If an employee requested time off and it was approved, and another employee then requests time off at the same time, only the boss and the second employee should deal with that conflict.
Either the boss has to find a third person to do the job, cover the shift themselves, or simply deny the request of the second employee. The first employee, the one who was responsible enough to request their PTO in advance, should not be concerned by this problem whatsoever.
Which is not what happened in the story below.
This nurse has worked on holidays for the last 6 years, and this year is the first time she intends to be off for Christmas. She had her time off approved back in July, so it was supposed to be a done deal. Until her coworker also asked for time off during Christmas. Since the coworker is a mom, the boss claims she has a priority in taking time off, so she can spend Christmas with her kids.
But kids should not change the fact that this nurse deserves time off during Christmas, and she intends to get it, whether or not she still has a job.
