An employee joked about taking their co-worker’s paid time off because they perform their work duties while on the job.
TikToker Mychele (@myechele_83) posted a viral video that garnered over 3.9 million views as of Friday. In it, she shares how she takes care of her co-worker’s on-the-job responsibilities, and it seems like other TikTok users appreciate her stance.
“My boss told me I had NO PTO left and I said ok I’ll use Kim’s bc if I’m going to do her job, I should get her benefits too,” she quipped in a text overlay on the video, which is a five-second recording on her face layered over the bass line from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
Viewers seemed to commiserate with her workplace experience, with one person writing, “So we all have a Kim.”
Another replied why she more than likely will not be seeing any of the PTO time, sharing, “Kim probably used all her PTO.”
Some folks said that they have been able to engage in this practice, however. One person said that they utilized a co-worker’s sick time after their father passed away, saying, “I just started my job and my dad passed away had to take bereavement leave and my co workers donated their sick hours to me I was able to take 2 weeks off.”
Another person said, “At my old job we could loan people PTO we loved it lol.”
The practice of “loaning” paid time off and sick leave isn’t exactly new when it comes to the workplace, and there are various guides online for managers and human resources departments to refer to if this situation should ever arise. Maybe one year an employee wants to take an extended vacation or have some extra time off and donate their following year’s PTO to another worker.
@mychele_83 ♬ original sound – zabo103
However, the reasoning as to why Mychele seemingly wants Kim’s PTO is rooted in a workplace phenomenon several outlets have discussed at length: The equal divisions of workloads being distributed evenly among employees.
Harvard Business Review has penned an article about the complications that can cause on-the-job workloads to be incongruous across several team members, and the ways to prevent this imbalance from occurring. Chron also delved into the frustrations that can occur when these types of imbalances strike, too.
However, there’s a possibility that Mychele’s post could be a joke, after all, she is asking for Kim’s PTO because she already burned through all of hers, so making a quip about taking on the workload of someone else may just be a jest.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Mychele via TikTok comment for further information.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/news/trying-to-use-co-workers-pto/