Planning a vacation trip for the whole family-lining up plane tickets, time off
work on a school break, pet care or a house sitter-is a major undertaking. What
would you do if, just a few days before you were scheduled to depart on such a
trip, your boss told you to cancel the whole thing?
If you refused, you just might be out of a job. In most circumstances, employees can be fired for refusing an order to work, regardless of pending vacation plans. Few bosses would do such a thing; if you are needed, most supervisors would just ask you to call in while you are away, says John J. Myers, an employment attorney for Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott. After all, vacation is valuable to your health. Research has shown that people who fail to take vacations have a higher risk of death from any cause, but particularly from heart disease, than those who take regular vacations.
Nevertheless, employers generally aren't obligated to provide paid vacation, and they have the right to set the terms when they do, Mr. Myers says.
The issue arose in an unusual case earlier this year at a bank in Everett, Wash. The bank's president, John Dickson, was fired by the CEO after he refused to cancel a spring-break vacation to Hawaii with his wife and kids. Dickson told a reporter that he had made the vacation plans months earlier and informed his boss well in advance. When the CEO ordered him to cancel it, Mr. Dickson said, he told his boss, 'My family and my marriage are very important to me. I really don't want to cancel this vacation.' He also said he intended to continue working by phone and email while in Hawaii.
It was clearly a tough time for the bank; officials had been warned by federal regulators to secure more assets or face a forced sale. 'A leader doesn't leave the battlefield and abandon troops when they're under fire,' the CEO reportedly said, adding that he didn't believe either 'of the top two leaders in a company can be basking in the sun while the troops are laboring hard in a high level of anxiety.' He didn't want people to think the president was 'basking poolside with a Mai Thai' during a crisis.
Nevertheless, Mr. Dickson refused to yield, saying he had been working very hard before his vacation and would continue to do so while away. The bank has since been seized by regulators and sold. Mr. Dickson has a position at another bank.
The idea of calling an employee back from vacation crossed my mind once when I was a manager years ago. We were competing hard on a story, on the beat of a reporter who was vacationing with his family. We badly needed his expertise and sources. I got a grip on myself, though, and called on back-ups instead.
Readers, when is it OK for a boss to require an employee to cancel vacation plans? What circumstances would warrant that, if you were the boss? Would you ever refuse to cancel a vacation if your boss asked you to do so? What would it take to get you to refuse?
為全家安排度假是一項艱巨的任務，要買機票，算好學校放假期間哪幾天不工作，照顧好寵物，找人看家……要是在離既定出發時間僅有幾天的時候，老闆突然叫你取消這一切，你會怎麼做？
如果拒絕，或許飯碗就丟了。在多數情況下，員工不管有什麼即將實施的度假安排，如果違抗命令不去工作，都是有可能遭到解雇的。Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott 勞動法律師邁爾斯(John J. Myers)說，很少有老闆會做這種事情，如果需要你，多數上級只會讓你在離開的時候打電話聯繫。畢竟度假是有益人的健康的。研究顯示，不度假的人因為各種原因死亡的風險都比經常度假的人高，而因心臟病死亡的風險還要高出更多。
但邁爾斯說，雇主一般沒有提供帶薪休假的義務，如果提供帶薪休假，它們也有權規定具體條款。
這個話題起源於今年早些時候一個不常見的案例。華盛頓州一家銀行的總裁迪克森(John Dickson)拒絕取消春假，和妻子、孩子一起去了夏威夷，結果被首席執行長炒掉。迪克森對一位記者說，他在幾個月前就已經做好了度假安排，而且提前很久告訴了老闆。迪克森說，當首席執行長命令他取消休假時，他對老闆說，家庭和婚姻對我非常重要，我真的不想取消這次度假。他還說他打算在夏威夷期間通過手機和電子郵件繼續工作。
當時這家銀行顯然過得很不順利，聯邦監管機構已經警告管理層要保留更多資產，要不然就把銀行強制賣掉。據報導，首席執行長多次說，當部下身陷槍林彈雨之時，一個首領是不會離開戰場、拋棄他們的，他不相信部下都在高度緊張地艱苦工作時，一家公司的兩個帶頭人還有誰可以是在沐浴陽光。他不希望人們以為危機期間總裁是在泳池邊一邊曬太陽一邊喝熱帶雞尾酒。
但迪克森沒有讓步，說他在度假前工作非常努力，度假外出時也會繼續努力工作。後來這家銀行被監管機構接管、出售，迪克森則在另一家銀行謀得了職位。
幾年前當經理的時候，我也曾閃現過把度假的員工叫回來工作的念頭。當時我們正在激烈地搶一條新聞，而跑口記者正在跟家人一起度假。我們急需他的專業經驗和資源。但我還是克制了自己，沒有叫這位記者，而是讓其他記者來支援。
讀者朋友，你覺得老闆在什麼時候要求員工取消度假計畫是沒有問題的呢？如果你是老闆，那麼在什麼情況下才必須要這樣做？如果老闆要你取消休假計畫，你會不會拒絕呢？在什麼情況下你才會拒絕？
If you refused, you just might be out of a job. In most circumstances, employees can be fired for refusing an order to work, regardless of pending vacation plans. Few bosses would do such a thing; if you are needed, most supervisors would just ask you to call in while you are away, says John J. Myers, an employment attorney for Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott. After all, vacation is valuable to your health. Research has shown that people who fail to take vacations have a higher risk of death from any cause, but particularly from heart disease, than those who take regular vacations.
