Cancel vacation at employer's request - WWYD?

[midjd]

Each year DH and FIL take a fishing trip together. This year's trip has been planned for a couple of months, and DH requested the time off work about a month ago. He leaves tonight.

DH works alongside two other people. This morning, one of these people pulled his fourth or fifth no-call/no-show and was fired. The other told DH that he had no problem with DH going ahead on his trip (he was doing the job by himself for months before DH and the other guy were hired, and covered for DH for a week after he had surgery.) The owner apparently disagrees.

The owner hasn't yet told DH that he has to work during his requested vacation days, but DH feels certain it's coming, probably as he's walking out the door.

So - assuming the owner does tell him to work tomorrow - would you cancel a trip under these circumstances?

[CarolinaKat]

That largely would depend on my ability to find another job if the owner is pissy and fires me. And if there was significant cash outlay for the trip that couldn't be recovered. If there was and I am employable, I'd probably either A) tell them to pound sand or B) negotiate something extra (like extra days off).

[movingforward]

Hmmm... kind of a tough situation. If this was a big trip (e.g international) where tickets had already been purchased, etc. then I definitely would go on my vacation; however, if I was truly needed and was able to reschedule the trip then I might consider postponing it. This really sucks though because by asking your DH to not take his vacation he is essentially being punished because of another person's poor work ethics.

carolinakat also makes a good point...

[kgb18]

I agree with kat. It would be depend on whether or not I could take the hit financially. But if his boss does tell him he has to work, I would get busy on a job search. That's rotten to punish your DH from something that is not his fault. And to wait until the absolute last minutes would be even more rotten. I wouldn't want to work for a company like that if I could help it.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I might try quietly sneaking out at quitting time and avoiding the boss...

And I guess I'd want to be prepared so I can say "I have prepaid for a vacation which starts tonight. I will be forfeiting money to cover for your firing X. How are you prepared to buy out my vacation time at x rate per day?"

And is their policy that vacation must be used by the end of the calendar year or lose it?

[giramomma]

It depends. How long does your DH plan to keep working for your employer? Are there times in the future, where your DH could use some goodwill to his advantage (like, when you have a kid)?

While not the same, I ended up not taking a vacation at all one year, because there was never a good time at work. No, work did not ask me to forgo my vacation. But, we had too much to do and not enough folks to help.

Since I plan on staying here until I retire (20 years give or take), I took one for the team. Building up goodwill and all that.

But, by doing that, I've gotten everything that I have asked for, in terms of negotiating working at home one day a week. I also put that in my goodwill bank, so that I don't need to ask to leave work to volunteer at my kid's school. I just inform and go.

[quince]

I do voluntarily cancel vacation without anyone asking when staffing levels makes it a helpful thing to do. If I had purchased plane tickets, or was traveling with someone else who was using their vacation time, I would not be canceling my vacation. Me being inconvenienced is fine. Inconveniencing someone I care about or costing me a significant chunk of change isn't something my job is worth at this point.

[midjd]

I don't think he'd be fired - it took them almost 6 months to hire the other guy and I doubt DH's coworker could pick up the slack for 2 people for that long. But it is a possibility. If he is, we can take the financial hit.

My thoughts were: 1) it's not DH's fault his coworker doesn't show up to work; 2) if the guy who is going to be covering for DH says it's no problem, what's the problem?

But I wanted to get the YM perspective to make sure I'm not completely off base.

[Angel!]

Go with your gut. Tell DH to go on the trip regardless of what the boss says.

[kittensaver]

I'd be the chicken who would actively avoid the boss at all costs and then go home . . . and proceed to vacation from there. Once home I would not answer the phone. But that's just chicken me.

[zibazinski]

Me, too.

[Deleted]

[midjd]

Archie - if only DH had put the proper cover sheet on his TPS report, this whole situation could have been avoided...

[kgb18]

Archie, I was just going to post that this sounds like something straight out of "Office Space."

"Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta."

[The Captain]

BTDT. If it's really short notice a request to be reimbursed for non-refundable expenses is entirely reasonable.

Is your husband in a somewhat critical position? How long is the vacation for? If only a few days then the business should be able to survive without him. However, if it's for an extended period of time and he needs the job I'm in the suck it up camp and negotiate a firm vacation period at a later point in time (also ensure he does not lose the vacation days if not used by the end of the year). I know some may not agree with me but business' do not exist for the convenience of the employees.

[midjd]

Is your husband in a somewhat critical position? How long is the vacation for?

He will be missing 2 days of work (W-T). I don't think it's a critical position - he and the guy who wasn't fired today basically do the same job, so the other guy will be busier since DH will be gone, but he should be able to handle it.

[Deleted]

It is really cruddy fishing weather in the middle of the country, so I'm assuming they go south (or north until they find ice) for this adventure? A young guy and a retired guy on a tiny boat with some nightcrawlers is the kind of thing you can postpone for a few weeks in the summer. Anything involving actual travel or hotel rooms or chartered boats or whatever is an unreasonable request.

I absolutely wouldn't cancel. I think the "try to slink away unnoticed" plan is a good one. But I'd also mentally rehearse my "pound sand" a couple of times.

[Angel!]

Geez. His boss can't live without him for 2 days. Boss is a complete dick if he asks him to not take 2 days off work when it has been planned for a while.

