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PTO Denied for Religious Observance

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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?
 


xylene

Senior Member
The conference, while religious in nature is not a religious observance.

Bluntly, you may want to dust off your resume.

I would be prepared for getting fired given your boss's drama about this. Even if you dont go.
 

LdiJ

Senior 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?
You knew that there was bad blood between the two organizations therefore you should have known that your attendance would be questionable, at best. You also paid for the housing, travel and registration BEFORE you were granted the PTO which you never should have done.

Cancel your request for PTO and go ahead and work that week. Check on what you might be able to get refunded, at least in terms of the travel and lodging.

Also, the title of your post is a bit misleading. A religious conference is a bit different than a religious observance.
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
Did anybody notice:

signed and salaried contract which entitles me to 15 PTO days per calendar year.
Depending on the terms and conditions of that contract, the employer could be in breach of contract by denying PTO.

Darth, I suggest you have your contract reviewed by an attorney since you can potentially suffer monetary damages if you don't go. Perhaps the threat of litigation will make your employer reconsider his denial.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Did anybody notice:



Depending on the terms and conditions of that contract, the employer could be in breach of contract by denying PTO.

Darth, I suggest you have your contract reviewed by an attorney since you can potentially suffer monetary damages if you don't go. Perhaps the threat of litigation will make your employer reconsider his denial.
The OP should probably confirm that what he has even rises to the level of a contract.
 

Taxing Matters

Overtaxed 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.
The first issue you have is whether this contract is really anything more than employment at will. Often what employees perceive to be a contract is better described as simply terms of employment because there is no protection against being fired at any time nor any protection against the terms of employment changing at any time. Does your contract have a fixed term of employment (e.g. 1 year, 5 years, etc)? Does your contract limit the reasons for which you may be terminated?

You may want to take that contract to an employment law attorney and see just how enforceable that PTO provision really is.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
There is a difference between receiving x number of PTO days per year, and being able to use those days any time you want to. I get 20 vacation days a year but I can't use them in October or November while Open Enrollment is going on. I'll bet LdiJ can't use vacation time during the first two weeks of April. And so on.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
There is a difference between receiving x number of PTO days per year, and being able to use those days any time you want to. I get 20 vacation days a year but I can't use them in October or November while Open Enrollment is going on. I'll bet LdiJ can't use vacation time during the first two weeks of April. And so on.
I wouldn't dare try...LOL.
 

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