Company imposes 'no leave' policy for holidays
A notice to employees warned them not to take leave, including vacation days and sick leave, due to the busy festive period.
There's no denying that at this time of year, more and more people are experiencing burnout from the busy year. This is why taking leave is vital for one's mental and physical health.
However, some businesses are not set up for employees to take leave during the festive season, especially if their operations require them to be open during the holidays. It is the nature of work for some; therefore, those people take leave during the off-peak season when things are less busy.
A Reddit user recently shared an appalling notice that was placed at a workplace.
The notice read: "From November 25th until December 31st, there is a blackout on vacation days, time off, and there will be no exceptions for calling off, taking sick days, given that these are our busiest days of the year, we will need all hands on deck. Thank you."
We can understand that businesses that are busy during the festive season need their staff available and ready to work, but denying people sick days is stretching things. If the employee gets ill, they have every right to use their sick leave regardless of whether their company is busy or not.
Check out the notice below - courtesy of Reddit.
Why does corporate think this is ok?
byu/Goodn00dl3 inmildlyinfuriating
Of course, the post infuriated many people who felt this was unfair to employees:
- "If you 'pass away', you have to inform management 3 days prior...."
- "The pregnant women can have their baby in the stock room and then return to work after giving birth. At least that’s how it was in one of my former work place."
- "You are laughing - but in my country, there was a major fraud in one of the banks.
The manager was so fearful getting caught, she returned to work a day after giving birth." - "While it might not always be the case, there’s a lot of places where the boss will absolutely take time off and not let employees do the same."
- "Christmas is for everyone, but employees."
Many people assume that this line of work is retail, and that might be the case. This is something that should be addressed in the employees' contracts. But we draw the line at sick leave. You cannot assume that someone is not going to get ill; no one plans that.
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