day I was actually there. Would not let me move a vacation day for later use, which is why he says I got used.

DH is of the option, that if my day off is denied and hers is approved, that I need to get a rip roaring migraine on Aug the 6th, leave work early, go to the dr's then not go into work on the 7th. While this is appealing, it's not very classy and just lowers me to the bosses and the other girls level. Every where else I have ever worked, between the girls we have always made sure that no one doubles up days off. If someone already had it off or had asked for it off, you selected another day. Last year, I pull one of my Fridays, just so this same boo-hooing girl could take it off, as it was the date that her freshmen daughter could move into her dorm. It was a I'll scratch your back, you can scratch mine later.

I am just so ticked off at both of them I can't see straight. It doesn't help that I have already been looking/thinking of make a change, but this just might have been the straw that broke the camels back.

Thanks for letting me vent.

New Rule!

I have to be perfectly honest with you. I would not be happy if someone in my office hogged four of the nine summer Fridays (another of the nine is a holiday, so there would only be four summer Fridays left for anyone else). Week-long vacations tend to be planned well in advance. Days off here and there tend to be last-minute requests. It would stink to never have the flexibility to take a last-minute summer Friday, because they are already taken.

Also, does your taking of all these Fridays preclude everyone else from taking those entire weeks off, because there is no coverage on Friday? Could you change your days to a Monday instead of a Friday here and there?

Personally if I did not have any plans set in stone, I would not have a problem at all changing my day off so my co-worker could spend a birthday with a child, or to move her to college.

You did make these requests rather late in the game, and you did check on the calendar to make sure no one else had requested them. But if I were your boss, I would probably have to make a rule next year that no one can have more than two summer Fridays off, or something like that.

ETA - maybe before you present your slip to the boss next year you should run your request by your co-workers, just as a consideration.

 

[jrmasm]

I have to be perfectly honest with you. I would not be happy if someone in my office hogged four of the nine summer Fridays (another of the nine is a holiday, so there would only be four summer Fridays left for anyone else). Week-long vacations tend to be planned well in advance. Days off here and there tend to be last-minute requests. It would stink to never have the flexibility to take a last-minute summer Friday, because they are already taken.

I agree. Even if you follow the rules it's still kind of a crappy thing to do.

 

[WriteDisney]

I am so ticked I can't see straight. Here is what I am dealing with.

The company I work for has a policy in place that you can split 1 week of vacation into single days. They also have in place a policy that all vacation requests are filled on a first come, first serve basis.

Knowing that we had no plans to go any where or money to do a go outta town vacation, on June 26th I turned in my written requests for July 10th, 17th, 24th and Aug 7th off. The kids are out of school and DH is on lay off for the entire month of July, we could spend the day doing things with the kids that were cheap. NO ONE ELSE had the office vacation calendar noted that they had those days off approved or were waiting on pending approval back. If any one had marked these days, I would NEVER have put in my own slip asking for the same day.

So fast forward to today. I still haven't gotten my slip for this Friday back. DH is asking if I have it off. He is going to make other plans if I don't. I go to the boss and ask about it. The boss tells me "I suppose you can have it off, but I don't think I am going to give you the 7th off because you've been hogging all the Fridays and Heather wants it off now, too".

Now my issues are.....#1 - Per the policy, I turned my request in 1st, so I should have the day off. The other girl is boo-hooing that her baby turns 21 that weekend and she really wanted to be able to do something with him that weekend. My responce is - YOU have know for HOW MANY MONTHS when you baby was hitting this milestone....YOU should have turned in your request for time off request MONTHS AGO, not last Friday!!!

#2 - Since when is taking off 4 Fridays hogging them, there are 48 other Fridays someone can take off. I have taken off summer Fridays every summer that I have worked here, except one. I am the only one in the office with grade/middle school aged kids, every one else has/had high school/college aged or older kids. I ALWAYS check and double check to make sure NO ONE else wants one of the days I am asking for off, before I turn in my slips. I have only taken 1 full week off the entire time I have worked here and the 2nd time I took a week off, I actually had to come in and work 1 day, because the person who was to have done my job that day was off due to a death in her family. Yes, I was nice enough to give up one of my vacation days, so that payroll could get done. DH and I still disagree on this one. I feel I did the right thing, he says I got used. I got paid both a vaction day and 8 hours of pay for the day I was actually there. Would not let me move a vacation day for later use, which is why he says I got used.

