Then I'd say you ought to try making the load the callback of the post and see if that works, something along the lines of:
$("#TOAppr").live("click", function() { $.post("webapps/hr/admin/actions/act_adminHR_handler.cfm", { desc: $(this).attr('desc'), pk: $(this).attr('pk') }, function() { $("#content-box").load("webapps/hr/admin/display/dsp_timeOffApprove.cfm?dept="+dept+"&ap=1"); }); return false; });