Employee refused time off for honeymoon, maliciously complies and gets manager fired

The pandemic has revealed more than ever the importance of a healthy work-life balance. Workplaces are also learning, the hard way, that employees are prioritizing themselves and their private lives like never before. One employee quit his job after his manager tried to get him to cancel his honeymoon plans that he had requested almost 3 months prior. Reddit user @WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch shared how he was already taking on a lot of work that his manager was supposed to do while his boss was out playing golf. When his boss demanded he returns to work, he maliciously complied.  

"I had a manager who hated reading emails and would miss important issues/meetings because of it. He spent a lot of time "playing golf with clients" and was mostly inaccessible. It got to the point where most of the team cc-ed me (I was next on the totem pole) so I could grant approvals for stuff like expense reports and help out on projects my manager was supposed to work on," he wrote, revealing how he was pretty much doing and following up on what his boss was supposed to.

He put in a word early on about needing time off for his honeymoon. "When I was getting married I requested 3 weeks off for my honeymoon (EVERYONE knew I was getting married, the manager even congratulated me on the engagement when it happened). I had 5 weeks of vacation accumulated and didn't think it would be a big deal, especially since I was requesting it nearly 8 weeks in advance," he wrote. 

His manager denied the leave without even speaking to him. "Then a "vacation request denied" email comes in from our 'time off' system. I emailed the manager following up, left voice mails, and after a week he finally replied to an email, 'Look, we need dedicated people, if you think you can take 3 weeks off for a vacation, you need to reconsider your position here.' Keep in mind, my request stated "Vacation request for honeymoon," he wrote.

He decided enough was enough. "I replied with "No consideration needed, my last day will be <date in 3 weeks>. Let me know about transitioning duties.' I forward this to HR, cc'ing manager and HR sets up my exit interview, but HR tells my manager to set up transition for my responsibilities. During my notice period, I even replied-all to these emails twice, asking about transition plans, since I didn't get any transition plan," he wrote.

The manager is forced to confront life without him and is left a little flustered. "I tell my team. They ask the manager what to do with my duties and he says he'll think about it but doesn't do anything nor email anything out," he wrote. "Four weeks later, I get a call from my old boss, 'Are you planning on coming in this week?' 'Why would I?' 'Because you work for me?'" he wrote. 

"Not as of last week," he replied. "Stop messing around, get your a$$ in the office," his manager replied dismissively. The employee held firm. "I told you my last day when you denied my vacation request," he said. His boss tried to catch on a technicality and asked, "How about giving proper notice and transitions?" He replied, "The HR asked you to develop a transition plan and to attend my exit interview. It's not my fault you don't read all your emails." He then hung up his boss' number and blocked him. He also took a screenshot the call log and sent it to the HR contact with an innocent, "Should I be worried <old manager> thinks I still work for him?"

Things went south for his manager as he got found out at work, with the employee not around to cover for him. "Apparently, I was doing most of his managerial duties, so he actually had to try and get stuff done himself. He also got into some legal issues (those client golf outings? he played golf...but not with clients) that made his termination "with cause," so no severance for him," he wrote. His boss was also left to hire lawyers to deal with legal issues related to his dismissal and the expenses. 

The employee ended up with a nice bump in pay and went on his honeymoon. "They paid me for the entire time off — that garnered a lot of goodwill from both me and my wife," he concluded.