Man Praised for Quitting Job After Boss Refused Him Time Off for Honeymoon

A groom-to-be has been applauded for taking a stand against a demanding boss who refused to let him have time off work for his honeymoon.

In a lengthy post shared to Reddit's "MaliciousCompliance" thread, the disgruntled worker described how ahead of his wedding he had "requested three weeks off" for his honeymoon.

At the time, he thought little of it. "Everyone knew I was getting married," he explained. "I had five weeks of vacation accumulated and didn't think it would be a big deal, especially since I was requesting it nearly eight weeks in advance."

However, he was dismayed to then receive a "vacation request denied" email from his manager. Eager to resolve the situation before his nuptials, he made several attempts to contact his boss by phone and email.

Finally he received an emailed reply that read: "Look, we need dedicated people, if you think you can take three weeks off for a vacation, you need to reconsider your position here."

The response left him shocked, particularly as his initial request had been titled "vacation request for honeymoon."

Replying to his manager's email, the worker told him "no consideration needed" and handed his notice in, forwarding the message to HR and asking his boss to let him know about "transitioning duties."

However, in the weeks that followed, no "transition plan" was forthcoming. Just after he left his role with the company, he received a call from his now former boss asking "Are you planning on coming in this week?"

When he informed him he had handed in his notice, his manager, seemingly ignorant of this development, told him to "stop messing around" and come into the office.

The man stood firm and left the role, eventually landing a job "at a competitor with a nice bump in pay." More importantly, they granted him paid leave to head off on his honeymoon soon after. "That garnered a lot of good will from both me and my wife," the worker wrote.

According to the post, "things went from bad to worse" for his old manager who eventually became involved in "legal issues" that saw him terminated with "no severance."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment.

The account comes at a fascinating time in worker-employer relations.

Over the past few months, there has been a notable increase in the number of resignations witnessed in the U.S., with many taking stock of their work-life relationships in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In November 2021 alone, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs.

On Reddit, users were full of praise for the man's refusal to back down over the issue, with the post earning over 29,000 upvotes.

Hokulewa said that his boss learned a valuable lesson "that you should never present an ultimatum unless you are prepared for either outcome." Revchewie was not so sure though. "This assumes that he actually learned anything," they wrote.

TrenchardsRedemption surmised that the manager had ultimately "played a stupid game" and "there's only one prize for that." BopperBopper commented: "It baffles me that bosses don't realize that if you want time off for a very important event that you will take it no matter if you have to leave."

Pspetrini said: "I'll never, ever understand this line of thinking from managers. A time off request is a courtesy. I'm not going to be here on X, Y, Z dates so here's my notice about that. Plan accordingly."

The story comes hot on the heels of another viral post in which a worker detailed how they quit their job after being warned by their boss that they were "replaceable."

In another instance, an employee left their post after being told they would have to work both Thanksgiving and Christmas.