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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Honest_Star7348 on 2024-01-24 16:41:31.
Original Title: Management Says I’m Losing My Unused Vacation Days Because of a New “Unpublished Handbook Rule” Okay, I will Comply with the Rules of this New Unpublished Handbook, But These Four Paid Unused Vacation Days Will Cost You THOUSANDS!!!
I worked for a company with great pay and benefits. One of which was vacation days. I worked there for years without any performance or attendance issues. I was also an employee who would not work overtime. I give 100% while I’m there. That’s all I have to offer! Other than that, no issues.
Each year, I’d pre-planned my vacation days. We had to put our plans on a calendar for approval, and I wanted to receive my approval before confirming my plans, so I did everything as early as possible. I had no vacation request problems for years and did not hear of other employees having issues with their vacation time/pay.
Then, one year, all of a sudden, after using all but four of my vacation days, management said I had no additional paid vacation time. I reviewed our online handbook, gathered my requested and approved time off, and checked my check stubs to verify the paid vacation days I’d taken thus far. I presented everything to management for research.
My direct manager said he checked, and I didn’t have four additional vacation days. That wasn’t good enough, so I asked him to forward it to his manager. His manager said the same thing: that wasn’t good enough. Eventually, my concerns reached the center manager.
The center manager called me into a meeting. I again presented my findings, showing I had four unused vacation days left. He then began discussing changes to our vacation policy while making eye contact and smiling. He turned his computer around to show me the “new handbook” they constructed reflecting the new vacation policy. Wait a minute, what? There is an online employee handbook, yet I am supposed to go by a “new handbook” not known to employees. Make that make sense.
I politely said, “Okay,” and walked out. I removed my four days from the vacation calendar. I then began “chatting” with other employees to see the number of days they had taken for that year and the number of days they might have left. Conversations like, “How was your vacation? How long did you stay? Are you choosing a different place to spend the rest of your vacation days?” Asking these and related questions allowed me to calculate the number of vacation days they used or had remaining. I did not find one other employee having my issue with vacation time.
I waited a couple of months and filed a lawsuit while working there. Other employees did not know about my lawsuit, at least not from me, but I’m sure management knew. The lawsuit (discovery process) revealed an email chain. The email chain showed the center manager directly asking Human Resources about my four unused vacation days and Human Resources CONFIRMING I had four unused vacation days. The center manager used a fictitious “new handbook” to cover his and other management actions, denying my unused vacation time.
Shortly after that, we settled, and they paid THOUSANDS for four unused vacation days. I had to resign (of course), and the center manager (and other management) lost their positions, retired, or quit. All I wanted was my unused, paid vacation time. But what I received was much more!