May 30, 2026 at 7:35 am

Employee Scheduled Despite Approved Time Off for Wedding, Warns of Staffing Shortage

by Benjamin Cottrell

fast food employees in restaurant

Pexels/Reddit

Getting a time off request denied is frustrating enough, but getting it denied after telling your boss you will literally be in another state is a different level of workplace absurdity.

An employee who had a family wedding out of town did everything by the book: submitted the request early, followed up by email, and made his unavailability impossible to misunderstand.

His manager denied it anyway and put his name on the schedule for a shift he had no way of working.

So the employee decided he didn’t care if the place would be short-staffed — he was taking his time off no matter what.

Keep reading for the full story.

When your manager would rather tell you no and mess herself over.

A while back, I put in a request off for a weekend at the beginning of June.

I also emailed my scheduling manager about it because I’m out of town for a family wedding and will physically be in another state.

The boss waited until the last possible second to acknowledge it — and the employee wasn’t pleased with the verdict.

The request had pending status until yesterday when the schedule came out.

The request was denied and I got scheduled.

And before some of you come at me with the “a request is a request” etc. — I’m fully aware.

I know. I get it, and I generally respect it.

But even still, this employee can’t help but feel a little indignant.

But in this situation, I made it clear early on that I wouldn’t even be in the state that weekend.

I don’t get why they would still schedule me knowing this.

It’s setting up the team for failure if I can’t find coverage, because I will be calling off.

Which in turn affects the team.

So it’s a little wild to me that they’d knowingly take the risk of being short-staffed if coverage isn’t found.

Being short staffed should be the manager’s problem, not the employee’s problem.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a customer who tried to force an off-the-clock employee to get back to work.

Redditors are sure to have some fiery opinions.

Many people learn the hard way they can’t always trust their coworkers.

Screenshot 2026 05 21 at 1.26.08 PM Employee Scheduled Despite Approved Time Off for Wedding, Warns of Staffing Shortage

The fact that, as a full-grown adult, you have to ask (borderline beg) for your own time off is just wild.

Screenshot 2026 05 21 at 1.26.47 PM Employee Scheduled Despite Approved Time Off for Wedding, Warns of Staffing Shortage

In many workplaces, flexibility only seems to go one way.

Screenshot 2026 05 21 at 1.27.36 PM Employee Scheduled Despite Approved Time Off for Wedding, Warns of Staffing Shortage

Instead of asking, maybe it’s time to start demanding.

Screenshot 2026 05 21 at 1.28.06 PM Employee Scheduled Despite Approved Time Off for Wedding, Warns of Staffing Shortage

Scheduling someone you know is going to be out of state is a pretty questionable management decision, and it seems like most redditors agreed.

Employees already sacrifice so many hours of their life to their place of employment, so the minute they ask for a few well-deserved days off, this is the best the boss can do? That’s just inexcusable.

If this boss wants to purposely make things harder for herself, then that’s on her.

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.