Worker Says Boss Threatened Bad Review For Missing 'Mandatory Meetings' During Approved Leave

A professional shared an incident on Reddit about their manager who threatened a negative performance review because the worker skipped mandatory office meetings while on officially approved vacation. In the viral post, the employee didn't reveal the name of the company, but noted that they "feel trapped".

According to the post in the r/ToxicWorkplace forum, the worker said that they had applied for the leave in advance and received formal confirmation. However, they claimed that their boss expected them to log in and attend virtual meetings.

When the employee told him that pre-scheduled leave meant they wanted to disconnect and had planned the trip months ago, the manager hinted that it would negatively impact their upcoming evaluation.

"He pulled me aside and said I'm not being a team player. He even hinted it could hurt my next performance review. Other coworkers told me this is normal here; the boss regularly books meetings during people's leave," the employee wrote.

"I feel trapped. If I refuse, I get marked negatively. If I log on, my vacation isn't really time off at all. Is this even allowed? Have any of you dealt with managers refusing to respect approved time off?"

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See the post here:

My manager keeps scheduling mandatory meetings on my approved PTO
by u/OkraSubstantial8415 in ToxicWorkplace

Social media reactions

With over 2,200 views, the post drew sympathy from hundreds of professionals online, sparking a debate around toxic work cultures.

"I wouldn't wait to send to HR. I would CC them on the original email recapping your discussion, asking for clarification on PTO policies. I would be willing to log in once in a blue moon for a true emergency, but if it's regularly occurring, nope," one user suggested in the comment section.

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"I don't know what type of HR most people have worked with, but the HR team I've worked with since becoming a manager would have chewed me out for a lot less than this. Sometimes I want to feed them to the wildlife near our company. They're most definitely for the employees and have a very well-balanced approach to protect both," another user shared their experience.

"I did something similar when we were allowed to change our schedules. My request was reasonable and fit the needs of the business, but my manager was mad I needed to revise my work days because my mom is older and wanted me to be more flexible with days to help her. I asked to work 3 doubles a week, and she got angry. I cc'd HR, and it quickly turned around," a third user noted.