Worker Shuts Down Boss Who Denied His Time-Off Request For His Sister's Wedding—'PTO Means Prepare The Others Because I Will Not Be There'
He asked for time off 6 months in advance.
TikTok What would you do if you got in trouble for a PTO request for a wedding? Going to a loved one’s wedding is an important occasion that most people wouldn’t dare miss. It can be a beautiful experience to watch someone you’ve known from a young age commit to someone they love.
But even a tradition as old as that doesn’t stop some bosses from giving people a hard time. One man shared his argument with his boss for wanting to take time off.
His PTO request to go to his sister’s wedding almost cost him his job.
Graeson McGaha posts work-related comedic content to the video-sharing app TikTok. In a recent upload, he explained an argument he got into with his supervisor after requesting time off. Graeson works a blue-collar job, which he doesn’t speak kindly of in this post.
A whopping six months in advance, he told his supervisor that he would be taking a day off for his sister’s wedding.
A perfectly reasonable request, since weddings don’t often happen, especially a sibling’s! However, when the date started to encroach, the supervisor got extremely upset with him, and an argument ensued. Thus, HR called him into the office to squash the dispute over his request. Hilariously, Graeson has an entirely different definition for PTO that dismisses the “request” part of the process.
“He thought six months ago when I put in the request that I was asking to go to my sister’s wedding. No PTO stands for “prepare the others” because I will not be here that day,” he said.
But the meeting with HR didn’t go Graeson’s way either, since she threatened his job! “She says, ‘It’s a bad economy right now, and [you’re] lucky to have this job,’” he said.
In the video, he remarked that it’s actually the opposite at his workplace. The company hired Graeson and a class of twenty people five years ago. He and “about three others” are the only ones left today. He insinuated that it wasn’t because they were fired but rather because they quit.
“I’ve seen the new crop of people that are coming in, the ones that work for two days then no call no show. Seems to me like I’m not the lucky one in this situation,” he said.
People in the comments defended Graeson’s request for PTO.
Some felt that he acted more than appropriately for requesting time off so far in advance. “6 months notice is more than enough time for them to plan,” one person wrote.
“I would complain every day to HR about that [manager's] incompetence since they can’t figure out a PTO in 6 months,” another person added.
So, how long should you request time off in advance from your employer? Well, every business is different, but ADP gave a good rule of thumb in a Spring 2018 HR newsletter. It is recommended at least one week in advance for a short vacation of a day or two and at least a month for longer vacations. So, Graeson’s employer is definitely being much too harsh, considering he requested PTO far in advance and only plans to miss a day of work for a great reason!
But there is a silver lining to this incident. Graeson specified in the comments that although he uploaded it in April 2023, it’s an older video and that he loves the company he works for now.
Ethan Cotler is a writer living in Boston. His writing covers entertainment, news and human interest stories.