Employee makes bold statement by resigning after boss rejects weekend leave request

For most employees working in the hospitality industry, getting leaves can be difficult, especially if it's an establishment that experiences a big crowd. While working in such a place, managers will be reluctant to grant leaves on short notice. However, it is the responsibility of employers to recognize that people have lives beyond their jobs and cannot dedicate all their time to working. A Reddit user, u/LateMathematician810, shared their story of being asked to work on a weekend despite having applied for leave more than a month back. The employee begins the post by talking about the job: "Many years ago, I worked hospitality, friendly local bar, good staff, locals and management. All in all, a pretty good gig."

They then talk about their girlfriend at the time, who lived 5 hours away and also used to work at the same bar. They had worked at the bar over the summer and got into a relationship once their college started. Being in a long-distance relationship, they were looking for any chance to visit her and an opportunity came up soon. The local sports team of the city where they resided had a critical match in their girlfriends' city. They decide to take some time off to go and spend time with her and see the game. They wrote, "Duly put my leave request in and with six weeks to go, this was accepted by management." Seeing that there were no issues with the leave, they were happy and began to look forward to a great weekend getaway.

Unfortunately, they get a surprise fifteen days before the big event when their manager comes up to them, stating that he had canceled their leave and wanted them to do "closing shifts on the weekend." Evidently frustrated, the employee fought back that their request, which was put in so many months back, had been accepted by him. Moreover, asking them to avoid taking leave meant they would have to cancel the tickets and accommodation they had paid for.

The manager emphatically replied, "As long as you work here, you have to work that weekend." Not willing to be taken advantage of, the employee immediately wrote their resignation letter on a napkin that was lying nearby and handed it to him. The manager refused to accept it, but they reminded him that he would not need to find a replacement and that they were quitting regardless of his acceptance. They then went away to have a wonderful weekend away from work.

The manager ended up working that weekend as he could not find a replacement. After returning from the trip, the author runs into the manager's wife a week later, who revealed that the manager struggled to keep the bar running during their absence and eventually requested that they return. The manager arranged a meeting time where both parties reached an agreement and the author was re-hired with a salary increase of $1.50/Hr. The employee concludes the post by saying, "I ended up working with him for another four years with no drama after that."

People who read the story loved the author's decision to take and stand. u/JohnSimth20211101 said, "Boundary is a magical thing. It only exists when you believe and stand by it." u/CathyTheGreatsHorse pointed out, "That was a rare ending. You must be good at remaining calm."