Are bosses/HR allowed to set rules about when within a given workweek PTO can be used? Across-the-board PTO denial for deadlines, etc. notwithstanding, of course.
Lately, boss has issue when employees take earned PTO days directly adjacent to their weekend. I assume this is from conversations he's had with his bosses. (Yay the joys of middle management.)
I always try to give as close to two weeks notice as I can about time off, but life happens. I just had to fight to get two days off coming up in about 10 days from now, because the days I need follow my weekend. And the dates are inflexible. The reason for my PTO, which just came up, takes place on my "Monday" and I would travel back on my "Tuesday." (I don't work M-F, which presents other logistical challenges because our employee system does not recognize my specific rota. The time off request clock is M-F for everyone).
Obviously, for longer vacations, the "but when is your weekend" thing is not a factor. It's a red flag to him only when it's a day or two. This is a guy who is usually very good to us on the whole. Especially with time off in lieu, but that's another story.
He said OK, but that when people do it it's just because "They want a long weekend" and makes the higher ups wonder "Why can't they take these days in the middle of the week." He even asked "What are we going to do to for this to happen less in the future?" I told him I could be more anticipatory about what things *may* come up, and cancel the PTO if they don't. But I can't control when certain life events happen just because they're adjacent to my weekends. "Sorry Dad, we can't have Meemaw's funeral on a Monday because that's my first work day of the week." WTH.
So how can I handle this going forward? And more broadly, why would this be considered a red flag? Isn't our time to take ours to use and maximize as we see fit?