Whilst there is no legal obligation for an employer to offer time off after the death of a pet, many managers sympathise with losing a beloved family member.
For one grieving woman on Reddit, she faced criticism and judgement from her boss - so made the decision to leave her job entirely.
She was praised by people online for standing up to her manager, who said her family dog's death wasn't the "best reason" to skip work.
Posting under the username hopechyann, the woman shared a screenshot of her text exchange online and garnered more than 53,000 upvotes.
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The conversation begins with Hope, as she calls herself, telling her employer that she has a "family emergency" and won't make it into work that night.
Her manager responds: "Start calling around. You need to get it covered. What's your emergency[?]"
Hope explains that she would try to get someone to cover her shift, but explains that "we just had to put our family dog down".
The boss refuses to accept her response and says: "That's not the best reasons to tell me you’re not coming into work."
Hope then tells her boss that she is leaving the company.
"Okay. I'm also turning in my two weeks but if you need something written, I can do that as well," she finishes.
Her boss replies with: "I'll just figure out tonight."
Thousands of Reddit users took to the comments section to share their fury at her employer's response.
"Losing a pet is an heart-wrenching experience. It absolutely warrants a grieving period. This manager is a horrible person," someone said.
Another wrote: "Some people have no compassion," whilst a third said: "Losing a dog is 100% a family emergency in my book."
Many people told Hope that she shouldn't have justified her request to have a night off.
"Never explain what your family emergency is. It is none of their business. And besides, no reason you give is good enough for them," someone said.
"They aren't supposed to ask and use their own judgment. They are just supposed to take your word for it," a second agreed.
"Really though what were they expecting to do? Judge the severity of the family emergency?" a third questioned.
What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.