Nevertheless, employers generally aren't obligated to provide paid vacation, and they have the right to set the terms when they do, Mr. Myers says.
The issue arose in an unusual case earlier this year at a bank in Everett, Wash. The bank's president, John Dickson, was fired by the CEO after he refused to cancel a spring-break vacation to Hawaii with his wife and kids. Dickson told a reporter that he had made the vacation plans months earlier and informed his boss well in advance. When the CEO ordered him to cancel it, Mr. Dickson said, he told his boss, 'My family and my marriage are very important to me. I really don't want to cancel this vacation.' He also said he intended to continue working by phone and email while in Hawaii.
It was clearly a tough time for the bank; officials had been warned by federal regulators to secure more assets or face a forced sale. 'A leader doesn't leave the battlefield and abandon troops when they're under fire,' the CEO reportedly said, adding that he didn't believe either 'of the top two leaders in a company can be basking in the sun while the troops are laboring hard in a high level of anxiety.' He didn't want people to think the president was 'basking poolside with a Mai Thai' during a crisis.
Nevertheless, Mr. Dickson refused to yield, saying he had been working very hard before his vacation and would continue to do so while away. The bank has since been seized by regulators and sold. Mr. Dickson has a position at another bank.
The idea of calling an employee back from vacation crossed my mind once when I was a manager years ago. We were competing hard on a story, on the beat of a reporter who was vacationing with his family. We badly needed his expertise and sources. I got a grip on myself, though, and called on back-ups instead.
Readers, when is it OK for a boss to require an employee to cancel vacation plans? What circumstances would warrant that, if you were the boss? Would you ever refuse to cancel a vacation if your boss asked you to do so? What would it take to get you to refuse?
為全家安排度假是一項艱巨的任務，要買機票，算好學校放假期間哪幾天不工作，照顧好寵物，找人看家……要是在離既定出發時間僅有幾天的時候，老闆突然叫你取消這一切，你會怎麼做？
如果拒絕，或許飯碗就丟了。在多數情況下，員工不管有什麼即將實施的度假安排，如果違抗命令不去工作，都是有可能遭到解雇的。Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott 勞動法律師邁爾斯(John J. Myers)說，很少有老闆會做這種事情，如果需要你，多數上級只會讓你在離開的時候打電話聯繫。畢竟度假是有益人的健康的。研究顯示，不度假的人因為各種原因死亡的風險都比經常度假的人高，而因心臟病死亡的風險還要高出更多。
但邁爾斯說，雇主一般沒有提供帶薪休假的義務，如果提供帶薪休假，它們也有權規定具體條款。
這個話題起源於今年早些時候一個不常見的案例。華盛頓州一家銀行的總裁迪克森(John Dickson)拒絕取消春假，和妻子、孩子一起去了夏威夷，結果被首席執行長炒掉。迪克森對一位記者說，他在幾個月前就已經做好了度假安排，而且提前很久告訴了老闆。迪克森說，當首席執行長命令他取消休假時，他對老闆說，家庭和婚姻對我非常重要，我真的不想取消這次度假。他還說他打算在夏威夷期間通過手機和電子郵件繼續工作。
當時這家銀行顯然過得很不順利，聯邦監管機構已經警告管理層要保留更多資產，要不然就把銀行強制賣掉。據報導，首席執行長多次說，當部下身陷槍林彈雨之時，一個首領是不會離開戰場、拋棄他們的，他不相信部下都在高度緊張地艱苦工作時，一家公司的兩個帶頭人還有誰可以是在沐浴陽光。他不希望人們以為危機期間總裁是在泳池邊一邊曬太陽一邊喝熱帶雞尾酒。
但迪克森沒有讓步，說他在度假前工作非常努力，度假外出時也會繼續努力工作。後來這家銀行被監管機構接管、出售，迪克森則在另一家銀行謀得了職位。
幾年前當經理的時候，我也曾閃現過把度假的員工叫回來工作的念頭。當時我們正在激烈地搶一條新聞，而跑口記者正在跟家人一起度假。我們急需他的專業經驗和資源。但我還是克制了自己，沒有叫這位記者，而是讓其他記者來支援。
讀者朋友，你覺得老闆在什麼時候要求員工取消度假計畫是沒有問題的呢？如果你是老闆，那麼在什麼情況下才必須要這樣做？如果老闆要你取消休假計畫，你會不會拒絕呢？在什麼情況下你才會拒絕？
來源：《華爾街日報》
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