Being contacted by work whilst on holiday/term time etc

sinizterguy

Hazzinho wrote: »

Glad I don't work for you, when I'm on holiday there is zero chance of me responding. Holidays are to escape work, when I'm on holiday that means holiday.

I've worked for 17 years and thankfully never had a boss like you. Why worry someone with work issues on holiday, I'd rather be oblivious to work issues and enjoy the break.

You must be badly organised if you can't manage people on holidays.

My advice to anyone who experiences this is to find another job as it's not the norm.

And I am glad people like you do not work for me.

We are not in the habit of contacting them regularly on their off time. But there are times when we need to.

kathrynha

sinizterguy wrote: »

I am an employer.

We may need to contact employees while on holiday / maternity leave / hangover to arrange / re-arrange work rota, cover for when they return or in some cases, to know when they are returning.

There may be other communication which need to sent to all employees, etc.

While I will give leeway to when they reply depending on circumstances - if they decide that they will not entertain any communication from me when they are off on holiday / maternity leave / hangover, I will not be entertaining being employer for very long.

That is very harsh, and shows bad management. If you are needing to contact an employee whilst they are on holiday that would suggest you aren't very organised when it comes to managing staff.
When I am on holiday I am generally in a field with little mobile signal, and no means of re-charging, and would be pretty peeved with my boss wasting my battery charge.

Long-term sick or maternity leave is slightly different, as I think it is good for both parties to keep some contact, although it should be only occassionally.

As for the OP, I have worked in a school before, and I have found that term-time only staff can be taken advantage of. The head and teachers get paid for the holidays, and often forget that the other staff don't.
An odd email in the 6 week holiday might be okay, but there shouldn't be anything that urgent over half term.

googler

sinizterguy wrote: »

I am an employer.

We may need to contact employees while on holiday / maternity leave / hangover to arrange / re-arrange work rota, cover for when they return or in some cases, to know when they are returning.

There may be other communication which need to sent to all employees, etc.

While I will give leeway to when they reply depending on circumstances - if they decide that they will not entertain any communication from me when they are off on holiday / maternity leave / hangover, I will not be entertaining being employer for very long.

I'm glad to be well away from employers like you.

Why can't you tell the employees the re-arranged rota etc. when they return?

Evidently the basic concept of 'vacation' or 'holiday' is alien to you...

Takeaway_Addict

kathrynha wrote: »

That is very harsh, and shows bad management. If you are needing to contact an employee whilst they are on holiday that would suggest you aren't very organised when it comes to managing staff.
When I am on holiday I am generally in a field with little mobile signal, and no means of re-charging, and would be pretty peeved with my boss wasting my battery charge.

Long-term sick or maternity leave is slightly different, as I think it is good for both parties to keep some contact, although it should be only occassionally.

As for the OP, I have worked in a school before, and I have found that term-time only staff can be taken advantage of. The head and teachers get paid for the holidays, and often forget that the other staff don't.
An odd email in the 6 week holiday might be okay, but there shouldn't be anything that urgent over half term.

Well they do for some of the holidays at least...

trollopscarletwoman

It's nice to read that some employees still have the bottle to say no to this kind of intrusion.

Alter_ego

This sounds like a school job to me. Do you really think you are not being paid during school holidays?

ohreally

sinizterguy wrote: »

But there are times when we need to.

You mean, when you want to. Employees aren't on the employers clock permanently.

Unless on-call, wait until return.

pelirocco

sinizterguy wrote: »

I am an employer.

We may need to contact employees while on holiday / maternity leave / hangover to arrange / re-arrange work rota, cover for when they return or in some cases, to know when they are returning.

There may be other communication which need to sent to all employees, etc.

While I will give leeway to when they reply depending on circumstances - if they decide that they will not entertain any communication from me when they are off on holiday / maternity leave / hangover, I will not be entertaining being employer for very long.

I would like to see you get that written into your employees handbooks !

I too am an employer and we do sometimes have to contact staff out of working hours , mainly because the type of job they do can change last minute and they need to be informed , its never been a problem , occasionally we cant get hold of them , so we have a whinge and get over it Sometimes we have to contact staff on earlier shifts if the later shift cant understand something they did .
By the same token they phone us at all odd hours of the day or night

Its all about give and take

Charlotte17

sinizterguy wrote: »

I am an employer.

We may need to contact employees while on holiday / maternity leave / hangover to arrange / re-arrange work rota, cover for when they return or in some cases, to know when they are returning.

There may be other communication which need to sent to all employees, etc.

While I will give leeway to when they reply depending on circumstances - if they decide that they will not entertain any communication from me when they are off on holiday / maternity leave / hangover, I will not be entertaining being employer for very long.

So you contact them about work or how to do stuff etc?

When on holiday they are on just that holiday and if you thought you would need to contact them then maybe you should have refused the holiday.

Says a lot when the boss can not manage without a member of staff there.

So glad there you say you will give leeway as to when they reply as maybe when a person is on holiday they will not be checking their email on a laptop every day.

Tiddlywinks

I work in the public sector and when we have approved alternative working patterns we always insert a clause that there may be an occasion where contact is made in normal working hours even when it is outside of the person's alternative working hours. We also stipulate that there may be occasions where attendance may be required for training etc which falls outside of their normal hours.

Sometimes it takes give and take on both sides. It's called being in a team.

Really, is one email asking for a phone call at your leisure really that bad? Not everything your employer does is designed to be confrontational or to annoy you.