The internet defended an employee who didn't give up their annual leave spot to their co-worker who wanted to spend that time with her family.
In a viral post submitted to Reddit's "AmITheA**hole" forum, u/Hallelujah999 posed the question, "AITA for not giving up my annual leave slots up for my colleague with children?" The post has over 9,000 upvotes and 1,000 comments.
The Redditor explained that where they work, if more than two people apply for the same paid time off slots, they draw to see who gets the days off.
They wrote: "The past 2 years has been really mentally and physically exhausting for me and I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my family and friends overseas in June where it is holiday season in my country."
According to Zippia, the average PTO time is 10 days or two weeks (not including weekends) in the United States. 55 percent of Americans also don't use all of their days.
Unfortunately, one of their coworkers did not get the time off when she wanted to. She has been giving subtle hints to the OP (original poster) that she wanted that time off to spend with her children.
"An example would be when we are having lunch, she would sit uncomfortably close to me and show me her childrens' pictures and talk about how she wants to bring them overseas and blah blah blah," the user stated.
They continued: "Another time, she was in a foul mood for god knows what reason, looks at me, frowns and starts saying stuff like 'you don't even have any children, so why do you need that slot?'"
Growing tired of the annoyance, the Redditor explained to her that those days were given to him and if she was that upset about it, she should go to HR. They explained how the days off were accepted months ago and their coworker talks about the user behind their back to other employees. They question if they should report her to HR for harassment.
Commenters were quick to defend the OP.
"NTA. Already said it on another post, we need to stop this "movement" that people with kids get anything they want and have priority on everything. No. We, 'childfree' people, have lives too," u/EsmeraldaWylde's popular comment received over 14,000 upvotes.
"Yup. As a working mother, I never expected special treatment," u/Elspeth_McRae replied. "Single and child-free folks have family too, and their need for downtime is no less important than mine."
U/BananicattheDisco stated, "NTA. Her family / holiday plans aren't more important than yours. Consider: 1. Directly ask her to stop pestering you and respect that you have vacation plans. 2. Let her know that if she continues to guilt/bother you, you will speak to HR. 3. If she does continue, write her up to HR."
"NTA. She CHOSE to have kids and her kids are NOT your problem. You won the ballot," u/notmymain09 said.
