Woman calls out employer claiming to 'value family' after being refused leave to mourn her grandma

Many employers take their employees' well-being for granted. They don't support people working for them when they are needed the most. Reddit user u/Sea_Somewhere2297 had a story to share about her workplace which refused to give her the time off after their grandma passed away. Her story resonated with many viewers who have been treated poorly in times of crisis by employers.

The woman shares that the incident happened a few years ago, but that they were still "salty" about it. She was working on providing kids with out-of-school care. She also knew that their grandmother's health was deteriorating. She wrote, "I informed my work that in the near future, I would need to take some time off and drive the 12 hours to my hometown to see my family."

As predicted, she soon got a call from her family that she needed to say her goodbyes. She informed her company about it and they were initially fine with it. The individual went to their hometown and witnessed their grandmother pass away. They share, "I was very close with her and I took it very hard."

At this point, her workplace informs her that she would only get three unpaid days off and would have to return after that. The employee states how she worked at a childcare company that supposedly "valued" family. The bereavement policy in place did not reflect that. So, she informed the company that she was just not ready to return. They write, "I didn't want to deal with all the kid's questions and even when you try to hide your sadness, they know. They are so smart."

She then went to a clinic and told the doctor about their situation. The doctor was "beyond pissed" about having to even write a note, but she did it anyway. They told her that a week would be fine, but she extended it to two weeks, "just in case." She writes, "Emailed a copy of the doctor's note to my work and took the full two weeks, they were so salty after I came back." She concluded the post by calling out the company for putting forth big values when they lacked "basic human decency."

Individuals on the platform shared their own relatable stories in the comments section. u/terminator_chic said, "I used to be the HR enforcer of bereavement time. If it was a situation where someone needed more time, you'd better believe I gave them all the tips and tricks to get more time! Yeah, I don't do HR anymore. I didn't like enforcing rules that I hated." u/CoderJoe1 added, "Values only matter when they're inconvenient."

Another user, u/L_D_Machiavelli said, "Those who bleat the loudest, often are the ones least qualified to do so because they believe they're the ones doing the most because they're the ones proclaiming their virtues the loudest." u/Dear-Ad9314 said, "I think your title says everything and the rest is a "What the heck are you thinking". Companies that value family walk the walk. This one doesn't. Why are you still there? This isn't malicious compliance, it is corporate abuse."