S’pore Staff Claims Boss Cancelled Approved Leave To Go On Own Holiday, Requests Redditors’ Advice

Employee Claims Boss Cancelled Approved Leave So He Can Go On Holiday Instead

With the year-end holidays here, many of us have taken or are applying for leave to go on a much-needed break.

An employee in Singapore had gotten their leave approved and was looking forward to a family trip when things took an unexpected turn.

Their boss allegedly pulled the plug on their holiday at the last minute, saying that he was taking his own family on a vacation during that time instead.

Blindsided, the employee turned to the online community for solutions, and to find out if they could lose their job for taking their leave anyway.

Employee claims boss cancelled leave 10 days after it was approved

In a Reddit post yesterday (19 Dec), a user claimed that their boss had initially approved their three-week holiday.

But 10 days later, the boss in question allegedly notified them that he would be taking his own family on holiday instead. He then proceeded to cancel the OP’s leave.

At the time, the OP claimed they tried to reason with their boss by saying they could not cancel their leave as flights and hotels had already been booked.

Furthermore, their family members had taken time off for the trip.

In response, the boss allegedly offered to refund them their flight tickets.

However, he didn’t offer a refund for the villa the OP had booked and their family members’ flight tickets. The reason he supposedly gave was that “others can still use it”.

Boss allegedly blames staff for being unclear about purpose of leave

To make matters worse, the OP claimed that their boss blamed them for not communicating the purpose of their leave clearly.

While applying for the leave earlier, the OP had apparently informed him that they would only be having a staycation in Singapore.

As such, their boss did not see any need to take time off for that. But the plans seemed to have changed since then, with the OP mentioning that they had booked flights.

In the post, the OP countered by stating that what they do outside of work has nothing to do with their company.

Besides, the decision to book the trip was last-minute as their family members all managed to take time off during the festive season.

To complicate things further, the OP allegedly could not get help from the company’s HR department as it was stationed overseas and was already on leave at the time.

Employee urged to keep evidence of leave approval & hunt for new job

Despite the circumstances, the OP maintained that they would go ahead with their holiday.

Nevertheless, they wanted to know if their superior could fire them for doing so.

In response, Redditors flocked to the comments section to give their takes on the situation.

One asked the OP if they still had proof that their boss approved their leave. If they did, they could apparently go on leave without worrying about any repercussions.

Others suggested that the OP take a screenshot of the approval and convert the emails into PDFs for evidence.

Meanwhile, a Redditor expressed their shock at the boss’ actions and urged the OP to search for a new job instead.

To this, the OP replied that they had actually been doing so for the past month. However, they were reluctant to switch jobs as they liked the company and the pay was good.

They also shared that they are the longest-serving staff in the company’s Asian office, and manages the Singaporean branch.

Despite the OP’s more positive points, a Redditor told them to just quit their job, as a boss like theirs only seeks to exploit employees.

The OP then said it was not such a straightforward decision for them, citing their pay and company.

Employee advised to raise matter to HR

Understanding the OP’s predicament, one Redditor advised them to raise the matter with their boss’ superior and the HR department instead.

If that approach doesn’t lead to a resolution, they suggested that the OP negotiate for a generous severance package on the basis that their boss was in the wrong, the user said.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Let us know in the comments.

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Featured image adapted from 89stocker on Pixabay via Canva.