A former probation officer shared her story of quitting her job — amassing two and a half weeks of PTO and using that time off in concert with her three weeks’ notice.
The TikTok video documenting the tale came from creator KP (@kp.ology) and has amassed more than 98,000 views in its first 23 hours since being posted. In it, she details quitting a job as a probation officer in 2020, noting that she had two and a half weeks of PTO saved up, so she put in a three weeks’ notice.
“I worked like one or two days,” she reveals. “And then I took my PTO, and I remember my chief was so pissed off at me for doing that — but she was an abusive boss so, eh.”
And then, as KP recalls, “The court director who was actually in charge of everything, like, she surpassed my chief, Chief of Police, everything, like she was in charge — she called me in her office and she was like, ‘I just want you to know, if you decide to take this PTO, you will never be able to reapply or work for us ever again.'”
@kp.ology #stitch with @APT they were reasons 1 & 2 for why i left. But truthfully, there were tons of reasons why i will never work in law enforcement ever again. #millennial #greatresignation ♬ original sound – KP ⚖️🌻
KP’s reaction was, “Don’t threaten me with a good time,” adding, “Oh no, that is absolutely okay. I will never reapply here. Don’t worry, I will never reapply with you.”
She ends the video by reflecting, “It was just the fact that she tried to shame me out of my well-earned PTO. And she and my boss were the reason I was leaving anyway and I had a wonderful vacation. So no regrets.”
KP noted in the caption, regarding those two higher-ups, “They were reasons 1 & 2 for why i left. But truthfully, there were tons of reasons why i will never work in law enforcement ever again.”
Commenters came in to support the creator and the idea of using the PTO you’ve worked hard for.
“How dare you use something you earned,” someone quipped.
Another remarked, “See I would be worried that my PTO would be denied so I would rather use up all my PTO then submit my notice.”
One person admitted to pulling off a similar scheme. “I requested PTO and the day before I left for PTO I gave them my notice. LOL.”
Someone else shared, “I remember leaving my last toxic job I gave a month notice thinking I was doing them a favor. They let me go that day and had to pay out my 2.5 weeks of PTO time. That was a wonderful month off. I did some doordashing to make up for some lost income but mostly just chilled!”
While many came to the platform to talk about using PTO and how they used PTO when leaving a job, one person offered this tip: “When I was younger, I used my PTO to try out a new job. I hated the new job so I went back to my first job and got 2 checks for those 2 weeks.”
The creator, impressed, responded, “That is by far the smartest thing I have ever heard someone doing,” adding, after a series of laughing emojis, “Get that bag!”
Even an HR rep jumped in with advice. “Side note…you get more bang for your buck that way too. Lump sum payments (lie PTO payouts or bonuses) are taxed at a higher rate.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to KP via TikTok comment.