You’d think “entitlement” means you have every right to use something as long as it’s within the rules. But for one Redditor in Singapore, that wasn’t quite the case at her workplace.
The individual recently wrote a lengthy post titled “Thoughts on employees utilising the entire annual leave entitlement.” There, she shared that she was “disturbed” by a comment her boss made about her taking time off.
She explained: “He told me that I’ve been maximising my annual leaves and whatever leave benefits I have. For context, I was on maternity leave early this year and returned sometime in April.”
Her job grants her 21 days of annual leave, but the company doesn’t allow unused days to be carried forward, and only permits encashment for employees who resign. Because she returned in April without using any leave, she had been trying to clear all her days before the year ends.
“I had already planned to clear 2 weeks’ worth of leave end of December and had communicated this to him early on. I’ve not even taken any MC since I returned from maternity,” she wrote. She added that although she had been hospitalised earlier this month and given 10 days of home leave, she returned to work after only four.
Her boss, however, made it “seem bad” that she was utilising all 21 days — which would otherwise be forfeited — and commented that he himself hadn’t had the chance to take leave due to their heavy workload.
“At his pay grade, of course I wouldn’t mind that trade-off either. He told me he will be forgoing some of his leaves, having leaves doesn’t mean we must utilise it all. Then what’s the point of giving 21 days of AL? As a junior, entry-level employee, it feels unfair for him to expect me to do the same when our job grades are clearly different,” she continued, ending her post with the question: “Am I in the wrong for utilising all my annual leaves?”
