Nasty Boss Made Sure They Didn’t Get Paid For Their Vacation Days When They Left Their Job, So They Made Sure the Same Thing Happened To Him When He Left

Matthew Gilligan

3 months ago

Source: Shutterstock

Revenge stories can really bring a smile to one’s face, don’t you think?

And if that revenge is done correctly, well, there’s almost nothing better!

Chew on this revenge story from Reddit and see what you think.

Revenge in a Small Town.

“This occurred about 10 years ago, but still is my favorite revenge.

My first job out of college was for a local government agency in the small town where I grew up.

I had moved back to my hometown after college because of family considerations (my grandmother was sick) and because I didn’t want to take a job in a cubicle.

As it turned out, this job involved a cubicle, but there was also field work involved, which was what I had been wanting.

Things got off to a rocky start.

Right off, my boss was a little off putting. He butchered the English language in some ways, but was quick to correct someone who might use an incorrect word or phrase.

If someone in the community had an issue with our work (the agency involved in the calculation of local taxes) he would first look up their account to determine if they were “worth the time” to talk to personally, or if they should be delegated.

Anyone who was “worth the time” got to visit with him personally, and would invariably get additional considerations.

Sounds shady…

Anyone that he delegated had to be denied in almost all requests for relief, even if the request was identical to the issue that had been presented by those deemed to be “worth the time.”

Part of our year was spent arbitrating these disputes, and we would have hearings that were conducted at our office for those who we could not come to an agreement with on an informal basis.

Boss would sit in the back of the room and, if he heard me or one of my colleagues give an answer that would provide an opening for the arbitration panel to justify a reduction, he would pull us from the room.

On one such occasion, I pointed out to him the fact that, in arbitration hearings I was under oath, and had been asked a direct question. I told him I would not perjure myself and that he was the one who told me about the change for the other person.

I said the next time I was asked a similar question, I could refer the question to him so that he could lie. That didn’t go over well, but he stopped asking me to lie.

They finally had enough.

The final straw for me working there was when I had to take off three days unexpectedly because my best friend’s father, who was like a second father to me, took his own life, and it fell to me to have to go tell my best friend that his father was gone and bring him back home to deal with the ensuing grief that we all went through that week.

Boss called me the evening before the funeral to ask when I would be back and remind me that I had a deadline coming up.

Wow. This guy was a creep.

Once back at work, he pulled me aside and said that my request for bereavement pay would be declined, since the person who passed away was “not an immediate family member.”

I pointed out the fact that he had granted bereavement pay to a coworker in a similar situation, but was told that “they had to travel” to that funeral, and the pay was to help pay for those expenses.

When I started to parse the logic, he simply held up a hand, said the matter was closed, and that I needed to make sure that all my work was done by the deadline. It was.

After almost three years I had had enough, and decided to leave. I had accrued some sick days and vacation days. HR rules allowed for the collection of vacation days when someone quit, but sick days were lost.

I had about 15 days still in the bank. People had used sick days as vacation days in the past, which had been approved by Boss, but in this circumstance, since I was leaving, they would be lost. Okay, no problem, cover your ***.

They learned more about what was going on.

I stayed in touch with a couple of colleagues and learned that about a year after I left that Boss had decided to take another job in another town. I happened to hear that, as part of his departure package, he had asked to be paid his unused sick days.

HR, using the precedent set at my departure, said no, so Boss decided to go over HR and take it to the board of directors. Having heard about this, and knowing the date and time of the next board meeting, I made a point of speaking with a board member prior to the meeting.

A bit to know about the board is that they were all hand picked by Boss, and Boss had grown accustomed to any item he put before them to be rubber stamped.

What I knew was that many of those same board members had longstanding ties to the community, and liked to protect their own, whenever possible.

I ended up seeing the board chairman a couple of days before the meeting. It was a casual meeting. I had seen his vehicle parked at a local business and decided that I had a few minutes and could do a little shopping that day.

This gentleman is an old family friend. By that, I mean that he was very good friends with my parents when they were young; to the point of being a groomsman at their wedding.

Let’s have a chat…

We said our hellos, and caught up a bit, as we had not spoken much since I had taken my new job. I mentioned that I had heard that Boss was moving along, and wished them luck in finding a replacement.

I also mentioned that it was good that the board had decided to fix the HR issue. “What HR issue?” Well, when I left, I couldn’t collect my sick days because HR said it was against policy.

I went on to say that I had hoped that they would take the opportunity to change bereavement policy, as it seemed to be a gray area as well. I gave him a general outline of what had happened after the funeral, but was careful not to throw Boss too far under the bus.

This got his attention.

He didn’t quiz me on the last, but from his look, I could tell he was disappointed that Boss had not given the days to me for the funeral.

I made sure to let him know that, as far as I was concerned, it was water under the bridge, I had enjoyed my experience working at the agency, but that I understood that as a governmental agency, there are sometimes private individuals who might not look favorably on a policy change, especially when it has to do with compensation packages.

I said my goodbyes and went about may day.

The following week, after the board meeting and after Boss had completed his last day, I heard from a colleague who also worked as the HR person in the office. She wanted to know what I had said to the board chair.

Apparently, after he spoke with me, he had gone to the agency office, and asked her about the HR policy regarding sick days and bereavement pay.

This had gotten back to Boss prior to the board hearing, and he apparently was asking HR “what exactly did he ask for” over and over.

HR is required to be at board meetings and gave me a good recap of the events.

Revenge!

When the agenda item regarding Boss and his departure package finally came up, the chair spoke up, and slowly and directly made is case to the other board members that he had reservations about approving the changes to the HR policy, as it might look inappropriate to give such a generous package to Boss, when sick days had not previously been granted to other departing employees.

He said it might set a bad precedent, and that he would rather err on the side of being consistent with prior decisions that the office had made.

He also had spoken with board chairs of similar agencies and none of their policies allowed for employees to collect sick pay when they ended their employment.

Another board members spoke up at this point, saying that, Boss had told him other agencies did allow for the payments. This ended up being the final nail in the coffin for Boss. You don’t want to get caught in a lie with these folks.

Boss stammered and tried to salvage the situation, but there was a motion to table, and a second and a vote taken, and that was the end of it for Boss.

In the end, Boss lost 30 days (max you could carry over) of sick day compensation and had been caught in a lie with a board that he had hand picked over the years.

This equated to about $9,800 in additional compensation that Boss saw slip through his fingers.”

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