Man Quits Job After Boss Tries To Cancel Annual Leave. Their Text Exchange Goes Viral

An Australian man has quit his job after receiving an “appalling” text message from his boss trying to cancel his annual leave last minute. Taking to TikTok, user Michael Sanz, who is known for sharing stories on employees’ bad boss experiences, shared the wild text exchange between the worker, Noel, and his boss, Nick. In the clip, Mr Sanz revealed the first message was from the boss, who informed Mr Noel that another staff member had resigned and therefore his time off scheduled for the following week had to be cancelled. The boss claimed that it would be “all hands on deck” while they try to find a replacement. 

“We can push back a few months. I’ve advised HR it’s now changed for you. Appreciate your understanding,” the boss texted, as per New York Post. 

In between reading the messages, Mr Sanz explained how unfair it was to cancel the period of leave without any type of conversation. “This guy sounds like a tool. He’s automatically cancelling leave without any conversation,” he said. 

According to Mr Sanz, the employee then responded saying that while he appreciates how “frustrating” this situation would be for the company, he can’t cancel his leave as he has his brother’s wedding in Bali. “All flights are paid for and my kids are in the wedding party,” he wrote. “I did book this in seven months ago, so cancelling isn’t an option. I can help out more until I leave if that helps, but I can’t change my leave dates,” Mr Noel said. 

The boss then asked Mr Noel to reduce his leave from three weeks to three days. “Not sure what you can do for three weeks in Bali haha,” he texted the employee, as per the outlet. 

Mr Noel replied he “feels terrible” that the company is in this position, but he reiterated that he couldn’t cancel or amend his trip. “It’s a family trip, we haven’t been together in years and I haven’t had annual leave in 3 years. It’s also no one’s business how I spend my leave,” he said. He suggested the boss hire a temporary worker to cover until they can find a permanent replacement. He also said he could help out with the extra work until he leaves. 

“Mate, can’t stress enough, your leave is cancelled, we just can’t do it. I’m sorry,” the last message from the boss read.

This appeared to be the last straw for Mr Noel who responded that they weren’t sure if they’d be coming back to work at all anymore. He informed his boss that he would now be moving his leave to start “from today” and during this time off he would consider whether a “company that doesn’t promote boundaries is a place I really want to work at”. Mr Noel also added that he would be sending this “totally unreasonable” exchange to HR. 

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“As a boss, you can’t just cancel your team’s leave, especially when it’s booked so far out,” Mr Sanz captioned his TikTok post. In the clip, he also praised the worker for his handling of the situation. “His holiday should go ahead, the running of the business should be left to the business owners, they should get a temp in there or a virtual assistant,” he said.

Since being posted, Mr Sanz’s video has amassed millions of views. In the comments section, while some users were left stunned by the boss’ request, others shared what they would have done in such a situation. 

“Oh hell no! He handled that well, not his problem,” one user commented. “Business Owner here. Unacceptable by the boss. Not the employees problem. Enjoy Bali!” said another. 

“Response should have been. ‘You’ll need to find 2 new hires. Regards from Bali’,” a third user said. “Quick fix – Boss has to tell Jenny not to resign because they are too busy and need time to find a replacement,” added a fourth.