Childless Woman Refuses To Give Six Of Her Paid Vacation Days To Coworker With Three Kids And Workplace Drama Ensues

Dec 01, 2021 by apost team

It's safe to say that we all need a break once in a while. Whether it's getting the opportunity to take a day off from work or go on a much-needed vacation, having some downtime and time to relax is extremely important. This can help us destress and get ready to tackle the days ahead.

Fortunately for many people, their job offers benefits that include paid time off, meaning they have the opportunity to have a nice staycation at home or take themselves on the vacation of their dreams at some point during the year. For one woman, she received an ample amount of vacation time from her job and the days accumulated if they weren't used. The woman managed to save up enough days to take an exciting two-month trip across Europe.

However, her coworker had run through most of her own vacation days and asked if she could take six vacation days from the woman. Her reasoning was that the woman was childless, so she shouldn't need that many days off. On top of that, she wanted to have a nice vacation with her kids since they had had a pretty tough year.

The woman refused as she wanted to save as many days as possible for her trip. Unfortunately, office drama ensued shortly after. The coworker was extremely upset and accused the woman of crushing her childrens' dreams. Feeling like she may have gone about the situation poorly, the woman went to Reddit in February 2021 to ask users for their advice on what she should do.

Starting off her Reddit post, the original poster (OP) asked, "Am I the a****** for not giving my coworker my paid time off?" She explained that her coworker was 41 years old, had three children, and had been working with the company for 17 years. OP was 27 years old, had no children, and had been with the company for five years.

"We get 18 paid vacation days per year and unlimited sick days if we provide proof," OP said. She explained that the vacation days were added to her balance at the start of the new year and that unused time off from the year before accumulated. "We can give them to someone else," she added.

OP explained that her coworker typically takes a day or two off every month or so, but that changed this year. "This year, she used 10 of her days in January when her brother died and another four when her daughter got sick," OP said. "As a result, she only has four days for the rest of this year."

OP had been saving up her own vacation days so she could take a trip around Europe sometime in the future. She had 44 days saved, totaling about two months off. "My coworker's kids want her to take them on a two week vacation," she said. "The place they want to go is in our country but pretty far away so four days won't be enough." Since she didn't have enough days saved up, OP's coworker asked OP if she could have six of her vacation days.

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"Her justification is that I'm childless and don't need that many days," OP said. "We do get a lot of PTO." Even though OP really wanted to go on her trip, her coworker was relentless with asking for her days. "She says she needs a break more than me," OP said. "She's kind of right, maybe kids do make you extra tired. It's not her fault she had to use 14 vacation days in the first two months of the year." 

After OP said she wouldn't give her coworker her days, office drama ensued. "She's upset and says that it's my fault her kids' dreams are being crushed," OP said. She asked Redditors for their take on the matter. 

One user commented, "The justification that you don't have kids is crazy. Single people and people without kids deserve time off, too. It sucks that she had a rough year… but why should you suffer for it. I wouldn't do it if I had plans to use those days. You worked hard for them.

Another user said, "She decided to have kids so she does not have the right to use them as a reason for needing a break. On top of that, you worked and saved those days for yourself so you do deserve the break when you finally get the chance."

OP later updated her post and explained that the coworker isn't "that terrible." She said, "Some other coworkers and I each gave her a day so she could have the full two weeks with her kids."

Do you think this woman was right to initially want to keep her own vacation days rather than give them to her coworker? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones, too.