Baffled

I had wanted to go to the Oak Ridge Boys Christmas concert in Tennessee on December 20, but didn’t feel like there was (financially) any way it could happen. Plus, that would mean that I wouldn’t get to WA to see the kids, which is really more important. I did some price checking and discovered that I could probably afford tickets if we flew “less than desirable” flights and flew back home on Christmas morning.

I have three days of PTO (paid time off) left for the rest of the year. I have technically used five hours more than I’ve accrued but by 12/20, I will have accrued 24 more hours – which is what I have left. If we don’t use the hours, we lose them – they don’t roll over to the next year, even though we actually haven’t accrued all of them until 12/2`. Getting the time off approved is another issue altogether because of release schedules and manpower issues. We have 12/23 and 12/24 off as holidays, so that leaves three days to work.

I requested time off at Christmas in July; denied. Reason given was that it was unclear when the release schedule would be updated and there may be a release that week and it was too soon to approve it. OK, I can understand that. Requested time off at Christmas in August; denied. Same reason. Two other people have been approved for the time off – one the week before Christmas and one the week after. Before my heart cath (when I had 5 days left), I requested to take three days off the week of Christmas; denied and was told to address the issue after my test. OK – can understand that, too because we didn’t know what we’d find and I might be off longer than a week. That response also indicated that it’s really hard to plan holidays when you work here and that she (my boss) was unable to get together with her family last year except for Thanksgiving.

Release schedule has been posted and although there is a release scheduled that week, we may not have any reaction to it and even if we do, there are ample people here to handle it. So, I worded an email very carefully and requested to take my last three days off if I managed to hang onto them, expecting a conditional response. I explained that I’d like to go see my new grandson and my other grandkids, one of which I’ve seen once (she’ll be 16 months at Christmas) and the other I’ve seen five times (he was three in September). Denied. Since I am so low on PTO, they denied it. Not even a conditional “if you can keep your hours, you can take them then” response. If I get sick and need to use it, I’m fine with that. But, if I stay well and keep it, why not say “yes” to that? If I purchased airline tickets and had to not use them because I’d used up my time, then the responsibility is on my shoulders, not theirs.

So, I said OK to their response (what else could I say?) and asked, “but if I happen to be healthy and manage to hang onto the time? Late approval, no such luck, or what? I’m not in the market to purchase airline tickets right now anyway but if it gets to December 1 and I still have 3 days left? Take them the last week of the month?” So far, no response but I’m not expecting a favorable response. I’m really beginning to believe that I’m being punished for taking time off without pay (Family Medical Leave Act protection) and that the thought is if I can take time off without pay for Ron, then I should take my remaining PTO for his doctor’s visits. That’s what FMLA is for – to protect you from losing your job, but our handbook states that “the company may require employees to exhaust their accrued paid leave prior to taking unpaid leave.” But, when I specifically asked our HR person last year, she said they didn’t *have* to use my accrued PTO first. I’m just not sure what’s up.

I just honestly don’t get it. I thought scheduling your time was what it’s all about – you schedule some vacation time and then you use some for emergencies and health issues. If I schedule something and have to cancel it because of health issues or emergencies, that is life. But to just tell me no because “I” might get sick and use it before then is a bit much. One friend told me that maybe boss #1 was trying to protect me from boss #2 and her anger because she has fired people before for using their PTO before it was accrued. That really sucks, but she personally has approved the PTO that I took prior to accruing it when Ron was so sick this past summer. If I hadn’t already had my trip with Amy/Isaiah planned and paid for, she might have made me cancel that though. I do know that boss #2 resented (her words, not mine) the time I donated to Toys for Tots last year while I was also taking FMLA time, so I can see that it would be possible that this is the case. Other people have time scheduled on our calendar for the rest of the year, so what is so different about me scheduling it?  If you end up using "scheduled" time, then you deduct it from the remaining time and remove it from the calendar. We’re adults and we know how much time we get each year – something comes up, you re-do your scheduled time.

I am not a very happy camper right now. Amy, Rex, and Isaiah are going to the farm (they were here last year) and I won't get to see the trio in WA so it will be a very quiet and lonely holiday. Bummer...