Really irritated. Are they "allowed" to do this?

nwc389

The issue here is that it is not hurdygurdy's fault that the holidays were messed up and that management were not even aware that they did not have adequate cover .
As this was the case and at such short notice the request for the cover could and should have been done much better and lets not forget that is what management are paid extra to do - manage staffing properly .
So in this case a phone call explaining the situation and asking if hurdygurdy would be able to help would be the way to go .
Work has to have give and take on both sides and I think hurdygurdy is right to feel annoyed.

SeaLion_2

nwc389

Of course Hurdy Gurdy has the right to be annoyed. I have the right to be annoyed at that fact that immense loads of water are falling from the sky, but it doesn't make a ha'port of difference to what happens.

Simple fact - managers will sometimes feel a text is preferable as it is less intrusive out of working hours
Simple fact - better to tell Hurdy the day before than wait till she's in work and tell her then, with no forewarning.

Yes, it sounds like the leave wasn't very well managed. But actually we don't know that. Maybe X had a personal emergency so leave was granted when it shouldn't have been. So what? You think it's an employee's position to hold the manager to account for it?

I always 'ask' my staff to do things. It's polite. But let's not be under any delusion that they have a right to say 'no'.

And work doesn't have to 'give and take on both sides'. It's nice if it does, but it really isn't compulsory.

BillJones

SeaLion wrote: »

Simple fact - managers will sometimes feel a text is preferable as it is less intrusive out of working hours.

A ot of staff will feel the same way about receiving them. I far prefer a text, to be read and dealt with at my leisure, over a phone call.

jobbingmusician

I'm not so sure about that. I totally understand why you are p*d off, and why the text came across as rude. However, in your manager's shoes I would have texted, as I believe it's a bit less obtrusive and doesn't demand an *instant* reply in the way that a phone call does. What I (hope I would) would probably have done is to follow up with a phone call later yesterday evening if I thought there was a risk you hadn't had the text (but you said you'd replied, so this wasn't an issue for the manager).

I'm hoping you went in this morning and your manager apologised for not having realised that their poor management of leave affected your working schedule (and that they stressed you could have an extra 20 mins in lieu at another time) - and I think it they have done/ had done this you'd feel fine about it

Takeaway_Addict

Mountain>Molehill

Dangermac

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Mountain>Molehill

Absolutely.

How much time has the OP wasted talking about 20 minutes extra work.

Some of the responses above are amazing (i.e Jobbing Musician). I hope that the OP kicks up such a fuss over this, that the employer decides to be as restrictive in return.

DM

HurdyGurdy

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Mountain>Molehill

:rotfl: I know! I did say in the OP that I *knew* I was over-reacting and honestly re-reading this thread, I am really quite embarrassed that I even bothered posting it :rotfl:


As with everything, there is "history" behind my irritation, and getting the text (which essentially meant I was covering the mis-management of staff annual leave for the third time) just pushed me a bit too close to the edge.

I also also a bit irritated when the manager didn't even make eye contact with me the next day, but then we had a team meeting at 10am and I spoke directly to her and asked her specific questions so she couldn't ignore me .

As it turned out, I stayed until 5.30 yesterday and it was after I had left that "things went mad", so me staying didn't actually make that much difference.

The manager has been off on annual leave for the last day and a half, but I will have a quiet chat with her and clear the air properly, and just say I was irked, not by being asked, as they are more than aware that I have no issues with working outside our normal hours (when we were dealing with a victim of a recent high profile case, I saw more of my colleagues and the office, than I did of my family and home for about two months), but that I think it could have been phrased a bit better.

Thank you to those who could see where I was coming from though. Your replies did make me feel a bit better

alwaysonthego_2

Op I would recommend you edit your above post. As a fellow social worker it concerns me that you have mentioned information surrounding a service user.

Podge52

marybelle01 wrote: »

I think you misunderstood my question. Flexitime is based on the needs of the business and not your desires. And nobody is indispensable, especially not if they wish to work there in the future. You work in a social service. There is no such thing as "my time is more important than the business". Not when a child's safety or life depends on it.

Flexitime was introduced with the employee in mind not the business.

goonarmy

Bit unprofessional to mention specific cases on a public forum.
I also consider text messages unprofesional and usually ignore them in my work.