No matter how important your job is, you still need a break from it every now and then. Wanting one doesn’t make you unreasonable or lazy. It’s a basic human need.
But when one Redditor asked for a day off so he could attend a concert, his boss reacted in a way he definitely wasn’t expecting. Instead of treating it like a normal request, he fired him. The employee decided he wasn’t going to let that slide. Read the full story below.
When the man asked his boss for a day off so he could attend a concert, he ended up getting fired
He decided he wasn’t going to let that slide and took the company to court
According to career experts, you shouldn’t need to explain to your boss why you’re taking a day off in the first place
Who knows why a metal concert managed to get his bosses so worked up. Maybe they really hated Slayer. Maybe they were simply allergic to fun. Either way, what he planned to do that day shouldn’t have made much difference.
He could have been traveling to a tiny seaside town, hiking in the Dolomites, or spending the whole afternoon under a blanket watching terrible reality TV. Career experts argue that workers shouldn’t have to give their bosses a detailed account of what they do during their leave.
“How you choose to spend your vacation or paid time off (PTO) is your choice and does not require an explanation,” career coach Keni Dominguez told HuffPost. Your employer may need to know when you’ll be away and make sure everything is covered while you’re gone, but that’s about it.
Unfortunately, people-pleasing can make that easier said than done. Some of us may feel rude or guilty if we don’t offer some kind of explanation.
“We may feel shame—like we’re not good enough or we are failing—if we need to take a mental health day or time off, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” coach and author Melody Wilding told HuffPost.
If anything, taking time off for your well-being can actually show that you care about your work and how well you perform. “It is an investment in your career—not a sign of inadequacy,” Wilding said.
After all, giving employees proper time to rest can help them perform better once they’re back
Now, that might sound a little backwards to some toxic managers. How can staying away from work possibly help someone work better? Over the long run, though, taking proper time away comes with plenty of benefits for employees and employers alike.
A survey by the American Psychological Association found that after taking time off, 68% of workers returned in a better mood and 57% felt less stressed. More than half also said they were more productive once they came back. Another study showed that vacations can improve cognitive performance.
So Company N clearly missed the bigger picture when it decided that one Slayer concert was worth losing an employee over. And after the company lost in court, that choice ended up costing it far more than a single day of absence ever would have.
It also feels particularly strange given that the company was based in the Netherlands, where annual leave is firmly protected by law. According to the Dutch government, employees are entitled to at least four times the number of hours they work per week in paid holiday each year. For someone working 40 hours a week, that comes to 160 hours, or roughly 20 days.
In other words, asking for one day away from work was hardly some outrageous request.
Maybe Dave and Karen were the ones who needed a night out. A concert could’ve helped them blow off some steam and remember that people tend to be a lot less miserable when they actually have a life outside work. That alone might’ve saved everyone a whole lot of unnecessary drama.
In the comments, the man responded to readers’ thoughts and questions about what happened
Readers were glad he stood his ground and actually won the lawsuit
