I work in the home maintenance service industry in a red state. I usually log anywhere between 40-50 hours a week and have been with this stupid place 6 years.
Wether it's visiting family, kids birthdays, events with my partner, the way time off works at my place is you request it in advance so it can be properly scheduled so we don't get bogged down, etc. That makes sense, sure. So the 6-8 techs and myself follow the procedures for time off requests. Sure sick days are another thing (that we aren't paid for) but whatever.
More often then not, the requests are lost, or ignored, and it hits the 11th hour when they tell you: “but your scheduled this weekend, you have 6 calls on you…” and you turn blue in the face arguing with managers about how you turned in your request 2 months ago and reminded them 30 days back. Then you get the “Just because it was requested doesn't mean you were approved.”
Fuck your company, I don't live to work here, my time and people around me are more valuable then your shit hours and wages, and I'm not suffering because you can't manage 12 technicians or know how to make a schedule.
Take your days off. You are valuable. Jobs are not nearly important as your time