Manager Unfairly Cancels Employee's Vacation Leave, CEO Later Investigates the Situation

A man shared how his female co-worker had created a toxic workplace environment. One day, the CEO discovered what was happening and took a brutal step against the employee.

The co-worker, "Karen," was selected to replace the supervisor who had fallen sick. To the man's horror, Karen took advantage of her new designation and made his life a living hell.

The man shared what Karen did to him and what happened when the CEO discovered the truth. Karen wasn't expecting the CEO to take action against her.

The man worked in shifts in a disability shared accommodation agency to support disabled patients. He confessed that working in shifts was difficult, but he kept going because it paid him well.

His appointment letter stated he was working on "0.75," meaning he only worked 75% of the full-time job responsibilities. He expected the job wouldn't be stressful for him.

Before jumping into the main story, he shared how the accommodation worked. There were multiple houses, each having 4-6 people. The workers had to report to the house supervisor, who reported to the cluster manager. The cluster manager then reported to the CEO.

OP (Original Poster) was transferred from a 6-resident house to a 4-resident house named Sunup. He worked there alongside six other workers, out of which 4 were friends.

She approved their leaves before OP's and gave them the best shifts.

He also shared that the company had a "first come, first serve" leave policy, so they had to book their leaves months in advance.

After working with the same people for a year, OP noticed that four workers always booked their leaves on the exact dates. Three of them would apply for the regular leave, while the fourth would take the same days off as sick leave. He explained:

"They would always rotate who is "sick" to hide what they were up to. (They were friends outside of work who would party together)"

One day, the house supervisor fell ill, so the management asked one of the girls from the clique, Karen, to replace her. Karen happily accepted the offer and acted as the house supervisor until further notice.

As a result, Karen favored her friends. She approved their leaves before OP's and gave them the best shifts. She also gave some extra hours to one of her friends while reducing OP's hours.

In January, OP applied for leave for March, but Karen rejected it, saying her group members had already booked their leaves. OP let it go and then submitted for another vacation in March. He explained:

"In March I checked the leave calendar for the June school holidays, it's was empty."

Once again, Karen rejected his leave, saying her clique had already booked it. OP rechecked the calendar and saw their names written.

Two months later, OP checked the calendar to file for a Christmas leave and submitted his application, but Karen rejected it again. This time OP was annoyed because he had already made plans with his family. He further explained:

" I spoke to the cluster manager (also a part of the clique) who said there nothing I can do"

In January, there was a gastro outbreak in the facility, so all the staff worked in shifts, including the CEO. One day, OP and the CEO were working the same shift. The CEO said:

"You have a bit of leave accumulated. You should probably take some."

OP told him that the supervisor had rejected his leave request thrice in the last year, so the CEO encouraged him to file for his leave then and there and he would sign it. OP asked for a four-week Christmas leave and the CEO agreed, signing his leave form immediately.

By October, Karen became the permanent supervisor. When she didn't see OP in the house in the first week of December, she called him to ask where he was. When he told her he was on leave, she asked him to report to work because she had never approved his leave.

She made OP work that shift, after which the CEO called both of them for a meeting because OP told him what had happened. When the CEO asked what happened, Karen explained:

"He took it upon himself to approve leave, I wrote him up for skipping work."

OP said he had already submitted his leave form in January, and the CEO told her that he had approved it. Karen explained that four other workers had already booked their leaves for December, so she couldn't accept OP's request. When the CEO asked Karen to show him the leave forms, she said she had destroyed them.

At this point, OP handed Karen a copy of his leave form signed by the CEO. He made sure to photocopy it thinking Karen would destroy the original. The CEO told her that OP should be on leave and apologized to OP, giving him an extra week off for the mishap.

Following their meeting, the CEO went to Sunup to investigate what Karen was up to. When OP returned to work 4 and a half weeks later, he discovered the CEO had canceled Karen's promotion because she unfairly rejected leave requests.

The CEO also separated the clique members and made a new rule stating that all leave forms needed to be signed by him. Two weeks later, Karen was fired because she failed audit requirements.

ranchspidey read OP's post and shared that she couldn't handle conspiring co-workers but was glad OP dealt with Karen the right way. OP replied:

"Thanks, wasn't my intention to cost her her promotion.... But it was an excellent outcome"

rhinotomus asked OP not to feel guilty about it. The user said that Karen was her own enemy like other power-hungry and corrupt individuals in workplaces.

Qikdraw shared his personal experience in the comments section. The user worked in a call center where they had a rule that employees could not look at their accounts or make changes to them.

A group of employees working for many years decided to get past that rule to save around $40. The management eventually discovered what they had done and fired them.

"They lost a great wage, good benefits, five weeks of paid vacation, and a good pension, all to save $30-$40 a month," wrote the user.

Most users supported OP, telling him he did the right thing by talking to the CEO about his leave. Some users empathized, having met people like Karen in their lives too.

Questions to Ponder:

Do you think OP should have voiced his concerns when Karen first rejected his leave?

Had OP talked to the CEO when Karen first rejected his leave application, he wouldn't have to work for two years without taking a break. However, the timing of when OP finally told the CEO could have been to his advantage too because he was able to gather enough ammunition against Karen by that time.

If you were OP, would you work two years without taking a break?

OP worked for two years without leave because of Karen. Many people would agree that they would have given up if they were in OP's place because it isn't easy to work without a break. If you were OP, what would you have done?

If you enjoyed reading this story, you might like this one about a woman who entered a church and got kicked out because of a private event. A TikTok user shared a clip from the church.

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