He takes the same days off every year, and now it’s a problem? 

Few things are more annoying than your company micromanaging your time off. It’s one thing if your minimum-wage service job doesn’t have a concrete time-off policy, and you call in at least once a week for «personal reasons.» Failing to show up to work regularly with little notice is definitely grounds for firing, but it’s a whole different ball game if you are taking time off that your company willingly gives you. 

In most cases, having a concrete number of days off per year lets you take more time off than you would with unlimited PTO. You would think that unlimited PTO would give you a lot more freedom, letting you take off six weeks a year, but that’s not the case. Bosses are much more stingy about approving PTO requests when Unlimited PTO is the policy, because they’re afraid that employees will take advantage of it. On the flip side, employees are nervous that their bosses think they’re taking advantage of Unlimited PTO, so they ask for less time off than employees without an unlimited PTO policy. 

There are seasons in your life where you need to take more time off work than others. If you lose a loved one, your boss shouldn’t criticize you for needing extra time off. One employee took to the r/antiwork subreddit to share his story. He was accused of taking too much time off because he took bereavement leave after losing his grandmother, in addition to the vacation he takes every year.