The boss just unilatarly canceled my vacation

[commander bunnypants]

for a stupid one day "team buildng excersize"

I am out 400 bucks.

Do I have any legal recourse

and yes my feet have a mind of there own


CB

[Ravenseye]

1. Did you inform them and have permission to have this vacation?

If you informed them and they okayed it I think they might be liable for the money. Or you could just go on the vacation anyway and tell your boss to 'stick it'. ;)

I'd go and just tell them what the story is and that you're either goingon the vacation or they're paying you back the money your'e out. Their choice.

[democracyindanger]

2. Talk to your boss about

either getting out of it or paying you what you're out. Tell him that screwing a team member out of $400 is hardly the best way to build team spirit.

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. HEY! He's building a TEAM here!

When you get slapped in the face by your boss, it's because he is trying to build a team environment. Fucking over the employees is how you create a positive work environment.

It's all about trust, like "I'll only put the tip in".

[elehhhhna]

25. LOL best remark ever

[DS1]

4. Go on vacation anyway

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Tel the boss that you're out $400 because of this change.

How the boss responds to that will inform you whether you are a valuable member of the team or whether you should start looking for a new job.

I had a similar situation where a team building exercise was declared for the same weekend that I was participating in a friend's wedding. Yes, that's weekend, and we were salaried so there was no money compensation for the three day group grope. The department coordinator thought I should back out of the wedding. I went over her head to the manager who agreed that I could fly down after the ceremony and attend the second half of the session only.

[commander bunnypants]

6. He just looked at me when i mentioned the 400

What does that tell you

CB

[Gormy Cuss]

8. More importantly, what did that tell you?

I think I know. I left that company after a new manager came on board and the message was clear: we were all replaceable, so we'd better toe the line. I gave notice as soon as possible.

[Rabrrrrrr]

23. Quit. Obviously, this is not a guy to work for.

But I'd wait until the day before your vacation starts, and as you are leaving, mention that you're quitting and won't be in any more because if "you're willing to make me eat $400 for a vacation you had told me I could take before, you will do worse, and I'm getting out before you really start fucking me."

[mikeytherat]

7. You have twisted your ankle and sprained your wrist!

Get your doc to cover for you!

mikey_the_rat

[libodem]

18. That's right...get a doctor's excuse

and call in sick....that's what happens when vacation requests are not honored.

[Shine]

9. Wow, that sucks. Sorry about that, buddy.

:hug:

your boss sounds like a shitty teambuilder.

[commander bunnypants]

10. I am just gonna sit there and glare

CB

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

11. Time for a new job. (nt)

[leftofthedial]

12. there is no vacation in "team"

[elehhhhna]

26. There is not I in TEAM, but there is a "me".

[Catchawave]

13. Here's a article from the WSJ :

http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/workfamily/20010412-workfamily.html

a snippet:

SOME BOSSES MAKE the mistake of forcing employees to cancel vacations. One executive of a Midwestern nonprofit says her bosses axed her planned hiking vacation with a friend earlier this year after funding from corporate members shrank. They told her they needed her for a project.

"They said, 'How could you even consider going on vacation?' " the executive says. She moved her trip ahead a couple of months, but her bosses said no again. She canceled again, losing her deposit and disappointing her friend, who is going without her. She isn't alone. A study last fall for Oxford Health Plans, of Trumbull, Conn., of 632 workers nationwide found one in six were too burdened at work to take all their vacation time.

For employers, that's a short-sighted stance. A study of 46,026 employees found those who report depression, heavy stress or other risk factors are far more likely to have extremely high health-care costs, says the Health Enhancement Research Organization, Birmingham, Ala., an employer and health-care coalition.

[grace0418]

14. THAT'S FUCKING BULLSHIT

I'm sorry, I know the economy sucks and all but that is beyond ridiculous. If your boss gave a rat's ass about team-building he wouldn't be ruining your vacation plans and costing you $400. At the very least he owes you $400 or the equivalent in additional vacation days.

The fact that he just looked at you blankly says it all. Get out. Get out soon. Before he asks you to get out. A boss who values you and your work would never do that. Never. He either wants you to leave, doesn't care if you leave or is planning on firing you. Either way you should leave before he has the chance. Unless you want to collect unemployment. Then you could just say, "Nope, that date doesn't work for me. I've got non-refundable tickets and have already booked the trip." and see if he fires you.

I'm sorry to be so harsh but I get really mad when I hear about people getting treated like that. Work is a business transaction. You do your work and in return you get a paycheck and certain benefits. Your boss is not doing you a favor and neither are you doing him a favor. You are being paid for the services you provide. Taking away your vacation (and your hard earned cash) is like not paying a bill.

Good luck CB. I hope you tell him to stick it.

:hug:

[Sequoia]

20. We had a guy at work who

had planned a vacation to go a friend's wedding in Vegas. His supe told him he had to work because he and another person at work were going to an event that weekend and he'd have to work. Guy told him he had non-refundable tickets, Supe told him if he went don't bother coming back. Now Guy is in the military. Just great treatment. Supe had better hope Guycomes back alive.

[LynneSin]

15. Do you have a Human Resource Department or perhaps his boss

that not only is your money wasted but also your sanity

[underpants]

16. Ask if you can bring your gun to the team building

either that or call in sick that day and go anyway.

Actually I don't know what to do. You might want to check with the Ministry of People to find out. Also call and see if you can get your deposit back.

Here is yet another option. Tell your boss that you are going to go anyway and explain it to him/her very calmly. If they signed off on your vacation already they "SHOULD" have to let you go.

[Efilroft Sul]

17. Key his car for four hundred fucking dollars worth of repairs.

Just be careful as to when you time the damage. You see, dicks only understand the world in these terms.

[SOteric]

19. I can think of a lot of good reasons to cancel a vacation

at an employer's request.

A team-building exercise isn't one of them.

In your shoes, I'd be browsing the online job search engines instead of posting in the DU Lounge.

[NewJeffCT]

21. I knew a guy that had to cancel on being a best man

A guy I know was scheduled to be a best man in a wedding on a Saturday. However, he was told (via the boss' secretary, to boot) that he either had to come into work on Saturday or lose his job. Since the guy was in debt up to his eyeballs at the time, he really had no choice but to go into work.

[wain]

22. Over a career you're bound to work for one or two jerks

Good people management skills avoid the need for team building.

My attitude toward vacation is be flexible and allow its timing to be the choice of staff. They work hard all year and deserve the privilege to pick when they take vacation. They have family priorities and timing to figure out.

Why are so many managers so focused on making sure everyone know who's the boss.

Hang in there. Take a long term perspective of your job and other opportunities.

:)

[ikojo]

24. I assume that like the majority of Americans

you are NOT in a union. With a union a worker could at least file a grievance. The HR department is probably going to say that if business needs mandate it, then the boss can cancel any and all vacation requests.

Workers in the US have very few rights once they cross the bosses' door. Workers in the US also have the fewest vacation days of any worker in the industrialized world.