Time off is always contentious. The one time you actually need it is always the time it inevitably gets denied.

Or the coworker who promised to take your shift texts you the day of to tell you something came up!

And its not unheard of for bosses to renege on their agreement to let you have off, almost like their dead set on ruining your plans at the very last minute.

But this user’s boss was a whole different breed, taking away everyone’s time off over the holidays just because he couldn’t get any himself! 

But when OP was told he needed to come in for a day off he had already had approved, he made sure it was his last day at the company!

Fired if I don’t work that day, made it my last day.

A few years back I worked on a relief crew on a drilling rig. The rig ran 24 hours a day with three shifts. Crews worked 6 days and then 2 days off.

My crew would replace a working crew so they could have their 2 days off so we worked mornings 2 days, then afternoons and then nights.

It was common to find someone to take a shift if you wanted an extra day off but the replacement had to have the same abilities.

A crew had a driller, Derrickhand, motorman, chainhand, and floorhand. People started as floorhand and worked their way up with more responsibility and more pay.

Sometimes when someone changed companies they might take a lower position so it was common to have someone with derrickhand capabilities working motor or chain.

OP realized he had Christmas off, and he began looking for people to cover his other shifts and make himself a little vacation.

In September my wife asked about the chances of getting off for Christmas. I checked the calendar and my days off fell on December 24 and 25.

Done deal! I have it scheduled off. Then I decided to sweeten the pot. I found a guy who would work December 22 and 23 for me.

Also found one who would work the 26 and 27.I took this to my driller who agreed they could work for me.

With my 6 days off I could drive 400 miles to visit family. Things looked pretty sweet, too sweet.

But not everyone was as lucky as OP trying to get off for the holidays.

The other guys on my crew were in the same position so they all tried to find replacements and two were successful.

Unfortunately, the driller only had 3 other guys on the rig who could work for him and none of them wanted to help.

He got mad and said since he couldn’t get the time off none of us could have it off.

I reminded him that he had already approved my time and he said that was canceled, and if I didn’t work on Dec 23 then I was a run off MF (fired).

Much to the driller’s surprise, OP agreed to work the 23rd, but there was a catch.

I told him fine, I will work the 23rd but that will be my last day of work. Consider this my 3 month notice.

At work, nothing much was said for the next few weeks. Outside of work I was networking and found another job I could start the first week of January.

All was set. At the end of my shift on the 23rd I emptied my work locker and said my goodbyes. The driller barely acknowledged me.

I went home and drove to see family the next day. Spent a relaxing week there and then came back to start my new job.

But when he saw a friend from the rig a month later, he learned the driller still thought he was bluffing!

About the end of January I went to a friend’s birthday party. There I saw one of my old crew.

He asked me when I was going to go back to work. The driller thought I was just sulking around and would come crawling back soon.

He never hired a replacement and they had been working short handed for over a month.

I said he better hire somebody. I wasn’t playing games and when I said I quit I meant it.

Hope that this was the hill the driller wanted to die on, because it cost him a month’s worth of work!

Seriously though, how evil do you have to be to revoke days off over the holidays?

Reddit loved to see someone advocating for themselves at the workplace, with this user suggesting to not request days off, but to let management know when they’re not working.

This user agreed, saying he used the same trick in school when it came time for exam week.

This commenter pointed out how ridiculous it was that the driller was such a stickler when he could run the operation without OP for a month.

This user pointed out that employers only treat people like this because they assume they’re their employees only option.

And finally, this commenter pointed out that taking away his employees’ time off accomplished nothing but pettiness.

Seems like OP was better off out of there anyway!

Find a boss that respects your time, people!

Want to read another story where somebody got satisfying revenge? Check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.