I have had a trip to Europe planned since before COVID-19 and obviously restricted travel did not let me go in 2020. In 2021 I began a seasonal job, so I did not have PTO. I postponed until 2022. I stayed with the same company and become a full-time employee, but the hours I worked as seasonal staff did not go toward my PTO accrual. Starting from 0, it took me MONTHS to accrue a week of PTO. I have worked tirelessly for a year and a half to be able to take a week off. My flight leaves on a Friday, the same Friday that our Team Retreat happened to land on. This flight is non-refundable and cannot be changed. Our team retreat ends at 2 PM and my flight leaves at 2:30. I requested to leave at 12:30 and director of all of the programs has now denied my request to leave 1.5 hours early. Notably, after 2PM we have the rest of the day off. However, it was told to me that this retreat was “not optional, it was mandatory.”Now I have to either buy an $800 one way the following day, or put in my two weeks before I take off.