For context I work in the service industry in the state of Washington.
I have been hearing rumblings from upper management about a push to enact a policy that would put the responsibility of covering scheduled work days requested off for vacation entirely on the employee.
This apparently would mean that even if I requested a week off for vacation months in advance it would still be up to me to find coworkers to cover every single day I’d normally be scheduled, or face punishment/termination for no-call no-show.
Other than the obvious issues of increasing a feeling of entrapment that I am specifically in this industry and that I initially chose to work with this business to avoid, the logistics of this are going to be a nightmare: as it is most people I work with have variations in their schedule month to month that I would have no way of seeing as a non-manager.
I also don’t have access to any kind of schedule overview that would show me who would be available to work on any given day, making getting anything more than a single day or two off a complete trek of cold-asking every single employee for every single day in question.
This also would make any attempt at planning anything out in advance a stress-filled gamble of questioning when I could even start to look at plane tickets/accommodations etc. without fear of not being able to get coverage and lose money because of cancellations.
Is this even legal?
Other than looking for a new job, is there any realistic recourse I should pursue?
I’m making good money here, I like my coworkers and the workplace in generally is so non-toxic compared to so many I’ve worked in, but since the pandemic I’ve realized that my time is the most valuable thing for me over anything else in the world, and as it stands this could impinge on my freedom too much for me to be able to continue working here.