Photo: Freepik/DC Studio (for illustration purposes only).
Singapore worker wants to take ‘overseas leave’ to finish work, Redditors say 'No!'
SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user took to the platform seeking work advice, saying they want to take some time off in order to get through some unfinished work. However, in order to be able to do so, they would need to file a leave to take an overseas trip, as this would guarantee that they would remain undisturbed.
Aside from this, they have many leave days that have accumulated that they need to clear.
“Anyone applied leave to go overseas but then just stayed in SG?” u/afraid-Doughnut-7181 asked in a recent post.
They explained that at their workplace, when they apply for leave, they need to specify if they’re taking a local or overseas leave, and added that this is because employees don’t have email on their phones and therefore are unable to respond even to urgent messages when they’re not in Singapore. As long as they are, however, they are expected to log in and reply whenever one of their bosses sends an email.
The post author wanted to know if there would be implications for filing for an overseas leave and then actually staying in Singapore.
A lot of Reddit users have responded to the post author, all of whom have advised them against working during their leave at all.
“Don’t use your leave to do work! That’s you paying the company for you to do overtime,” wrote a commenter, adding that this would be a double loss.
“Please don't take leave to clear your work. If you really, really, really want to, you're better off burning a Saturday or Sunday to clear (your work). But please don’t,” wrote another.
Others advised them to go to Johor Bahru or Batam during their leave, which meant that they technically did go overseas.
Some reminded the post author that they are not obligated to answer work emails when they’re on leave.
What HR might say
There is a danger, however, of telling an untruth at work, and HR may perceive it as dishonesty, which could result in distrust. Perceptions of untrustworthiness could undermine getting promoted in one’s job.
As an article in Psychology Today says, “trust in the workplace is extremely fragile. There is a stark asymmetry between building trust and destroying it. Trust is a precious commodity that can take years of effort to cultivate, yet can be squandered in an instant of dishonesty.”
Newsletter
Get updates straight to your inbox
An employee found to have committed leave misrepresentation, therefore, takes a risk. Even if no disciplinary action is taken, it could still be a red flag for HR.
A better solution would be to set a work boundary for taking leaves, one that says that when they are out of the office, they are unavailable to reply, no matter where they take their leaves. A work environment that does not accept this has an issue with its culture. /TISG