12/05/2024

Your Employee Wants Too Much Time Off for the Holidays

How do you tell her no?

A reader asks:Two of my employees are hourly graduate students who mostly work nights and weekends when our full-time employees do not. The position is pre-professional, meaning we treat them like any other professionals, while giving them coaching and help looking for full-time work in the field.

We're clear up front that they are expected to work some hours around holidays, so that we have enough employees around to stay open. This year, one of our students said, “My parent recently died” as a reason to get out of working around any holidays, and has requested time off for smaller family events, such as a relative’s birthday, because “it is important to be there since they lost someone recently.” So far, I've allowed this to happen without questioning things, as grieving is tough and takes time. But she is not willing to negotiate about being around anytime around Christmas–demanding three full weeks off, saying she'll need a lot of time with family since it is such a tough time of year, and crying when she told me. I reiterated that this is her last year as a student and thus her last year getting a month off for the holidays, and she needs to get used to not being able to go home for weeks at a time.

I had assumed that this death was very recent, but I went online to search for an obituary, and found the death was over two years ago. I want to think that this employee and her family have had enough time to grieve and should get on with their lives, which means her not using it as an excuse for extra time off. However, I’ve never had to deal with the death of a parent, so maybe I’m being cold about this situation.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Inc.