Employee says he doesn’t need boss’s permission to use unlimited PTO; threatened with a 50% salary cut but his next move makes the boss back down

The workplace exchange began with a manager questioning why an employee's camera had been off since morning and why his Microsoft Teams status was also unavailable. According to the X post by Simon Ingari, the employee responded that he was in Seychelles and suggested they talk the following week.

The manager then pointed out that the employee had not requested permission to be away from work. The employee reportedly replied that he was using his unlimited paid time off (PTO) and did not believe he needed approval to take it.

The disagreement quickly shifted from an unexpected vacation to the employee's pay.

The turning point

The manager told the employee that 50% of his salary would be deducted for the five days he had missed, according to the exchange shared on X.

The employee's response was simply: “Okay.”

When the manager appeared surprised by the reaction, the employee indicated that he would be sending in his two weeks' notice.

The manager then responded with surprise at the resignation before ending the exchange on a more casual note and telling the employee to enjoy his vacation.

Why the exchange resonated

The conversation touches on a growing workplace debate around unlimited PTO, employee autonomy and expectations around time off.

Unlimited PTO policies can sound straightforward, but the exchange highlights a basic question: does having unlimited leave mean an employee can take time off whenever they want, or does the employer still need to approve when that absence occurs?

The post itself does not provide enough information to answer that question or establish what the company's actual policy required.

What makes the exchange particularly striking is how quickly the conversation escalated. What began with a manager asking about a missing camera and Teams status ended with the employee announcing his resignation.

The final exchange was almost comically calm. After the employee said he would be sending his two weeks' notice, the manager appeared to back away from the confrontation, telling him not to take it too seriously and to enjoy his vacation.

For many workers, the story may feel familiar even if the circumstances are unusual: disagreements over time off can quickly become disagreements about trust, expectations and who ultimately controls an employee's time.

In this case, according to the post, the employee's answer was to take the vacation, and then leave the job.