Being denied my earned leave because I’m covering due to maternity leave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I put in for time off later in the year, because if I don’t use my earned vacation I will lose it. My supervisor is now denying my leave, because I will bet covering the work for a person who will be on maternity leave until Feb. 2024.

I don’t understand how this is fair. It is my earned leave that I desire to use. I am being punished because I choose not to have kids. I won’t be compensated either in a cash payout for lost time off. The time off I will lose obviously doesn’t not carry over either. Why should people without kids be penalized like this?

You're going to have to explain the bolded.

But I'd guess your organization has a requirement that leave be approved so they can be assured of appropriate staffing levels, and yours was denied. You aren't guaranteed to take leave at any particular time. Take off next week, or next month, before maternity leave starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you just submitted your leave request, but the maternity leave had already been submitted prior to yours, no?

So friggin’ what. It is MY earned leave. I’m not being compensated for the loss. Ridiculous.

Take your leave at a different time so it doesn't overlap and therefore won't be denied.

Sounds like you waited too long.

Ridiculous logic. Maybe the person who got pregnant did it too early to allow me my leave.

Next time people who get pregnant should ask their coworkers beforehand so that the team can accommodate their leave in case other team members want to use their vacation.

That’s the same kind of logic. Be mindful about when you get preggers…..jeez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you just submitted your leave request, but the maternity leave had already been submitted prior to yours, no?

So friggin’ what. It is MY earned leave. I’m not being compensated for the loss. Ridiculous.

Take your leave at a different time so it doesn't overlap and therefore won't be denied.

Sounds like you waited too long.

The leave is to roll in a mini vacation in prior to a fall wedding. The wedding is far, so I’d like to take a few days off prior to the wedding so we can explore the area and make traveling that far worth it. I cannot move a wedding date.

It’s not my responsibility to accommodate maternity leave so that I can use my earned leave. If you are going to deny my leave, then I should be getting a cash payout at the end of the year.

You aren't entitled to leave for a wedding. You can't go. Or you can go but must spend the money to travel without the extra time.

Maternity leave is mandated by the government. The company can't force someone on maternity leave back before their federally mandated FMLA period. This is true whether the leave is paid or unpaid. And it's not reasonable to expect your employer to hire a temp for you to take off a few days, unless your job is incredibly simply and easy.

This has nothing to do with "punishing" you for not having kids. It's a practical consideration based on relevant laws and liabilities. It's honestly only incidentally about children or who is a parent.

I am entitled to my leave. Wrong. It is stipulated in my work contract that I get X number of days per year for leave as part of my compensation. The employer is violating the contract they signed.

Again, you are not entitled to take it whenever you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you just submitted your leave request, but the maternity leave had already been submitted prior to yours, no?

So friggin’ what. It is MY earned leave. I’m not being compensated for the loss. Ridiculous.

Take your leave at a different time so it doesn't overlap and therefore won't be denied.

Sounds like you waited too long.

The leave is to roll in a mini vacation in prior to a fall wedding. The wedding is far, so I’d like to take a few days off prior to the wedding so we can explore the area and make traveling that far worth it. I cannot move a wedding date.

It’s not my responsibility to accommodate maternity leave so that I can use my earned leave. If you are going to deny my leave, then I should be getting a cash payout at the end of the year.

Yes it is your job to cover for coworkers who are out on leave … maternity, sick, bereavement, etc.

Nope. It’s the employer’s responsibility to make sure you have enough staff in the first place so that leave issues aren’t a problem.

In your opinion, an employer must have enough staff to ensure that anyone can take leave at any time?

OK.

[Anonymous]

OP, two questions: 1) are you able to work remotely, and 2) do you like your job? If yes to both, I'd suggest finding a way to meet in the middle. Ask your manager if you can work 4 hours every day or every other day while you're on the trip (obviously time worked would not be counted as PTO). It sucks, but if you like your job AND want the vacation, the compromise might be worthwhile.

Lots of other comments are about fighting the machine and changing corporate structure, but that isnt going to help in the near term. If you don't like your job and can afford to take a risk, i suppose you could go scorched earth but I dont think a company is required to approve your vacation request if the dates are inconvenient. That's why it is a vacation request and not a vacation notice.

[Anonymous]

OP is carefully not answering the question about whether she would be allowed to take that leave earlier in the year.

OP, when is your colleague going out on leave? Are you truly being told that you can’t take any leave between now and when you lose it at the end of the year? Or are you just salty because you can’t take it for the dates you want?

We have vacation blackout dates around certain system events, and what you are describing is no different. Just because you earned leave doesn’t mean you’re entitled to take it at any time at all. That’s why leave needs to be approved.

Take your leave earlier, or lose it. That’s your choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is carefully not answering the question about whether she would be allowed to take that leave earlier in the year.

OP, when is your colleague going out on leave? Are you truly being told that you can’t take any leave between now and when you lose it at the end of the year? Or are you just salty because you can’t take it for the dates you want?

We have vacation blackout dates around certain system events, and what you are describing is no different. Just because you earned leave doesn’t mean you’re entitled to take it at any time at all. That’s why leave needs to be approved.

