Manager tried blaming employee for 'slacking' during their vacation — until she was served proof in front of everyone

How would you feel if your manager, after approving your leave, questioned you for not showing up at work? A person (u/martial_snarky-7a) working at a retail job experienced it when their boss accused them of taking time off without prior permission. However, later, the employee, who had done nothing wrong, presented evidence to management, leaving the manager embarrassed. They posted the incident on Reddit on December 1.

The employee had raised a request for leave four months in advance, and the manager had approved it in the system. Subsequently, they went on a camping trip to a remote area where they had no network for over a week. However, while the employee was driving back to town, their phone exploded with multiple notifications from work. "It turned out they had scheduled me for four closing shifts and a morning shift on the day I was still on the road," they recalled. The employee noticed that their manager was pissed and had even texted them saying they needed to consider their employment status. The person was obviously confused because they couldn't understand why the manager was mad when she herself had approved their leave. Anyhow, they showed up for the meeting, which lasted nearly 90 minutes. The manager blamed the employee for slacking during their vacation, but was left embarrassed when they showed her the proof.

"I pointed out that the scheduling software clearly showed my request had been approved by her. Once she realized she couldn't pin the blame on me, she started fumbling and coming up with excuses," they explained. First, she said she must not have realized that the person had left for their vacation, but later blamed the system for a glitch. "Honestly, my biggest mistake was not quitting right after that call. I stayed for another ten months, and it was the same kind of nonsense for me and everyone else," they confessed.

It's surprising how taking a break from work seems impossible. Whether you're at a family gathering or on a vacation overseas, people can't disconnect from their work. In fact, many people are forced to work full-time while on leave. A survey of 2,000 people by Movchan Agency found that nearly half (47%) of Americans struggle to disconnect from work. Moreover, they found that while 54% of people work while on vacation, 63% feel anxious about missing out on important work-related messages while on vacation.

Meanwhile, the post received an overwhelming response on Reddit, with netizens sharing their own experiences with bad managers. For instance, u/taker223 commented, "Moral of the story: Do not waste your time on work-related stuff while you're on your approved vacation. I may sound naive, but get a dual SIM phone or just some cheap, crappy one that you could just completely turn off at your will. You should have addressed that situation with HR (hopefully this sh*tshow gig had a distinct HR person, not someone sharing this title with Hygiene Technician like OG Loc)."

u/stuffit123 recalled, "I was on vacation and then working from a remote location. My manager waited until my vacation ended and scheduled an important meeting with multiple teams; my input should have been crucial. The next day my manager was pissed when I didn't attend the meeting. It backfired quickly, and he realized that he didn't actually invite me." Similarly, u/likelots shared, "My manager is this dense, and it's usually because she f****d upsomething up or she uses me as a front to do work she delivers as her own. Incompetence like that runs deep. Because all she had to do was check the calendar, and if she was having a bad day, she should have profusely apologized. I'm so ready to find better at my next job." 

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