The Retreat Got Canceled
Three days before the long weekend, the Department of Labor called me.
"We got an anonymous complaint saying your company is forcing employees to go on a holiday retreat..."
I went still.
Then I checked social media.
Yep. There it was.
An intern who'd started a month ago had shoved me onto the local trending page.
[Greedy boss turns holiday weekend into mandatory company retreat. Employees are basically free entertainment.]
[They say it's optional. Yeah, right. Who's brave enough to say no?]
Thousands of comments rolled in, absolutely roasting me.
Except our retreats had always been elite. Fully paid. No cheap corporate nonsense.
This time, I was paying out of pocket.
Seven days in the Maldives.
Everything covered. A $2,000 travel stipend each. Senior employees could bring family.
But apparently, a free luxury vacation was oppression now.
Cool.
I told the labor officer, "We'll fully cooperate."
Then I dropped a notice in the company group chat.
[Per Department of Labor guidance, the long weekend company retreat is canceled. Everyone should take the holiday off as usual.]
[The travel stipends and retreat budget will be moved into this quarter's employee benefits reserve.]
The second I hit send, something slammed into a desk outside my office.