[movingforward]

Nov 27, 2012 16:55:02 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Geez. His boss can't live without him for 2 days. Boss is a complete dick if he asks him to not take 2 days off work when it has been planned for a while.

[Deleted]

Are we talking corporate accounts receivable at Initech or a foreman on a landscaping crew?

[midjd]

It is really cruddy fishing weather in the middle of the country, so I'm assuming they go south (or north until they find ice) for this adventure? A young guy and a retired guy on a tiny boat with some nightcrawlers is the kind of thing you can postpone for a few weeks in the summer. Anything involving actual travel or hotel rooms or chartered boats or whatever is an unreasonable request.

Yup, headed south, but not too far (they will be in your state). Apparently the fish love to bite in cold weather. Sounds miserable to me, glad I'm not invited!

His dad has a boat and they are renting a cabin with a bunch of his dad's friends/cousins. The rest of the guys would go on without him, no big deal (although hopefully he's smart enough not to tell his boss that...) but DH would be heartbroken. He's talked about nothing else for months. And his dad is not in the best of health so you never know how many more years they'll be doing this...

It's 5:00 now and I haven't heard anything, so hopefully this is all a moot point. Thanks for the responses.

[wvugurl26]

I hope it is all a moot point and he gets to go on vacation. It sounds like he will really enjoy it.

[Phoenix84]

Hmmm, I guess it depends. If this were an expensive trip where large unrecoverable deposits were already made, then I'd go ahead and go on the trip.

But it sounds like this is just a fishing trip and should be easy to reschedule with no expensive deposits. I'd go ahead and cancel the trip if the boss asks.

[shanendoah]

My company has a policy that says- if you request your vacation time and get approval before buying any tickets/making reservations, etc, if something comes up and we then ask you to cancel your vacation, we will reimburse you for expenses.
If you book your trip, ask for time off, and then get told no, you're on your own.

In this case, I think your DH should go on his trip regardless of what the owner says. They can survive 2 days without him. And if he gets fired, you said you would still be fine, financially, so I wouldn't let this guy ruin time spent by DH with his father

[Abby Normal]

I've had to cancel one before. My coworker had to have emergency surgery and there wasn't any other options. In this case, if it's easy to postpone, I would offer to. But it's hard to be gracious if the boss is a jerk to begin with. But if it's a major vacation, I'd be gone.

[The Captain]

soooo...

[Deleted]

A lot of what is dished out at the workplace is often based on how the expectations you make clear to your employer. For instance, if you make things clear at the outset, such as you will not be available outside of work, then i find that it is MUCH easier to establish these things and those kinds of issues as they come up. And, there are some employers that are totally unreasonable about letting their employees take vacation. But, at this point, you have to look at your options. First, is this an unprecedented "emergency" where everything will literally hang in the balance if he isn't there? If one was fired, it seems unlikely though that they are going to fire him just for taking his planned vacation. And, if he does go under these circumstances, will he even enjoy it? Also, is it possible for him to change his vacation plans or delay them?
But, if this is literally like tomorrow, unless the company really is going to close over losing one employee i would probably just express my apologies and keep going. And, most likely, they will be over that a week after he returns.

[Deleted]

If his boss does tell him he has to work, he should simply make it clear that there were non-refundable costs involved (assuming there were), and that he needs to be reimbursed for those and be able to take the days at a later date. The boss may not want to put the $$$ out and decide they can do without your DH for two days.

I'm also a fan for just trying to fly under the radar and leave without the boss noticing. What is that saying that I never observe? It's something like it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

That's definitely not my motto, but I am such a rule player that you don't want to follow my example. I mutilated my poor snowman door cover (all his insides are gone) because you MUST be able to see inside the window in my door in case I am doing kinky stuff. I refused to cut his head off, though, deciding that the perverts who plan to be watching me can at least have to bend over a little to see inside the window that is 3/4 the regular size.

I am such a rebel today, huh? It HURT to cut the snowman's insides out. Lol.

[Deleted]

Do you absolutely need your DH's income? I ask because it doesn't seem like this is a sustainable situation in any case. If I had the ability to say no then I would choose to go with my family fishing. That's irreplaceable. Two days at work because his boss is a dick seems designed to throw your DH over the edge. I can't imagine his attitude or work habits will improve if he sacrifices so much.

[Deleted]

The boss really does sound like a total dickhead!

I wouldn't be comfortable with "sneaking out" but I WOULD do things as usual, ie, I wouldn't sneak out, but I wouldn't seek the boss out either.

If confronted, I would say, I would have no problem with cancelling PERSONALLY, but my father is in poor health, and this family outing has been planned for months, so sorry, no can do.

My guess is that the boss would back down if your DH mentions his older dad in poor health and the fact that this has been planned for many months.

This actually happened to my DS1 when he was fresh out of grad school. He had been working for an NGO PT for 18 months (6-month internship abroad, and 12 months at their headquarters here) while he was a grad student. He finished grad school third week of June one year, and they agreed he would start working FT in September.

A week later they said, things have changed, we need you to start next week, either Sat or Sun, your choice. He said, but I was supposed to start FT in Sept. They said, yes, but things have changed. If you can't start FT next week, we can no longer guarantee you a job in September. So, he agreed.

BUT, he had already booked and paid for a round-trip ticket to the US. The NGO reimbursed him 100% for that.

Whatever happens, I think your DH is wise to be on the lookout for another job, because that is just a total lack of respect IMO.