DH is of the option, that if my day off is denied and hers is approved, that I need to get a rip roaring migraine on Aug the 6th, leave work early, go to the dr's then not go into work on the 7th. While this is appealing, it's not very classy and just lowers me to the bosses and the other girls level. Every where else I have ever worked, between the girls we have always made sure that no one doubles up days off. If someone already had it off or had asked for it off, you selected another day. Last year, I pull one of my Fridays, just so this same boo-hooing girl could take it off, as it was the date that her freshmen daughter could move into her dorm. It was a I'll scratch your back, you can scratch mine later.

I am just so ticked off at both of them I can't see straight. It doesn't help that I have already been looking/thinking of make a change, but this just might have been the straw that broke the camels back.

Thanks for letting me vent.

It's okay to vent I plan my days off well in advance too. I think if you know you want a day off you should put in the request first. It doesn't seem fair at all that they could do that if its first come, first serve. I agree with what someone else said, it does seem like sometimes the rules only apply until its not convenient for someone else.

Hope everythings works out for you

 

[disneyatl]

I'm with some of the others, I'd be kind of ticked if you took every Friday off 4 weeks in a row, especially if it prevented anyone else in your department from having the same day off.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm with some of the others, I'd be kind of ticked if you took every Friday off 4 weeks in a row, especially if it prevented anyone else in your department from having the same day off.

I agree. While your office has the policy to allow you to take days I thinks its very unfair of you to try to take 5 fridays off between the months of July and August. Most everyone I know wants to take time off in the summer. Don't be surprised if this leads to a new office policy.

 

[suzannen]

We only work half-days on Fridays in July and August and because of that, we had a lot of problems since certain co-workers would always put in early requests to take off every Friday which limited others from taking them. There were so many arguments and unhappy people, that finally a new policy was made that stated you could not take more than 2 Fridays off in a row in the summer without special written permission from the president and no more than 4 total doing this time period.
So, I can understand them not approving all of yours, BUT since you did try to put in for it ahead of time, they either should have approved it or denied it early on and then informed you of the decision so that you could plan around it. Hope you're able to work it out.

 

[Pakey]

A vacation request is a request, nothing more. The employer has no legal obligation to grant the request for a specific day or set of days. I deny vacation requests like this all of the time because I think it's bad for overall morale for one person on my staff to get every Friday for July. I certainly do not consider myself to be classless.

OP, if you are considering calling in sick on that Friday to spite the company, be prepared for the repurcussions. I'm an easygoing boss but an action like that would be etched in stone for me. Today, jobs are not so easy to come by and burning bridges is never a good idea.

 

[Mom2Nick]

I agree. While your office has the policy to allow you to take days I thinks its very unfair of you to try to take 5 fridays off between the months of July and August. Most everyone I know wants to take time off in the summer. Don't be surprised if this leads to a new office policy.

We have had to revamp our policy due to the same issues. We were having people put in for vacation in January for consecutive long weekends all summer long so they could be the first in line. Now we do not allow anyone who is using their days one by one to take more then one "long weekend" per month.

 

[DizBelle]

I'm with some of the others, I'd be kind of ticked if you took every Friday off 4 weeks in a row, especially if it prevented anyone else in your department from having the same day off.

How about instead of whining, these people do what she did and PLAN AHEAD. If they had planned ahead, THEY would have gotten those days before she could request them.

She should not have to plan her life around other people dragging their feet.

I'd be ticked too. She should sit down with her boss and review the policy with them and see if he/she can say where she violated it or should not get what she requested. Whether or not this affects future policy doesn't matter. Her requests should be granted per the current policy, not the whim of the boss or co-workers.

 

[Lindsay22]

OP
In my office we have a similar policy. This year... on Jan 2nd. one of my co-workers requested the day before and after EVERY SINGLE HOLIDAY this year. Not okay. The bosses won't budge. Someone had an actual emergency and needed to be off one of the days he had and the bosses said that the two of them needed to work it out. The person with the emergency ended up paying the guy to have the day off. Not okay.

I got married in April. I took 3 days off for the wedding. I requested them 9 months in advance because I heard rumors that the people in my office were going to request the day before and the day after the wedding so that I couldn't have them. I reminded my boss that if I didn't have those days off I would quit with no problem.

When it came time to book my honeymoon they did the same crap again. Again, I told my boss that if they didn't approve it I would be gone. Sacrificing my honeymoon for my job was not going to happen. I reminded them that if it were a regular vacation I would not be this adamant.... but it's my honeymoon.

Thank god I was overseas for my honeymoon and my cell phone didn't work. When I got home there were 18 messages from work.

