- Jurisdiction
- California
So I work for a large international company in California. In my workplace we have 4 techs in a warehouse. One takes Sun-Thurs first shift, two take Mon-Fri first shift and I take Mon-Fri second shift. Near the beginning of the year I scheduled PTO for the second and third full weeks of December. Because I'm the newest member of the team (I've been here for 2 years) I got last pick of the time, and our boss doesn't allow more than two technicians to be off at any given time so both shifts can be covered. As such, one tech got the last two weeks and another got the last week booked before I submitted my time for the second and third weeks. My time was approved. The last tech chooses not to take holiday time except 11/20 through 12/8.
A few weeks ago the tech who was going to take the last week off left the company. With his absence the manager is concerned about coverage for the third week of December where my PTO overlaps with the tech taking off the last 2 weeks of December. He may not be able to fill the position before the holidays arrive, and the manager heavily implied that I may have to come in that week if he doesn't get someone new who's about to work by then. The problem is I have a trip planned with plane tickets, rental vehicle, and Airbnb all booked. Having to come in that week would essentially mean I have to cancel my whole family Christmas trip.
As such, I'm looking into what I could do in this contingency where my manager wants to cancel my PTO. The first thing of course I would try to do is convince him not to, but if this fails I was thinking of taking it up with HR. I'm not sure if that would do much good because I don't think canceling my PTO isn't illegal or technically against policy since managers have discretion to approve or deny PTO based on coverage needs.
The last resort I thought of is to take the time off anyways unscheduled. It is fortunate that this year I have only taken off scheduled PTO. As such I have 24 hours of paid sick leave as required by CA state law, and the policy considers this time approved de facto, meaning the manager doesn't have to approve it. In addition, I found that once per calendar year employees can take up to 24 hours of unscheduled PTO before it is counted against them in the attendance policy. They gives me potentially 48 hours of time I can take off this year before I can be disciplined for being absent. The only potential concern I see with this is that they say if you're gone for at least three consecutive days that you need a doctor's note, but it may or may not be easy to get a doctor to sign off on 5 mental health days.
Now I don't want to go with that last option if I don't have to, but I'm wondering if there are any other options I should consider? As of now my PTO is still in approved status, but I do want to be prepared in the event that it gets revoked.
A few weeks ago the tech who was going to take the last week off left the company. With his absence the manager is concerned about coverage for the third week of December where my PTO overlaps with the tech taking off the last 2 weeks of December. He may not be able to fill the position before the holidays arrive, and the manager heavily implied that I may have to come in that week if he doesn't get someone new who's about to work by then. The problem is I have a trip planned with plane tickets, rental vehicle, and Airbnb all booked. Having to come in that week would essentially mean I have to cancel my whole family Christmas trip.
As such, I'm looking into what I could do in this contingency where my manager wants to cancel my PTO. The first thing of course I would try to do is convince him not to, but if this fails I was thinking of taking it up with HR. I'm not sure if that would do much good because I don't think canceling my PTO isn't illegal or technically against policy since managers have discretion to approve or deny PTO based on coverage needs.
The last resort I thought of is to take the time off anyways unscheduled. It is fortunate that this year I have only taken off scheduled PTO. As such I have 24 hours of paid sick leave as required by CA state law, and the policy considers this time approved de facto, meaning the manager doesn't have to approve it. In addition, I found that once per calendar year employees can take up to 24 hours of unscheduled PTO before it is counted against them in the attendance policy. They gives me potentially 48 hours of time I can take off this year before I can be disciplined for being absent. The only potential concern I see with this is that they say if you're gone for at least three consecutive days that you need a doctor's note, but it may or may not be easy to get a doctor to sign off on 5 mental health days.
Now I don't want to go with that last option if I don't have to, but I'm wondering if there are any other options I should consider? As of now my PTO is still in approved status, but I do want to be prepared in the event that it gets revoked.