Gutsy Gen Z employee requests time off from work for the most head-scratching reason

As the saying goes — honesty is the best policy.

While some employees are hesitant to take well-deserved PTO because they feel guilty, looking at you millennials, others — their younger, Gen Z counterparts — seem to have no problem asking for time off for a broken heart.

A manager took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a leave request email he received from his young employee that would have many boomers scratching their heads.

“I recently had a breakup and haven’t been able to focus on work, I need a short break. I’m working from home today, so I’d like to take leave from the 28th to the 8th.”

The screenshotted email was shared to X by the employee’s manager. X/@jasveer10

Short, sweet and to the heartbroken point.

When the manager publicly shared a screenshot (he did blur out names) of the email, he wrote above it: “Got the most honest leave application yesterday. Gen Z doesn’t do filters!”

If you’re wondering: this manager did approve the leave request, “without any questions.”

The post received over 14 million views on X and many actually supported the generation born between 1997 and 2012.

“Gen Z might not have everything figured out, but when it comes to work—they know their rights, speak up without fear, and refuse to tolerate nonsense,” one supporter wrote in the thread under the original post.

This employee cut straight to the chase with their email. Liubomir – stock.adobe.com

“In an age of AI you should be hiring people with solid communication skills and great EQ. This person is that,” someone else chimed in with.

“I respect the honesty. Sometimes a breakup hurts more than deadlines,” another tweet read.

And of course, this is not the first time a Gen Z employee has had an unexpected reason for requesting time off.

One youngster typed up an honest email to their boss that read: “Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the work and my energy feels a little off so not getting that vibe right now. I’ll be out from 28th July to 30th July (pls don’t miss me).”

This manager didn’t seem as understanding at first as the other one since it seemed this employee was telling what they were doing, instead of asking.

However, at the end of the day, this time off request was still approved.

“…she was frustrated with all the work, so I approved it.”