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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To refuse to give my personal mobile phone number to anyone at work that wants it in order to contact me for days I don't work

81 replies

Sazzas · 19/09/2015 10:07

I work part time in an industry where this is rare. I get that sometimes things are held up and they would like to contact me. But really I love having a separate work life balance. I get stressed easily and the last thing I want is for someone from work to contact me when I'm not working and I have to quickly get my work head back on and sort something out. I like my job but I don't want to provide support for when I'm not working. They have said they won't "abuse it" but tbh I would think any call would be abuse, unless I was paid a on hold fee.

No one lives or dies with my job, I work in consultancy for web forms.

OP posts:
Colourmylife1 · 19/09/2015 10:13

I think it depends how senior you are. If you are very junior then you are not being unreasonable. If you are more senior with a decent salary to match I think you have to accept it goes with the territory and is the price you pay for your work life balance. I would still be 'out of reception' or with phone 'off' from time to time if the calls happened too often.

ilovesooty · 19/09/2015 10:17

Don't you have a phone issued by the company?

GaryBaldy · 19/09/2015 10:20

YANBU having work calls on a day off is very intrusive.

If you are senior enough where there is an expectation that you should be contactable then perhaps say you will check your e-mail part way through the day?

Original poster
Sazzas · 19/09/2015 10:25

Well there is a senior in my job title but I'm not management or anything and there is nothing in my contract about working out of hours as support.

I know sometimes I may be needed so keep my laptop connected and people can call / email me. But I keep this to when important things are happening andi can easily control it by turning off the laptop. If I was to give my phone I think people would take advantage of it and use it more as an excuse to be poorly managed and not sort out stuff during my working week as they know they can just call me.

OP posts:
OpenDoorAsshole · 19/09/2015 10:33

I have a separate PAYG phone for work. They can contact me on that (if its ever switched on! Wink ).

I never ever give my personal mobile phone details to my employer.

Work / life = separate. 101%.

YANBU. I wouldnt give it, especially if there is no business need on your day off. No way.

DelphiniumBlue · 19/09/2015 10:34

If its a job you want to keep, its worth compromising. I'd give them the number, and if its abused then don't answer.
From a work point of view, a quick conversation with someone not in the office can save a whole heap of time, sometimes for an entire team. You could always say that they can text with you specific questions if its urgent and important, and you'll respond if and when you can.
You don't have to give positive responses to questions if that's what's stressing you out - a reply could be along the lines of " without checking the records, I can't be sure/don't remember ". But if a simple " yes" or "no" would help out your team and make life less stressful for them, then yabu to refuse.

I think most professionals are expected to be contactable outside contracted hours- you just have to learn how to manage it.

TendonQueen · 19/09/2015 10:39

When you're in work, do you see other people being called a lot? Or is it that you are always the person sorting things out and you think that's why they want you on call?

spoonfulofgoodness · 19/09/2015 10:39

I agree with delphinium that sooooo much time can be saved by just speaking to someone on the phone. however I also get stressed easily and it would piss me off if it was abused

DoreenLethal · 19/09/2015 10:44

If they want to contact you when you are not working - then they need to provide a phone and an on call allowance. The clue is in the words 'not working'...

TheBunnyOfDoom · 19/09/2015 10:48

It depends what they're ringing for, and whether it's something that's likely to be abused or not.

Work have my personal mobile but they only ring me once in a blue moon to see if I can cover someone off sick, or to talk to me about working a bank holiday or something similar. They never abuse the fact that they have my number so I don't mind them having it at all.

SewSlapdash · 19/09/2015 10:49

To be honest, I think you're lucky that you're not issued with a work phone and expected to be contactable when you're out of the office. I'm expected to be periodically checking emails even when on holiday (out of the country).

NeedsAsockamnesty · 19/09/2015 10:50

I would never expect any of my employees to be contactable outside of their paid hours unless they were being paid additional money to be availible or if a genuine serious emergency occured. If such a thing occurred they would get paid more because they would be working

WannabeLaraCroft · 19/09/2015 11:00

Give them the number but change a digit at the end. Grin

ilovesooty · 19/09/2015 11:02

Work have my personal mobile. It's only ever been used when once my manager didn't pick up my email signing out (fault on her work phone) and she didn't know that I was safe.

