Manager banned employees from taking PTO, until one worker followed the handbook to the letter

While PTO is an employee's right, some managers make it difficult to use before it expires. When an HR reminder urged an employee to "use it or lose it," their manager stopped them from taking any leave at all. The story was shared by a Reddit user u/pyreforge on November 3, and features a twist the manager didn't see coming.

The employee received an email from HR, instructing them to use the remaining paid time off (PTO) by the 30th, before it expires. "USE IT OR LOSE IT," the HR wrote.  However, the same day, their manager announced that due to the quarter-end chaos, no employee would have their leaves sanctioned until the 1st of next month. "I asked how to reconcile that, he shrugs and says talk to HR. HR says talk to your manager. Cute loop," the employee wrote. Determined to find a way, the employee opened the company handbook, and there it was — a loophole that nobody ever noticed. As per the author, "'PTO requests not explicitly denied in writing within 48 business hours are considered approved.' There is also a note that partial day PTO is allowed in 1-hour blocks."

The following day, the employee submitted separate requests to the HR portal. "Two hours every morning next week, two hours every afternoon the week after, a random Friday 3 to 5 to watch a plumber, and one full day to visit my mom." After 48 hours had passed and no message arrived from the other end, the portal marked each request made by the employee with a green checkmark. Next Monday, the employee puts a cheerful note in the team chat, "Heading out, see you at noon." The clueless manager asked the employee to hop on a client call, when they replied to them with screenshots of the policy and portal approval. 

Soon, chaos ensues as half of the team members realize that they have their remaining PTO waiting to be utilized before it expires. They soon begin filing it in little blocks. "Meetings kept colliding with green bars. Finance realized that if they did not use the days now, they would be paid out at separation later, which they hate. HR wrote a new post saying we should 'coordinate' but that approvals already granted stand," the employee shared. When the manager finally realized the loophole, he admitted that he "never thought anyone would actually read the handbook." Next week, the policy was updated, stating that "PTO must be requested in full-day increments during quarter end, and managers must respond in 24 hours." While they were figuring out this mess, the employee used their PTO efficiently to spend time with their mom and manage house chores.

In a 2021 study authored by Natalie E. French, notes that despite PTO allowing workholics to take time off from work stress, many employees neglect to use it, pointing to organizational and psychological factors that discourage rest. The study surveyed 335 full-time employees from various occupations, living in the United States. The findings revealed that workaholism is negatively related to PTO usage, but showed no significant relationship with work stress and work.

As underlined in the study, many senior employees discourage others from taking time off, making the purpose of PTO unfruitful in workplaces. Soon after the post went viral, many users lauded the employee for putting the manager in his place. u/CoderJoe1 wrote, "I used to encourage my employees to use all of their vacation time as well as their sick time. I wanted my team to avoid burning out as it took nearly a year to get a new hire fully trained." u/muscrerior commented, "This malicious compliance is approved." u/Hoak2017 shared, "This is the manager's equivalent of a developer saying 'I never thought anyone would actually use that feature'."

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