Management denies basic leave to meet deadline — then desperately tries to extend notice period when employee quits anyway

Overworking employees can cause a lot of stress, but denying basic leave is unethical. When a project manager observed that the developers on his team were being denied basic leave, he later saw them quitting their positions after being offered better opportunities elsewhere. However, their company desperately tried to extend their notice period in an attempt to trap the employees. Expressing concerns about the chaos that has been ensuing, u/Fantastic-Nerve7068's Reddit post from December 17 garnered more than 1,800 upvotes.

u/Fantastic-Nerve7068 works as a project manager at a software organization and works with five developers on creating a UI revamp. Due to tight deadlines, the employees were denied even basic leave. The author wrote, "A month ago it was festival season and a couple of devs asked for leave. Normal stuff. One wanted to take time off for his wedding anniversary, another for his kid's first birthday. Others just wanted to go home and be with family for the festival. Management straight up said no." When asked for a reason, the management replied that "the goal for the new UI changes isn’t completed yet." Disappointed by the lack of flexibility, two developers decided to look for other opportunities and found better offers elsewhere.

However, HR, upon learning this, decided to extend their notice period. "FF their last working day is literally tomorrow (Thursday). Today HR suddenly jumps in and says, 'we're extending your notice period by another 30 days.' No prior warning, no clause explained, just pressure, emotional manipulation, basically trying to trap them because now they realize the team is falling apart. These guys already planned their exit, new jobs lined up, and now this bulls***," the author wrote. However, the employees decided not to cave in to HR's demand and chose to quit anyway. "The devs are still leaving. Tomorrow. HR can shout all they want, but this whole thing has made one thing very clear to me too. If this is how they treat engineers, PMs aren’t special either. We're all replaceable to them when it's convenient. This system is broken and it’s exhausting watching good people get screwed for doing nothing wrong," the author wrote.

A 2025 study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics notes that mandatory notice policies require firms to inform workers in advance. However, companies cannot impose extended notice periods with regard to resignation. By expecting the developers to work beyond their original notice period, the company is engaging in an unethical practice. Another study found that "greater advance notice periods were associated with improved sleep and fatigue outcomes" whereas a notice less than 6 days in advance caused poor sleep patterns.

Soon after the post gained traction, many users expressed their thoughts. u/Cassierae87 wrote, "They can extend the contract 30 years. The employees don't have to honor it." u/EITupacbraXXX commented, "But but but but they extended the contract! Lol, I'd walk out right then and let them bluster and seethe." u/Mehhucklebear wrote, "If you can unilaterally extend my contact without my consent, then I can increase my compensation for said contract by 1,000%. If contracts have no meaning anymore, it works both ways."

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