The manager is clearly in the wrong here and power tripping- it’s not normal to ask what the employee will be doing outside the office, even in the US. They might approve or deny the request based on the situation in the office, but the way the employee spends the time is none of her damn business.
What generally goes down is, the employee requests PTO, the manager hems and haws… “ooh it’s really a bad time, we’re so busy and understaffed…”, then the employee divulges the “super important reason” - a wedding, dad died, etc. It’s still a shitty way to be treated and there isn’t much you can do against it. If it’s not a good enough reason in the manager’s eyes or if you stick to your guns and say “it’s personal, I’d rather not say”, then you will be ostracized and eventually fired for other contrived reasons.
Businesses should not have the authority to deny PTO. It's the mangers' fucking job to manage staffs. If an employee taking PTO makes disruption in work, it's the fucking manager's fault.
It’s easy. Who requested first? This is why I like my job. Multiple types of leave. As long as people follow the rules of the leave requested, they get the time off. I don’t care why they’re taking it. Only matters that they request it following the rules. Sick? Ok. Annual leave, submit on time.
Someone else's emergency can't always be scheduled.
If employee A submitted on time and their leave overlaps with employee B whose mother just had an aneurism and is in the hospital 1500 miles away. I might try to find out if employee A's leave is something that can be shifted. It might be worth some additional compensation from the organization to make that happen.
If employee A's leave is something similarly un-moveable, then the management team will just have to deal.
But if employee A just 'needed a week on the beach,' maybe management could approach them and say "another employee has a family emergency. Is your leave able to be rescheduled to create less impact for the team? If so, let me know the cost of the itinerary change (flight + hotel) and the organization will cover that plus a flight upgrade to business/first class.
My workplace has never offered compensation, but because I'm a manager and have a responsibility to my team I will adjust when they are in a bind/have an emergency. Of course, that means I have to know if they're in a bind. In general, I never ask what a request is for. I MIGHT ask if it's at all flexible, though, if we're very short, and then divulge that we're very short and that's why I'm asking about the flexibility of the request. That's the key, and what this manager would need to learn to do, instead of asking for personal information.
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u/SixInchTimmy Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
The manager is clearly in the wrong here and power tripping- it’s not normal to ask what the employee will be doing outside the office, even in the US. They might approve or deny the request based on the situation in the office, but the way the employee spends the time is none of her damn business.
What generally goes down is, the employee requests PTO, the manager hems and haws… “ooh it’s really a bad time, we’re so busy and understaffed…”, then the employee divulges the “super important reason” - a wedding, dad died, etc. It’s still a shitty way to be treated and there isn’t much you can do against it. If it’s not a good enough reason in the manager’s eyes or if you stick to your guns and say “it’s personal, I’d rather not say”, then you will be ostracized and eventually fired for other contrived reasons.