OMG - I am so bummed and just need to vent and get some advise. I have been employed with the company I am presently working for, for about 3 years (I won't mention the company because its a very large corporation which I'm sure everyone has heard of). 4 months ago, I received another promotion, which I am excited about- except for this one thing- the vacation time policy. . . we are not allowed whatsoever to take any time off during the last week of the month & the 1st day of the new month. I was never aware of this policy before accepting the position- you know when you ask in your interview if there is anything else you should know about the department- nope never mentioned this policy. Its an accounting position, so apparently we are super busy during this time of the month- but in my eyes we are ALWAYS busy. Anyways- I'm bummed because one of my best friends invited me to go to Europe with her this summer. Greece, Italy and France. Unfortunately, this time falls right during month end! I knew I had a review coming up- so I thought perfect, I will wait to ask my boss during this review. During my review my boss raved about how excellent of an employee I am- what a great addition I am- how amazed she is at how quickly I can do my work, etc. She says, "do you have any questions" and I politely tell her my situation, how I would love to take advantage of this opportunity- is there ANY way I can have this time off (I have 3 weeks of vacation to use this year, if I don't use it, I lose it). I said I would work around the clock to get stuff done before I left, etc. She said "I'm not saying yes, and I'm not saying no, but let me think about it- I'm leaning towards no". 2 weeks goes by- still no answer. So I politely email her, and say "just wondering if there is an update, my friend is waiting to book her flight". She says, "what are the dates again?" Arg- didn't she understand how important this was to me, how could she forget? I email her the dates . . . and she says no. So I respond politely again by saying, "okay, I guess I'm just a little frustrated because I had no idea about this vacation policy before I accepted the position." I think she knew she made a mistake by not telling me, so she responds by saying, okay, I want to be able to work this out, lets look at the calendar. So we sit down together, and AGAIN asks me the dates- and again she says no. She is only willing to give me one week before month end. In coordinating with my friend- I would only be able to go to Greece for this week. My thoughts are that this is a lot of money for 1 week. A couple more things- in the past 3 years I have only taken 2 different weeks of vacation to take kids to camp! I'm young, have no kids, not married- and am so bummed I'm going to miss out on this. I have a good job in terms of pay and benefits, so don't just want to quit . . . The ironic thing is I'm the youngest in my department by 20 years at least. My boss told me a few weeks prior- do as much as you can while you are young and don't have a family "when I was your age, my paychecks went straight to Nordstrom" ... travel, etc. when you have kids all things change.
Sorry for this being so long- but my question is:
1. What would you do? Any advise?
2. Has anyone been to Greece? Is a week worth it?
3. If I decide not to go to Greece- what should I do with my time off? I don't really want to travel alone . . .any suggestions?
Thanks for listening!
Sorry for this being so long- but my question is:
1. What would you do? Any advise?
2. Has anyone been to Greece? Is a week worth it?
3. If I decide not to go to Greece- what should I do with my time off? I don't really want to travel alone . . .any suggestions?
Thanks for listening!