Take your leave earlier, or lose it. That’s your choice.

It has already been answered, so clearly you cannot read.

Yes, I am entitled to take my leave, especially due to use or lose and not being compensated for the loss, and basically being prevented from using leave for months at a time because someone is out on maternity leave. It is in no way anywhere remotely the same as having blackout dates that are only a few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is carefully not answering the question about whether she would be allowed to take that leave earlier in the year.

OP, when is your colleague going out on leave? Are you truly being told that you can’t take any leave between now and when you lose it at the end of the year? Or are you just salty because you can’t take it for the dates you want?

We have vacation blackout dates around certain system events, and what you are describing is no different. Just because you earned leave doesn’t mean you’re entitled to take it at any time at all. That’s why leave needs to be approved.

Take your leave earlier, or lose it. That’s your choice.

This. OP has posted numerous times to complain her leave is being STOLEN from her, but when people have asked whether she is being denied leave altogether, or just for this one specific request, she won't respond.

She's not even mad because she can't go to this wedding. She's mad she can't take a "mini-vacation" before the wedding that would make the cost of travel feel more justifiable. And she's literally blaming the existence of maternity leave.

I'm a big proponent of employee rights but I think OP is just being entitled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is carefully not answering the question about whether she would be allowed to take that leave earlier in the year.

OP, when is your colleague going out on leave? Are you truly being told that you can’t take any leave between now and when you lose it at the end of the year? Or are you just salty because you can’t take it for the dates you want?

We have vacation blackout dates around certain system events, and what you are describing is no different. Just because you earned leave doesn’t mean you’re entitled to take it at any time at all. That’s why leave needs to be approved.

Take your leave earlier, or lose it. That’s your choice.

It has already been answered, so clearly you cannot read.

Yes, I am entitled to take my leave, especially due to use or lose and not being compensated for the loss, and basically being prevented from using leave for months at a time because someone is out on maternity leave. It is in no way anywhere remotely the same as having blackout dates that are only a few days.

It has not been answered? Even here, you don't answer it.

How long are you being prevented from using leave? What length of time?

[Anonymous]

Be collaborative and work it out. There are plenty of solutions. Being stubborn and immature will only work against you here.

[Anonymous]

Op, if the person you are covering for is on leave for 9 months so you effectively cannot take any leave all year then you have a legitimate case, and they need to find someone to cover for you for your entitled leave. But if it’s in a three month window that you just really wanted to use, they can deny it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have a right to use your leave, but your boss generally has the right to approve or deny WHEN you use it. Earning leave does not usually mean you get to take off whenever you want.

But, the boss must be reasonable. If you submit leave requests every month, and it's denied every month because "this isn't a good time", that is effectively denying your use of leave at all.

How long are you covering for the person on leave? If it's a short leave, or if you are trading off with someone and this happens to be your week, then the denial is reasonable. If you are covering for 6 months, and your boss is saying that you can't take any leave at all for those 6 months, that is not reasonable and you should talk to HR to ask for more information on the policy.

The person is going on maternity leave in October. They’re going on maternity leave for 3 months, then using an additional 4 weeks of their leave to add on an additional month of leave. They want me to basically start to cover everything they’re doing from mid-Sept as they ramp down before maternity leave and through to Feb 2024. Yes, so that’s effectively restricting my use of my earned leave for 4-5 months. How the hell could I possibly use my leave earlier like all of the stupid other posters claim. A) you don’t even know about maternity leave until a person is like 9-10 months pregnant and you still need a lot more time to plan leave and make sure you can coordinate with your spouse, and B) it has to overlap with a fall wedding like I already mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, two questions: 1) are you able to work remotely, and 2) do you like your job? If yes to both, I'd suggest finding a way to meet in the middle. Ask your manager if you can work 4 hours every day or every other day while you're on the trip (obviously time worked would not be counted as PTO). It sucks, but if you like your job AND want the vacation, the compromise might be worthwhile.

Lots of other comments are about fighting the machine and changing corporate structure, but that isnt going to help in the near term. If you don't like your job and can afford to take a risk, i suppose you could go scorched earth but I dont think a company is required to approve your vacation request if the dates are inconvenient. That's why it is a vacation request and not a vacation notice.

Get the hell outta here. I am NOT even going to open my damn computer or answer anything on my earned leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, two questions: 1) are you able to work remotely, and 2) do you like your job? If yes to both, I'd suggest finding a way to meet in the middle. Ask your manager if you can work 4 hours every day or every other day while you're on the trip (obviously time worked would not be counted as PTO). It sucks, but if you like your job AND want the vacation, the compromise might be worthwhile.

Lots of other comments are about fighting the machine and changing corporate structure, but that isnt going to help in the near term. If you don't like your job and can afford to take a risk, i suppose you could go scorched earth but I dont think a company is required to approve your vacation request if the dates are inconvenient. That's why it is a vacation request and not a vacation notice.

Get the hell outta here. I am NOT even going to open my damn computer or answer anything on my earned leave.

The 4 hours of work per day would not be earned leave. You would only take leave for the actual time off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, sounds like you should go on leave right now, before the maternity eave for the other person kicks in.

Yes this. It’s July.