A woman has shared her strong opinion that parents shouldn’t be given priority for annual leave just because they have children, and has sparked a debate in her comment section
Everyone is entitled to adequate time off work, whether they’re a parent or not, but one woman is fed up of her colleagues having priority over the best dates because “they have kids”.
In a clip on video sharing platform TikTok, Callie vented her frustration at parents who think they “should be given priority when it comes to school holiday”. She doesn’t think her “rude colleagues” should get dibs when it comes to ideal annual leave dates “just because they have kids”.
In the original video, Callie recalled a situation a few years ago when she was working at a hotel, and was asked to swap holidays with a colleague, who was also a parent – and they ended up having a big argument. She explained: “A few years ago when I was still working front desk at the hotel I got into this really big argument with one of my co-workers.”
Callie, who is from the US, had put in a request to have Thanksgiving and Black Friday off work almost a year in advance, and it was approved. But on the week of the big holiday, a colleague, who was a mum-of-two, went to their supervisor and asked for the same days off work.
Callie explained further: “She was told no because it was so last minute. My manager then approaches me and asks if I would be willing to give my days off for her and I say no. He gets livid, telling me that she’s a parent and she deserves that time with her kids. I tell him no again.
“So now he’s mad and then she approaches me the next day and then tells me that I need to give my time off for her because she wants to spend the holiday with her kids.”
Callie tells the colleague that she understands, but that she asked for the days off months in advance, so she would be keeping them. According to the content creator, the colleague then replied: “You have no idea how hard it is. You don’t have kids so Thanksgiving is just another day for you. Why can’t you just let me have it? Why do you want to take memories away from my kids?”
Some people in the comments had sympathy for the parent, because they recognise how “hard it is to plan ahead” when you have little ones to think about. Another person said: In fairness, when it comes to school holidays (like the week of spring break) ideally parents would be given priority. But other than that…”
But Callie bit back in another video, saying: “No. You do not get priority because you chose to have kids. If the week of spring break for your kids’ school is so important to you, because you’re planning a family trip, you need to show initiative and take that time off. If somebody else you work with happens to ask for those days first, I’m sorry, but I guess you’re sh** out of luck.”
Others agreed with the 27-year-old, with one person saying: “As a parent, if I want time off, I schedule it like everyone else.” Another added: “Adults without kids have families too! We have just as much right to ‘holiday time’ as people with kids!”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