 

[Hoodie]

A vacation request is a request, nothing more. The employer has no legal obligation to grant the request for a specific day or set of days. I deny vacation requests like this all of the time because I think it's bad for overall morale for one person on my staff to get every Friday for July. I certainly do not consider myself to be classless.

OP, if you are considering calling in sick on that Friday to spite the company, be prepared for the repurcussions. I'm an easygoing boss but an action like that would be etched in stone for me. Today, jobs are not so easy to come by and burning bridges is never a good idea.

I'd second that caution. We fired someone for doing that. They had requested nearly every Friday off in the summer. As that was unfair to the other employees, not all were granted. He proceeded to be "sick" every Friday that was not granted.

Now he has lots of Fridays off. And Mondays, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays, even Thursdays!

 

[DizBelle]

OP
In my office we have a similar policy. This year... on Jan 2nd. one of my co-workers requested the day before and after EVERY SINGLE HOLIDAY this year. Not okay. The bosses won't budge. Someone had an actual emergency and needed to be off one of the days he had and the bosses said that the two of them needed to work it out. The person with the emergency ended up paying the guy to have the day off. Not okay.

I got married in April. I took 3 days off for the wedding. I requested them 9 months in advance because I heard rumors that the people in my office were going to request the day before and the day after the wedding so that I couldn't have them. I reminded my boss that if I didn't have those days off I would quit with no problem.

When it came time to book my honeymoon they did the same crap again. Again, I told my boss that if they didn't approve it I would be gone. Sacrificing my honeymoon for my job was not going to happen. I reminded them that if it were a regular vacation I would not be this adamant.... but it's my honeymoon.

Thank god I was overseas for my honeymoon and my cell phone didn't work. When I got home there were 18 messages from work.

You work with some nasty people who were going to be mean just for meanness sake.

If you knew what your wedding date was, why wouldn't you request those days off as soon as you knew? Why wait?

Perhaps the first scenario does warrant a change in policy. Each person can only have off X number of days adjacent to company holidays in a calendar year.

Still, if someone requests those X number of days off on Jan 2, why shouldn't it be granted? Why should they be punished because they can plan?

 

[onelilspark]

I'm with the OP, she followed the policy. If someone really needed those days off for a milestone, that should have been requested weeks ago. And her boss should have told her as soon as he knew there was a conflict rather than wait for her to bring it up. That's honestly the part that would bother me. It sounds to me like if the other woman would have come to the OP and said, "I can't believe I didn't do it earlier, I'm about to submit a request off for X date. It's my son's 21st birthday and I was really hoping to spend some time with him. Is there anyway you'd consider retracting your request?" I think the OP probably would have given it to her. Instead, the other woman saw that the OP had a request in the system and whined to the boss about it...and instead of the boss telling the OP that there was a conflict when it first occurred, he waited. I'd be PO'd too.

Edit: I wouldn't call in sick on Friday. I wouldn't stick it to someone...I'd be the better person.

 

[mrsv98]

OP
In my office we have a similar policy. This year... on Jan 2nd. one of my co-workers requested the day before and after EVERY SINGLE HOLIDAY this year. Not okay. The bosses won't budge. Someone had an actual emergency and needed to be off one of the days he had and the bosses said that the two of them needed to work it out. The person with the emergency ended up paying the guy to have the day off. Not okay.

I got married in April. I took 3 days off for the wedding. I requested them 9 months in advance because I heard rumors that the people in my office were going to request the day before and the day after the wedding so that I couldn't have them. I reminded my boss that if I didn't have those days off I would quit with no problem.

When it came time to book my honeymoon they did the same crap again. Again, I told my boss that if they didn't approve it I would be gone. Sacrificing my honeymoon for my job was not going to happen. I reminded them that if it were a regular vacation I would not be this adamant.... but it's my honeymoon.

Thank god I was overseas for my honeymoon and my cell phone didn't work. When I got home there were 18 messages from work.

Good grief, do you work with a bunch of 12yo???

 

[bookgirl]

Normally I would say yeah it's not fair to hog the Fridays , but she requested them only a week before July. She gave everyone else a chance to request them and they didn't so she should get them. If someone at the last minute wants a Friday then that's the chance they take for waiting till the last minute.

To save office sanity I would not fight for the one Friday and switch over to a Monday but I would only do so because it's less hassle not because she did anything wrong.

 

[DebbieB]

That does get tricky. We had an issue in my office where the 2 people with the most seniority always took the week between Christmas & New Years. They were not going away, they didn't have kids, they just wanted it off to hang around the house. Finally the boss said they would have to take turns if others wanted it too.

 

[jrmasm]

Requesting days on Jan 2 for the entire year is asinine and childish behavior.