Is it appropriate for work to call during a week off asking you to come in?

Howard said:
But its annual leave that he's fully entitled to. Whether he uses it to jet off around the world, or sit at home in his boxers chilling out in front of the TV, that's of no business to his employer and unless he works in a particular industry or position where he may be required to be contactable out of hours (and he would usually be remunerated accordingly), they should leave him alone.
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I respect your position but work to rule and don't moan when you're managed to rule. That or get a better job/manager
 
daver said:
I regularly answer emails and do stuff for work whilst on holiday. I guess it depends on what job you do. I'd much rather something got sorted out right than ignore it and have a mess when I got back to work.
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Why would it be a mess when you got back?
 
Caged said:
Why would it be a mess when you got back?
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Loads of reasons, I work in a small business and although I am officially a financial controller I basically have a lot of hats, Finance, IT, HR, purchasing. There are things that people can cover while I am off and things they can't.
 
daver said:
Loads of reasons, I work in a small business and although I am officially a financial controller I basically have a lot of hats, Finance, IT, HR, purchasing. There are things that people can cover while I am off and things they can't.
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The problem with that is (generalising here) there's no incentive for them to get someone else in if you're doing all that and also working whilst on holiday. I hope they appreciate what you're doing!
 
Jones said:
Do people actually take weeks off work and not have any plans? .
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Yes I always make plans for my weeks off work...
But if I actually get around to doing any of them things I had planned is a totally different thing..:p

Over the last few years i just normally ended up wasting my weeks off work doing all of nothing..:o..Doing stupid things like staying up all night so ending up sleeping through the next day till early evening.:o
 
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Dis86 said:
I was off last week. In the time I was off I had about 50 text messages and 28 phonecalls from either my boss or my client.

Mostly because my boss doesn't know his arse from his elbow so he was having to double check everything with me. And from my client because they realise my boss doesn't know his arse from his elbow :p
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That is a bit different though. That is actually getting you to do work, which is bad.

Just asking if you want to come in and work is fine in my opinion. If you don't want to, just say no.
 
Glaucus said:
Wrong way round.
You can see and block people easily on mobile.

Not that its a big deal. Either wangle some extra money and go in or say no.
Don't want them to phone you then block number, until you're back at work.

Even easier when you have a work phone, no reason for them to have personal number then.
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i never have my land line plugged in now unless i need to make a call, get too many nuisance calls on it, mobile is free for personal use
 
Had this with a previous employer. Cheeky *******s phoned me up on holiday asking if I could come in to cover a few shifts and when I informed them I was in the middle of Oregon they tried to throw a guilt trip on me.

I sent 'em a nice picture with me stood in front of Mt Hood. :D
 
Jones said:
Do people actually take weeks off work and not have any plans? I would anyone off work would be busy.
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All the time. Sometimes all that is needed is a holiday from work and the routine. Getting up and doing random things that the day brings is just as good as having a pre-planned mapped-out week off work.

But going into work because some 2 bit manager phones up is not an option.
 
Jones said:
Do people actually take weeks off work and not have any plans? I would anyone off work would be busy.
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yep. First 3/4 of year only take time off work when I need it. end of year always have plenty of AL left over which I just have to take.
but work phoning you is hardly inappropriate or annoying. just ignore it or say no.
 
I was called in once when auditors turned up for an unplanned inspection.

Got my holiday back plus an extra day off... Was happy with that as I didn't have any plans and it earned me some brownie points.
 
I am an 'exempt' employee, which means that overtime is never paid. Whilst there is a contractual obligation and general expectation to stay a bit late (or come in early) occasionally, we get paid well and there's a lot of flexibility when it comes to when people can arrive or go home. Yesterday, I got in at 9:15am and left at 3:15pm. My employer has my mobile phone number in a digital record but it would take someone in HR to use privileged credentials to be able to retrieve it, and that just never happens unless it's a real emergency.
 
Scania said:
I was called a few years back whilst on holiday to see if I could cover a shift, I said sure so long as they paid for my flight back to the UK and the one taking me back to Spain again... :D
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lol. I would have liked them to call your bluff.
 
This happened once to me. I was going to go away to Devon but the trip got cancelled, and instead had some day trips planned. I was a 1st-line tech and the main 2nd-line tech had 26 sick days (I counted!) over a dozen absences in the last rolling 12 months. The Bradford factor would be completely off the scale lol. However, because Christians were treated favourably and he was a Christian (of the worst sort - born-again Christianity), it got brushed under the carpet. He went off sick again, and I was guilt-tripped into coming to work during my holiday. All I got back was time off in lieu at 1:1 rate. A year later, he got promoted to IT manager :rolleyes:
 
I never ask any of my staff in on their days off, even though at times I am desperate for the cover.

I will sometimes ask if they have plans for days they have booked off in the future if due to unexpected sickness the numbers get too low, and ask them to change if possible, but never just ring up on the day
 
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