Aussie Employee Quits After Boss Cancels Family Vacation, Netizens Applaud His Decision

An Australian man quit his job after an "unreasonable" text message from his boss who tried to cancel his upcoming family vacation. The text exchange was shared by Michael Sanz, a business owner and outsourcing expert who often has other people sharing their bad boss experience with him, which he then shares on his TikTok handle. Sanz shared the conversation on social media with consent from Noel, the employee.

The first message in the thread is from the boss, who informs Noel that his leave has been canceled as another employee has resigned. "We can push back a few months. I’ve advised HR it’s now changed for you. Appreciate your understanding," the boss wrote.

As Sanz reads out the messages in his video, he pauses to comment on the boss, "This guy sounds like a tool. He’s automatically canceling leave without any conversation," he says.

Noel replied reasonably, writing that while he understood how frustrating the situation was at the company, there was no way he could cancel the leave as he was leaving for Bali for his brother's wedding. "All flights are paid for and my kids are in the wedding party," he wrote. "I did book this seven months ago, so canceling isn’t an option. I can help out more until I leave if that helps, but I can’t change my leave dates," he continued.

To this, the boss, Nick said that he could take 3 days instead of 3 week's leave, and added, "Not sure what you can do for three weeks in Bali haha."

Sanz questions why the boss was acting the way he was and added that he would have been furious at this point. To this message, Noel replied, "It’s a family trip, we haven’t been together in years and I haven’t had annual leave in 3 years. It’s also no one’s business how I spend my leave," after which he went on to suggest that they should get some temporary workers to fill in at the moment.

The next reply was simply "appalling," per Sanz. The text read, "Mate, can’t stress enough, your leave is canceled, we just can’t do it. I’m sorry." At this point, the employee gave up on the boss and informed that his leave would start that very day, indicating that he was quitting. "While away, I will think about if a company that doesn't promote boundaries is a place I want to work at," he wrote. He concluded the text by saying, "I am also sending this as an email to Aaron and HR as it is unreasonable." 

In the video, Sanz praises Noel for standing up and says that no worker should ever feel the need to justify their annual leave. "His holiday should go ahead, the running of the business should be left to the business owners, they should get a temp in there or a virtual assistant," he says.

The video has gained a lot of traction and people in the comment section unanimously supported Noel for standing up to his boss. One person took to the comment section to write, "Oh hell no! He handled that well, not his problem." Another business owner writes, "Business owner here. Unacceptable by the boss. Not the employee's problem. Enjoy Bali!"

After the video went viral. the employee reached out to Sanz and thanked him. He informed Sanz that he successfully reached Bali enjoyed the wedding and had a great time with his family. He also said that after he came back, he served notice, made sure his clients were up to date, and found a new job with higher pay.