At the weekend my uncle passed away. I had not seen him in a few years but when I was a child we used to be quite close and I used to be really close to his children. It was obviously upsetting for me to hear. I put a meeting in with my manager at work to tell them what had happened and explain that I would need time off for the funeral.
When I met with my manager she said it was company policy for at least 2 days off for a bereavement but she asked if I thought I would need a bit longer. I said I wasn’t sure at the moment and my manager asked if I would prefer two weeks.
I said as long as it is okay with her then yes two weeks would be great and it would allow me to see family before the funeral and have some time after the funeral before returning to work.
I mentioned this to my girlfriend and she mentioned that she didn’t think I was that upset to need two weeks off and asked if I was holding up okay. I told her I was upset but not completely broken since me and my uncle hadn’t been close in years.
She asked if I would be spending the week with family and I told her I’d spend a few days with family but that I’ll probably take a couple of days for myself and just stay home and have some time alone.
She accused me of misleading my work to get more time off but I pointed out it was my manager who suggested two weeks, not me. I would have accepted 2 days. She said I was exploiting a family tragedy to get extra annual leave.
I disagreed with her and said it’s hardly like I’m using my time off for a holiday and that I shouldn’t have to spend it all with family for it to be acceptable but she said what I did what horrible.
AITAH for "exploiting a family tragedy"?
Nta, why does she care?
NTA – she sounds jealous of your bereavement period.
work gave you space and you took it thats healthy actually