New hire asked to donate leave for ailing employees on second day of job, sparking debate

Every employee deserves a leave to reduce their stress level and be carefree for a while. Besides, companies allotting leave to their employees allows them to have a work-life balance and manage their duties properly. However, a newly joined employee was shocked when their company asked them to donate their leave on their second day at work. u/Cheeky_Edge13 shared the story of how one thing after another has added up to the disappointment and distress in their life and the email from the new company was a cherry on the top.

"I lost my job in March. I had an amazing job with amazing leadership and came home still having the energy to do things. Bad things happened in my personal life (a close family member has terminal cancer, and I got divorced after something really tough). I took the first thing I could get that wasn't just poverty. It's a $10k a year pay cut and instead of amazing leadership, a job I love, and my own giant office with a huge window, I now work in a tiny grey cubicle. I got this email on the very first day," the employee shared.

The email read, "Good morning, everyone and Happy Monday!" It continued, "I am struggling this morning. Mondays are tough, especially after such a beautiful weekend! I am sending out vibes that we all have a positive and productive week that leads to another great weekend." The email informed people they had a "tall order" and needed to help two of their own staff through leave donations. "Leave donations assist employees who would otherwise go into leave without pay when a medical condition puts them out of work and they have exhausted all their leave," the email explained.

"If you can help our co-workers out, please submit the attached form. Leave must be donated in full-hour increments, i.e., no .25, no .50, or no .75 donations. You can even donate as little as 1 hour; it adds up and every little bit helps," the email mentioned. According to the email, Employee A needed 231 hours and Employee B needed 49 hours. It concluded by saying, "Please help if you can." Also, a form was attached to the email that employees could use to donate leave. 

People took to the comments to express their thoughts on the bizarre situation. u/i-Ake wrote, "My boyfriend worked at Harrah's Casino in 2012. He got viral meningitis and was in the ICU for 8 days. He was fired for losing too many 'points' for absence, in spite of his manager and senior manager arguing in his favor. Staggeringly stupid system." u/Phos4ous88 remarked, "It's just so fucking ridiculous that THEY make the rules for the business and then act like they can't just change the rules again. They act like their hands are tied and then send emails like this."

u/PleasantSalad commented, "Yeah... floor staff at Whole Foods Market had to ask for donated leave for medical reasons. But a corporate-level employee's stepson died and she was out for a literal year. She did 'work from home' for a few months before coming back. I put that in quotations because she wasn't present during normal meetings, her work remained everyone else's responsibility and she answered emails WEEKS after being sent. But sure... Rosa can be prepping the food bar wearing an adult diaper, 6 weeks after giving birth, with stitches still in."