Vacation SmackDown!

I don’t know what it is about me requesting to use my vacation days that brings out the worst in my boss, but it never fails. It is always a fight with him and today he was extra awful.

First, he has to go to the woman who keeps track of vacation and ask how many days I have left. He does this every time I ask, even the very first time I asked to use ONE DAY in January, like I would ask for a vacation day I didn’t have coming. But I can get over him thinking I would cheat him out of time.

Second, he has to make sure no one else is using a vacation day, even when I tell him I checked with the other women to make sure they would be there. One extra special time he insisted one of them was taking a day I wanted even after I specifically double check and told him that person would be there. He wouldn’t believe me. She had to tell him herself she would be there. But I can get over him thinking of me as a liar.

But today, after all the above, he added something new. He decided he wasn’t going to give me the extra week of vacation I earned (for being there for more years than I ever wanted). He told the woman who handles the vacation that no one (meaning me) was getting accrued vacation anymore. When she tried to explain that I’d been given the week back in January, he yelled, “No, she’s not getting it.” And the reason... because the company is having a bad year.

Okay, now if that were true (and it totally isn’t), I could understand something like not being able to give employees raises (which he hasn’t done in two years). But, no, I can’t see how our “bad year” has any bearing on vacation time (and did I mention how the factory has been working overtime, every Saturday, since before Memorial Day to try to keep up with all our orders). And, no, the overtime isn’t because people’s vacations are causing us to get behind, nor do we need to hire temps to cover vacations.

As further proof of how “hurt” we are for business. Today a customer called the sales line (the line he handles) saying he needed to order replacement parts (my boss played the message on speaker phone). Now he didn’t write anything down, what he did was delete the message. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with it because he had more important, personal, things to take care of. No reason to let incoming orders get in the way when you can just take people’s vacation away from them to make up for the loss, however that works out.

Later in the afternoon the same customer called and talked to me and I sold him the replacement parts. No, the size of the order didn’t cover the cost of my vacation time, but that isn’t the point. What is, is he will pick and choose (and it’s based on his personal feelings) what is good or bad for our company. And me taking vacation is bad business and him not taking or returning calls to potential customers is good business. Hmmm, too bad business savvy isn’t a prerequisite for owning your own company.

Alas, I did get to keep my extra week. Be by the grace of my good karma, or eyes that fell somewhere between sad puppy dog and crazy PMS, or a passing touch of sanity on his part -- whatever it was, I’m relieved it worked out in my favor.