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Original poster

Work phone when on Annual Leave

139 replies

AndOnAndOn · 09/04/2019 15:23

Can anyone share their experience/views with me please as they differ wildly in our house......

When on annual leave do you generally read/respond to work emails, What's App, text messages? Do you continue to keep an eye on work related social media, retweet, like posts etc?

Or when you are off you are off? Do you manage to put your out of office on and switch off from work completely?

I appreciate if you have one phone that is sued for both work and social it may be more tricky, how about if you have a separate work phone?

Thanks.

OP posts:
Whynham · 09/04/2019 16:18

When the out of office is on I don't check any emails. I don't have work related socials but if I did I would turn notifications off.

Furble · 09/04/2019 16:20

My boss can text me if it’s urgent and I pack my laptop in case they do need me to log on but otherwise I’m not looking it’s my holiday!

BringOnTheScience · 09/04/2019 16:24

My job is term-time only, but not in a school. My work phone is off and I check it every couple of days to clear the spam/marketing stuff and keep an eye out for anything relating to the start of term. I reply only if it is genuinely urgent...
"Can you do a workshop on Monday?"
"No"

Alsohuman · 09/04/2019 16:24

Mine too @LilethsFamiliar, comms was my full time role. My rationale was that if I dropped dead they’d have to manage without me. Fortunately my chief exec agreed with me. He was incommunicado on holiday too.

SummerInSun · 09/04/2019 16:26

Check my email at least three times a day, team know to call if anything more urgent comes up. Would be rare to have a one week holiday where I don't do at least half a day's work (spread over the evenings), probably with at least one conference call when the kids are asleep.

But I work in a senior role, and I have a generous leave allowance, and I take extra days off to make up for the time spent working while on holidays.

Do I think any of the above is a good thing? Not really. But sadly it's the way the world is now.

DuggeeHugs · 09/04/2019 16:27

I don't do anything work related when on leave.

I did try once but my boss sent me a very pointed bold and italicized email reminding me that I was on leave and they didn't expect to hear from me again until I got back, so to enjoy the break Smile

girlwithadragontattoo · 09/04/2019 16:27

I have mine on all the time. At the moment there is just me when there should be 2 of use doing the job. We had offered the position to someone but their current work place made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
My mum is flying over from the UK in less than a month, i have no-one to cover me so at intervals during the day, i,e 8, 12-2ish and 5-7pm ish i will have to answer emails and take phone calls.
I work in a tourist resort and the season is just about to start so i have no choice really

havingtochangeusernameagain · 09/04/2019 16:28

I used to leave my work phone switched off and in a drawer at home.

You can't relax if you are looking at work stuff on holiday.

rickandmorts · 09/04/2019 16:31

I don't do anything work related out of work time. I also start at my start time and leave at my finish time. My employer (NHS) is hugely inflexible when I've had requests in the past so I'm not flexible with them Smile.

Jaxhog · 09/04/2019 16:32

Depends on your job. As a senior Manager/Director I check emails/texts once or twice a day. But I always try to ensure nothing major is likely to crop up while I am away. And if I'm abroad, my phone is off.

Having said that, it was sometimes royally abused in previous jobs. Now I am the boss, it happens less.

Planning ahead is the key. Don't just expect someone else to do your job while you're away. Equally, people who abuse your annual leave by calling you about trivia won't keep your respect.

Pinkprincess1978 · 09/04/2019 16:34

I tend to keep and eye on things. I'm trying to make an effort to not log in and see emails but I would respond to texts and forward work social media. It isn't expected but something we all do.

drspouse · 09/04/2019 16:38

I'm another who isn't covered in the main if I'm off. A couple of my roles I have joint responsibility so if someone gets my OOO they will refer to my colleague. Others, people will wait till I'm back though if something is urgent they can text or message me.
I will probably check every day or three if on a longer holiday in case something comes up that would be easily sorted with a one liner but would be firefighting when I came back if I didn't sort it out. My criteria for "deal now or when I'm back" is if it's really quick now AND would be much harder to do when I get back, I'll do it, otherwise no. If it's hard now and even harder when I get back, I will probably reply to say "I cannot do this now so I'll have to refuse/you should have asked earlier/I'll give you one paragraph of tips".

