A company is being criticized after attempting to strip away employee benefits for some of its staff just to give them to others. Framed as a type of “donation program,” but in reality something far from it, employees were told that their own PTO would have to be sacrificed for the well-being of other employees at the company. 

Posted to the subreddit “r/antiwork,” a woman explained that her partner had gotten a rather bizarre message from his company regarding everyone’s PTO. Rightfully so, the consensus was that this company was taking advantage of employees and putting the responsibility and empathy on the shoulders of co-workers and colleagues who are entitled to all their personal days.

A company asked employees to donate PTO so workers could take medical leave.

“My partner got a company-wide email from HR the other day asking employees to donate their PTO,” she began in her Reddit post. “Apparently they have a PTO bank that employees can tap into when they have medical emergencies. Great. Love it. Except they want their employees to pay the wages of other employees.”

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They explained that the company is simply using the most manipulative tactics, but framing it as some kind of “season of giving” mentality, so that they don’t look like the bad guys for asking employees to donate their PTO towards something that should just be a given. The company tried to sugarcoat their reasoning by telling their staff, “we need your generosity,” and “your donations allow employees to continue receiving income.”

It’s frankly absurd that a company is trying to package this as some kind of heartwarming holiday spirit initiative when it’s just them refusing to provide basic benefits to their employees. If PTO is part of your employment contract, it’s part of your pay. That means they are literally asking you to donate part of your salary to other employees under the guise of kindness and sharing.

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Most American workers are not using their PTO days during the year.

A recent report from FlexJobs found that though the majority of workers in the U.S. had access to PTO, 23% didn’t take a single vacation day in the past year, based on a survey of over 3,000 workers. Workload was a major concern for many employees: 43% felt that they had too much work to justify taking a vacation, while 30% worried about falling behind.

“People who are getting enough rest are more focused and more creative in their work. They tend to be more resilient when challenges do arise,” explained FlexJobs career expert Keith Spencer. “You see stress levels rise, you see an overall reduced mental well-being, you have lower engagement, lower morale.”

Spencer even encouraged employees to “advocate for themselves” when it comes to using PTO, continuing, “Your PTO is part of your compensation package. It’s not a favor your organization is doing for you.”

This is an important note to stress again. Your PTO is part of your pay structure. Asking employees to give their PTO to other employees isn’t asking for time, it’s literally asking you to give up part of your pay. 

Telling employees that they need to “donate” their PTO is such an outrageous idea, even without knowing how employees are already manipulated into not using their PTO. Employees deserve to have medical leave, and they deserve vacation time. That’s a complete sentence. 

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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.