My wife and her coworkers recently returned to work to start prepping for the new school year at their elementary school. They all put in their vacation requests for the year, including my wife’s request for a Friday off for our 10-year anniversary next month (we’re going back to the bed and breakfast we were married at).
A couple days later, the principal sent out “blackout” dates, which are days around holidays, term break days, and inservice days that the teachers can’t take off. It also included new policy that all PTO requests must be submitted 2 weeks in advance.
The Friday we leave is a “blackout” date. Her vacation request was denied, and when my wife asked for an exception, the principal required that my wife provide an explanation of the day off request, including a proof of purchase/itinerary of the flight/hotel, etc.
My question is, is this question legal? I feel like it’s an invasion of privacy and my wife should be allowed to use her earned PTO for anything she wants, and shouldn’t be required to show proof.