to be annoyed at being called by work when i am on holiday?

[Thinkmummy]

I'm off work this week enjoying a well deserved break with my other half and 3 year old.. Work have rang asking for my help needing me to log on and do two tasks for them that apparently cant wait till next monday.

Backstory I've been doing the job of two people since my colleague went on maternity early Jan they have not found someone suitable to replace her.. This has caused my workload to sky rocket and there is only me in my area and my supervisor who overseas part of my work and other areas.
Now the request came from my manager in relation to some backlog of work from 2015 ( that we have been in fortnightly communication a shortage of manpower is preventing it from being cleared) and a new colleague that has taken over a small section of work none of these requests I feel are business critical and caused me to spend about 30-40 min working from home (unpaid) am I being sensitive or are they bu?

Jean - you're a manager, though and presumably are paid as such....

I've been the manager, and I've been the martyr working loads extra with no thanks or pay.

I now work in a place where I don't manage, by choice, and my salary reflects that. I therefore don't expect to be contacted whilst I'm on a week's annual leave with non urgent stuff. To do "just 30-40 mins work". I don't answer the phone. Simples.

Ragwort - that means you're being paid under NMW which is illegal.

I would let it go on this occasion, however YANBU. Future leave, including the rest of this week I would let gem go through to VM if they call again, same applies to subsequent holidays. If they ask later, say you were on holiday in a remote area.

I would actually answer work calls but my boss is a diamond and also happy to answer work calls even when on holiday, we both keep them brief and have no expectations.

They have a habit of forgetting extra work that has been done... Any time off for appointments school plays etc has to be made up in the future previous extra work is not taken into consideration

Imagine my surprise

Never mind voicemail, it sounds to me as if it's time for your phone to develop a major fault ...

If employers expect people to work for free, the sense of entitlement is only operating in one direction, as far as I can see. And imo the amount of time it actually takes to complete a task is irrelevant. Part of the point of taking days or weeks off work is to have a complete break from thinking about work. And particularly if your work or working environment is stressful, that is enormously important. My boss recently asked if I could be available on the phone while I was on holiday. I said no, and didn't take my work phone away with me, but the vague feeling that I was doing something wrong did cast a bit of a shadow.

Well, I'm a finance director on £55k and I don't expect to be phoned on my holiday (apart from by the MD) - but then I don't text my staff on theirs.

Your employers are stupid if they cannot find temporary accounts staff to cover maternity leave - there are agencies on every high street.

It is not good business to find that there is only one person who can do a particular task. (although I am the only one that does payroll)

Accounts is not an emergency service,after all..

But where you expect to be disrupted that's built into your contract - not your payscale.

Ps - I'm saying YANBU. Not sure who the entitled comment was for but presumably not me.

I earn more than 19k but I wouldn't expect to be phoned while I'm on annual Leave - it's not my pay grade that reflects this though, it's my contract where it says how many days off I'm entitled to.

I think it was absolutely fine for you to refuse to do the 40 minutes work that they asked of you during your holiday. However, I also think it will be fine for your employer to refuse any request you may make in future for flexibility, say, when you need an hour or two off for a school nativity play or for a class assembly etc. Much better to have flexibility on both sides albeit your prerogative to refuse.

Have you not read the posts where OP mentions frequent working through lunch, staying late and yet still having to make up time for doctors appointments, school plays and the like? This is clearly not a situation where there is flexibility on both sides, and the party not exhibiting flexibility isn't the OP.

You cannot use holiday in this way to 'blackmail' (cannot think of a better word). It's pathetic to say right you didn't do X on your holiday, ergo fuck you will your medical appointment.
Any employer who pulled that shit, I would advice legal action.

That's not give and take. Holidays fall under working rights. Give and take it oh can you stay an extra hour tonight. Yup. Fast forward, oh remember when I stayed
Back, can I leave early/come in later?
That is reasonable give and take.
Anything else, unless contracted to be on call 24/7 then tough shit.

JeanSeberg Tue 12-Apr-16 17:46:00
I'm going against the grain here but these things work both ways. I never question staff starting a bit later/leaving early for dentist, doctor, school nativity play, parents night, going away for weekend etc etc so it's nice when it works the other way too.

This is what flexi-time (aka a flexible working scheme) is for. You might do fewer hours one day and a longer day another, but overall you work your contracted hours.

I have yet to come across any flexible working scheme that includes bosses encroaching on annual leave. You make any time up outside of holiday periods.

OP's bosses are taking the piss. She's giving, they are taking.

Say no, politely. A slippery slope awaits otherwise.

Just block all work numbers on your personal phone. If work need to contact you outside your normal office hours, they should provide a work mobile.
My work does not officially have my mobile number on record. However my close work colleagues know what it is and I trust them to contact me in an emergency only if I am on holiday.
To be fair, my work does not have any contact number for me (officially at least!). I had issues in the past with abusive calls and insisted they could not keep my contact details in electronic format.

This gets worse! So there's a three hour cap on overtime/flexi hours and you're routinely doing an extra hour or two each day?! Start working to rule and see what happens. They are absolute piss takers, you don't have to be grateful that they employ you and quite frankly, it sounds as though if you threatened to walk, they'd be screwed. Grow a backbone, OP! Employers can be flexible around childcare etc and still be fair. You don't have to be a martyr to be able to make the odd school concert.

Yanbu
And conditions sound crap
Next time you need to leave early, point out how much time you're owed
In fact I'd keep a log

I don't answer the phone unless I know the number
If it was a work number and I was on leave, id ignore it
One of my mates did that and returned the call, to her managers office phone, at 1am from a noisy bar, simply saying she couldn't help
They haven't called her on annual leave again

To me, at this level, there is no reason whatsoever to call you and ask you for stuff while you are on leave.

Ragwort, I don't know who you work for but if you're on NMW and still expected to work for free over your contracted hours then you need to look for another job - that is when it becomes virtual slave labour. I laughed when you mentioned OP had a sense of entitlement. I think it is YOU who needs to get a grip on your self-worth and self-confidence with regards your working conditions.

Why respond to a three month old thread, Curly?

Payscale absolutely does matter. If you are on £100k, then there is a reason for it, and clearly you are expected to give your blood to the company. In return of course, you have the cleaner, live-in nanny, gardener etc to make your life easier.

On £19k, you are paid to do your job and do it well, but not to give your blood. Many people deliberately choose low-paid work as they want a job not a career, and these people are perfectly within their rights to refuse to work during holidays/

It doesn't depend on your salary or anything else...you are on holiday...not ' on call'
Amazes me people think you should accept this if you happen to be on a good salary...No wonder people are stressed these days.

Oh I hadn't realised it was an old thread, sorry. I don't know what happened as I'm sure I was in active threads - hadn't found it on a search or anything.