Employee stands up to boss after being forced to reschedule surgery on holiday to avoid extra leaves

Every time an employee from a strict organization wants a leave, they have to carefully plan their every step before actually applying for the offs. There is always a chance that their leave request might get declined. But in case of medical emergencies, most organizations consider providing their employees a few days off as per their requirements. However, u/AcanthocephalaTop726 shared a story of their unpleasant experience of asking for a leave and Reddit users are hoping it doesn't happen to anyone at their workplace. 

The person shared a post on the r/antiwork subreddit and narrated how their insensitive boss made them feel miserable once they asked for leave for their surgery. The post was titled: "My boss told me to reschedule my surgery so it falls over Christmas." Sure enough, nobody wants to spend their Christmas break in surgery or recovering from it. The employee straight up admitted at the beginning of their post that they made a major mistake by mentioning the month in which they were planning to get the surgery.

"I'm at the last step before confirming my surgery date and made the mistake of mentioning to my boss that I'm aiming for January. She made a face and said 'You know, when employees get the surgery they try to do it over the Christmas break so they don't need time off for recovery,'" the post read. In most cases, employees are allowed to give prior notice before taking an extended break for medical causes but this poor fellow certainly did not expect the boss to respond in a way she did.

"I was a bit shocked when she said this, so I reminded her I have over 320 hours of annual leave banked and should be able to take this time off. I would be giving her 3 months' notice and recovery should only be a maximum of two weeks. Am I insane to be absolutely seething over this?" the employee shared, adding how they never take annual leave because they are working in a small team consisting of 20 members only and the employee also happens to be the boss' executive assistant.

"It's been almost 4 years and the only time I have taken annual leave was 3 days for a wedding over a year ago. Now apparently I should spend my Christmas in pain recovering from surgery so I don't inconvenience her," the post concluded. It seems that along with the unfortunate employee, the rest of the Reddit community was seething in anger as well. u/Bigel_7 suggested: "Tell her you tried to book it during Xmas but they couldn’t fit you in because that’s when everyone books surgery apparently. The earliest they could do it is [insert your preferred date]."

u/Eastern_Inevitable39 wrote: "You have 320 hours banked, how you spend your hours isn’t up to her. Sounds like she’s on a power trip." u/TheinimitaableG commented: "Start taking your annual leave, especially if you are in a state that does not require it to be paid out when your employment ends." u/Leeoid added: "Typical soulless sociopath boss." According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the companies that are subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provide for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for certain medical situations for either the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family. In many instances, paid leave may be substituted for unpaid FMLA leave.