Kate
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I could definitely be misreading the situation, but what it sounds like to me is possibly that it came to someone’s attention that you had taken a couple of trips last year for which you used just a handful of vacation days and “worked remotely” for the rest. That’s not something a lot of employers in the US at least would be cool with, for a new employee, even if she’s truly keeping up with all her work while she’s out. You stated your intention to do that again in March and they shut you down, so it looks like they want to put a stop to that and limit you to the 10 vacation days they believe you have. No working remotely, no pre-booked sick days. They’re giving you reasons that have to do with client face-time, to discourage the long trips.
You’re moving there in the summer, right? So maybe it’s ok if you just get the one trip in May, because it sounds like that’s all they’re willing to approve, unfortunately.
That’s what it looks like… again, I could be wrong. Someone maybe got jealous and complained, or they just felt you were gone too long out of the office.
Yeah that’s what may be going on. Also, if they know that you’re taking these trips to stay with your boyfriend in another country and work remotely, they may be trying to reign in that privilege. Either like you said, as a power thing, or because they decided it isn’t really in policy, or someone complained it isn’t fair. Or maybe not, who knows.
That language in the negotiation is ambiguous enough that I think they could tell you you misunderstood: you get 10 personal and 12 sick, to use at your discretion, but you can’t book the sick days in advance. I hope they don’t do that to you.
Did they add that “at your discretion” wording in – it wasn’t already there? He is probably going to come back and say, “at your discretion means if you’re not feeling well.” Is it made clear somewhere in the emails that the 12 sick days can be used as PTO, taken together, boiled in advance, etc.?
It does seem like they are on your case for some reason.
Even if you did only have 10 days, why would 5 be too many to request?
I’m thinking something is going on, like they may be trying to send you a message that they think you’ve taken too much time off. This is weird. Are other people aware of the “policy” that no one can take vacation days in March or April, or more than a week at a time?
Ive never heard of a policy like that either, FWIW. And it needs to be in the handbook if it is actually a policy. That said, I don’t think you can do anything about it, unfortunately.
It’s a nasty surprise, but think of it as a way to test your problem solving skills as a couple. Shitty things do come up that you have to work together to fix. I would hope that if you’re really upset about something, he’s able to find time to chat before several days go by, and that he’s willing and able to compromise to find a way to see each other.
That blows. Can he visit you in March, you go there in May?
Wow, that’s really bad communication on their part. If no one can take PTO in March or April, they should have announced that generally so people could plan around it. Those are two pretty big vacation months!
Is the last week of February out?
Did she explain why? Can you go for a week instead of 3 weeks?
You could Slack her and ask for a few minutes on her calendar to make sure your PTO was approved for March. She might just say, “yeah, ok” on the spot to avoid setting up a meeting.
I still think you’re better off trying to stalk her physically, unless everyone replies to Slack in your office. I guess I’m able to get responses from my CEO and owner when they’re locked in meetings, but that’s on client-related stuff. Not sure if they’d ignore it if it was about PTO. That said, CEO is super quick about approving the requests.
Yeah, at my last job we never needed approval, but at this very small company we do. Coverage is more of a concern.
Be careful about showing frustration or stress. Keep it breezy. Basically stalk her til you catch her, but appear calm and positive.
If there’s no way to ever catch the gm or controller in their office, can you book 15 mins on their calendar? Email isn’t working, for whatever reason, so you need an in person follow up.