Marcelinewhyareyousomean · 19/09/2015 11:14

If this is something your manager supports then maybe your work could issue you with a BlackBerry so you can access emails or calls? I have given my mobile phone out to some people (boss and direct reports). I would never ring a member of my team on a non working day. I would email my boss using a normal work email address and leave it up to them if they responded or not. At my grade and above we are expected to be flexible. I don't have many peers or management that are part time.

HermioneWeasley · 19/09/2015 11:17

If working part time is rare in your industry, I think you need to try to make this work or they might decide it isn't working and it's full time or nothing.

Do you really manage to switch off that much on your days off?

Ragwort · 19/09/2015 11:25

You do sound rather inflexible, I only earn NMW but genuinely don't mind calls on my days off - I feel it is important to be kept 'in the loop' and I would hate to go back after few days (I am p/t) to find things had changed and I was only updated by a written list (my manager and I rarely work together at the same time).

peggyundercrackers · 19/09/2015 11:26

Even if she had a work phone why would she answer it on her day off?

I would imagine it would be abused, every thing they think they might need it would be easier for them to call you than go and find out whatever the answer is for themselves.

I would keep saying no.

Mistigri · 19/09/2015 11:57

I would never, ever give my personal phone number to work (and I work for a decent company which understands about work-life balance). A couple of colleagues have my personal number but they would not abuse this.

If they really want to be able to contact you out of the office, they need to issue you a work mobile phone but even then it needs to made clear that there are times when you will not be available.

2ndSopranosRule · 19/09/2015 12:11

YANBU.

I work pt and for some reason some of colleagues think I actually work from home. And they are also of the opinion that I am contractually obliged to check emails on my non-working days. Clearly they have a better knowledge of my contract than I do Hmm.

I keep myself in the loop on non-working days because I'm quite senior and some of my colleagues seek any opportunity they can to undermine me. Not doing something they need on my non-working day would be excellent ammunition (very, very long other thread).

No-one at work has my mobile with the exception of my manager.

MiscellaneousAssortment · 19/09/2015 12:21

If it really is unusual in your profession, I'd resist it, but I'm surprised that any profession has managed to resist the tide of 24/7 contact culture!

I guess only you can answer this one - is your career going to stall if you say no? Are you going to get a reputation for being unhelpful/ not a team player/ not loyal to the company?

Alternatively, do they want your number because there are issues around handovers/ infornation transfer or other problems that result in loss of productivity/ client handling issues etc? On your part or on the part of others who are complaining it wouldn't have happened if they could have phoned you?

What's the context of them asking? Is it arising from a specific situation?

You really need to give them an alternative solution if this question has come out of a situation where there was an issue.

But really, if the answer to all of those questions is a no, and there really is no underlying issue or negative perception about your work image, then I'd carry on as you are enjoying it whilst you can :)

Ps you wouldn't even get a job in the field I work in if you refused to give contact details, and no, it's not life and death, it's just the way the industry works. People have started to put 'out of office' on their emails when they are in lots of meetings and might only be able to check mails once an hr. Bonkers! But I'm sure I'll have to join in soon...

annandale · 19/09/2015 12:24

I would agree to one person having my full contact details including personal numbers. That person should be a senior administrator who works 9 to 5

BoboChic · 19/09/2015 12:29

I think the answer here is "it depends". In high-paid client facing or senior leadership roles it would be extraordinary to think you could be uncontactable.

CaurnieBred · 19/09/2015 12:30

Nope. I have a work phone and a personal phone. I work part time and unless I know there is something particular going on at work then the work phone gets ignored if it rings OOH. Only trusted colleagues have my personal number - if they call that then it is only in dire circumstances.

nulgirl · 19/09/2015 12:32

I suppose it depends how much you care about having a career rather than just a job. If you're happy with the role that you have and you don't want to progress then it is fine to be strict about it. If you want promotion then you may need to show a bit of flexibility. That doesn't mean that they should take the piss but by not answering the odd call highlights and accentuates the fact that you work part time and makes you seem a bit of a jobsworth. Fine in many jobs but would be the kiss of death in my industry.