DarthHeisenberg
New member
Ohio
I am in an uncomfortable position with my employer. I work for a 501(c)(3) organization as a Creative Media Specialist (I mostly film and edit videos). I have been working there for over a year and am on a signed and salaried contract which entitles me to 15 PTO days per calendar year. I requested time off, but before my request was processed, my employer discovered the reason I wanted the time off. I was intending to travel to a religious conference hosted by a different 501(c)(3) out of state. The President of the organization I work for happens to have a very poor personal history with the President of the organization hosting the conference I am attending. Upon finding out that I was requesting PTO to go to this conference, my employer denied my PTO. He said that my attendance at a conference hosted by his "enemy" would "harm the mission" of his organization and would cause him to lose donors, allies etc. He said that since he can't have his employees engaging in behavior on their PTO that will harm his organization, that if I go I will possibly be fired.
My contract says that PTO can be requested for any reason and that the Operations Officer is the one who will "Review the request" and the only stipulation that is given for denial is a lack of staffing. My employer doesn't even have an Operations Officer employed at the moment. He clarified his reason for the denial in writing.
I received this email today:
"MY NAME,
This is a formality, since we have already discussed the PTO request in person. However, as you know, we normally handle these by email to create a paper trail of decisions.
Thus, I am writing to confirm that, after consideration, this request for PTO has been denied. The organizers of the event for which the request was made have proven to be persistently divisive and specifically combative toward MY EMPLOYER. My role as a leader of this group precludes my ability to permit members of our team to attend this event.
EMPLOYER'S INITIALS"
What do I do? I already paid for housing, travel, and registration of the conference. If I go, he promised "There will be consequences." My PTO is denied so now I'm not going to be paid for the week off, so I am losing no matter what I do. Is he doing anything illegal or am I just getting screwed?
I am in an uncomfortable position with my employer. I work for a 501(c)(3) organization as a Creative Media Specialist (I mostly film and edit videos). I have been working there for over a year and am on a signed and salaried contract which entitles me to 15 PTO days per calendar year. I requested time off, but before my request was processed, my employer discovered the reason I wanted the time off. I was intending to travel to a religious conference hosted by a different 501(c)(3) out of state. The President of the organization I work for happens to have a very poor personal history with the President of the organization hosting the conference I am attending. Upon finding out that I was requesting PTO to go to this conference, my employer denied my PTO. He said that my attendance at a conference hosted by his "enemy" would "harm the mission" of his organization and would cause him to lose donors, allies etc. He said that since he can't have his employees engaging in behavior on their PTO that will harm his organization, that if I go I will possibly be fired.
My contract says that PTO can be requested for any reason and that the Operations Officer is the one who will "Review the request" and the only stipulation that is given for denial is a lack of staffing. My employer doesn't even have an Operations Officer employed at the moment. He clarified his reason for the denial in writing.
I received this email today:
"MY NAME,
This is a formality, since we have already discussed the PTO request in person. However, as you know, we normally handle these by email to create a paper trail of decisions.
Thus, I am writing to confirm that, after consideration, this request for PTO has been denied. The organizers of the event for which the request was made have proven to be persistently divisive and specifically combative toward MY EMPLOYER. My role as a leader of this group precludes my ability to permit members of our team to attend this event.
EMPLOYER'S INITIALS"
What do I do? I already paid for housing, travel, and registration of the conference. If I go, he promised "There will be consequences." My PTO is denied so now I'm not going to be paid for the week off, so I am losing no matter what I do. Is he doing anything illegal or am I just getting screwed?
