No PTO left, and my leave got denied, BUT I’m going on vacation anyways.
I sent my leave request 6 months ago, and per our leave form “if you do not hear back from HR within one week of submitting your PTO request assume that it is approved”. So I assumed it was approved like all my previous leave was in the last 3 yrs (nobody from hr ever confirms), and planned a big trip for my birthday. Suddenly shit hits the fan at work, new leadership takes over, and now I’m hated because I’m vocal and question things (normally a good thing when not in a militant work environment). There’s retaliatory behavior and Suddenly my leave is denied. All of it. I ask HR and they say “you’re well over your pto limit and unpaid leave doesn’t really exist”.
This was news to me. Unpaid leave does exist (I’ve used LWOP several times over the years), and much of my pto was used because they pull from pto when there’s a closure… whether I want them to or not. So like three days was used on closures and then I got sick. So yeah, I am over my PTO. So who cares, my leave would be unpaid anyways. It was never an issue in the past and now suddenly it’s an issue. Meanwhile, my coworkers are three weeks past their PTO limit and none of their leave got flagged and they’re still taking their leave.
Anyways, I’m taking my trip. I’m going all out and hopefully my doctor’s note suffices. I don’t want to lose my job, but I’m aware they’re trying to get rid of me (although it will probably take some time), and I could come back to a lot of judgement since they know I requested this leave and put up a fight for it to be approved. But I’ve needed this vacation. I need a break. My mental health has really taken a hit this year, and this trip is going to be a release.
I say take the trip, but be ready for the consequences.
Side note, if anyone has tips for the best way to approach calling out, I’d appreciate it! Idk if I should call in each day or just once. Either way, I should have a drs note to back me up. But I don’t want to reveal anything.
Edit: I wish I could explain more about the structure of my work situation for more context, but don’t want to say too much. I have a unique situation.
I only get about 7-8 days of PTO, if that some years. 10 was what is in contract but because of forced closures I can never accumulate my full 10 days anyways. Yes I work for the shittiest company. I can’t just leave. And although I hate the system I work for, I wouldn’t have changed anything because i got so many cool experiences from it.