@bjhess Not allowing vacation time and mandatory overtime is ridiculous. Employers also try to frame it to their advantage, allowing employees to put in a PTO request, and denying if a coworker is out on that day. I stopped treating them as requests.
The last time I put in for PTO at my previous job, my coworker was out on a day I needed off, and they tried to deny it. I ended up telling them I wasn't going to be in, because of an appointment for baby checkup. Which was a lie, I was actually heading out of town for a weekend with friends, and a job meeting for my now current job.