A woman says she was fired hour one into her paid time off after going on vacation in Dubai. She shared her distress in a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 480,000 views.
@Withlovesevil’s video led to a long-form discussion in the comments section from viewers who had a less-than-savory attitude towards employers and paid time off. Numerous folks urged employees to take all of the paid time off they can before upper management ultimately terminates their employment.
“When you find you got laid off 1 hour after you land in Dubai for your PTO, the TikToker writes in a text overlay of her video as she dabs makeup on her face. She sniffles several times throughout the video as the track “Little Things” by Adrian Berenguer plays in the background of her clip.
What seems to make the firing feel like more of a gut punch is the fact that she says she made sure to work every shift offered to her during the holiday season so folks who celebrated Christmas could spend time with family.
“Didn’t take any time off during the holidays to be thoughtful of people that celebrate Christmas…” she added in the caption.
Some commenters told @withlovesevil that since she was on her trip she should do everything she could to try and enjoy it as much as she could. “Enjoy your trip! Refresh and restart you got this!” one user wrote.
Another recommended: “I’m at the age where I’d say okay, not dealing with this till I get back. Then go enjoy myself.”
One viewer said that this instance was a prime example of why going above and beyond for one’s employer is never a good idea. “This is why I use my PTO as it becomes available,” they wrote. “NEVER do anything extra or work harder for the companies I work for. I do the job, That’s it. No loyalty goes both ways. You will make it through this.”
Another user who responded to her video remarked that they were in a similar situation as well around the holiday season, but they were also deep into their pregnancy. They agreed with the aforementioned argument stating that they intentionally “take PTO whenever [they] want” because, at the end of the day, employers will terminate whoever they need to terminate for the company’s bottom line: “I got laid off conveniently at 24 weeks pregnant and 1 week before Christmas I have learned employers do not care and I will now be taking PTO whenever I want.”
@withlovesevil Didn’t take any time off during the holidays to be thoughtful of people that celebrate Christmas… #laidoff #pto #work #corporate #corporatelife #tech ♬ Little Things – Adrian Berenguer
Upon seeing other users’ anecdotes about the way employees have been treated at their respective jobs for using PTO, it’s not hard to understand why some have adopted such aggressive stances towards employers when it comes to utilizing their paid time off.
“My husband left a whole family Disney vacation halfway through because work refused half his PTO. They fired him while the rest of us were still in FL,” one user shared.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @withlovesevil.