I usually delete the spam from my inbox the night before I go back but don't answer anything else!

sleepylittlebunnies · 09/04/2019 16:39

The trouble is, it’s never just answering the a phone call or reading an email. Doing that means you have to action something, even if that is referring to a colleague or forwarding an email.

That’s not annual leave, it’s being on call. Statutory annual leave is there so that you rest physically and mentally from your job. Lives shouldn’t revolve around work 24/7. All these technological advances that are meant to make life easier actually make it very hard to just turn off and enjoy living.

Chowmum · 09/04/2019 16:40

I don't get paid enough to work out of hours. So I don't. I have work email on my home computer, but the only time I check it is when I'm working from home. As for the phone, I don't have a work phone, but anyone rings me on my personal phone when I'm on holiday, it better be a real emergency, or someone's going to be missing a head.

RomanyQueen1 · 09/04/2019 16:40

God no, it would be bad enough working anyway without doing it for free when on holiday.
I'd conveniently temporarily lose mine if I was given one.

Chowmum · 09/04/2019 16:41

... When I bite it off, on case that wasn't clear :D

thecatsthecats · 09/04/2019 16:42

I never understand the 'Oh, but i'm so senior/paid so well' angle.

I'm senior, and paid well - a company director.

I'm paid well for my contributions during work time. I'm senior because I am a capable employee, and as such, am able to prepare my workload and other staff members appropriately with the tools and skills to perform their jobs in my absence. If something is likely to occur, I leave a simple delineation of appropriate responses. If another senior member of the team is away, I expect them to provide me with the information to cover for them in their absence.

I'm a chief operations officer, and I'd consider myself pretty bad at it if I needed to intervene when I'm on leave.

buzzbobbly · 09/04/2019 16:43

You can't relax if you are looking at work stuff on holiday.

I'm pretty sure most people can easily separate 30mins of scanning emails with a cold beer/on a sun lounger/in bed and being able to relax perfectly well for the other 23.5 hours of the day.

buzzbobbly · 09/04/2019 16:47

There is also an element of self-importance in the "I might have to deal with emergencies" - but in real, actual emergencies, the chances of that poster being the ONLY person in the ENTIRE company who can deal with it are slim to none. if it's that dire, there are far bigger problems than them being on holiday.

(Same people who make a big deal of needing to have their phones on and by their side if they go out to dinner. The corporate sky ain't gonna fall in just because you've popped out to the local Toby Carvery for lunch)

BlackSatinDancer · 09/04/2019 16:48

DH has one phone which is provided by work. Last week he was on annual leave and had put his out-of-office on. His phone rang so he checked the number and could see it was a call from work so ignored it.

No checking of emails etc. If his boss were to ring he would probably answer as she would only ring in exceptional circumstances.

drspouse · 09/04/2019 16:49

The trouble is, it’s never just answering the a phone call or reading an email. Doing that means you have to action something, even if that is referring to a colleague or forwarding an email.
Not always. If I see an email in my inbox that I know needs no action, I don't even read it. Others I'll see and think "oh, I might need to forward that", read it and find I don't. Yet others I see it, read it, answer "yes" I'll come to that meeting the week after I get back, all sorted, the Important High Up that's hard to pin down is now pinned down and I don't then need to chase them 5 more times after I get back.

notacooldad · 09/04/2019 16:51

My work phone stays off.
I occasionally may get a message from my manager the day before I go back asking me to perhaps go straight to the town hall for a meeting instead if the hub I work or asking if I can do a shift change or something.
I'm ok with that.

Sturmundcalm · 09/04/2019 16:53

I have the kind of job where I'm basically expected to always be "on" so when I take leave the main benefit is switching off my phone!! We can't afford to go away at the moment but I'm off this week and have my phone and work laptop switched off and am trying to cut down on even personal PC use. When I take a couple of weeks in the summer I'll probably come off FB as well, it's what I did last year and it did make me feel so much better.

Sturmundcalm · 09/04/2019 16:54

PS a couple of folk have my personal email address/phone number in case there is an emergency but it's only been used once in about 8 weeks of leave over the last 2 years.

Yubaba · 09/04/2019 16:56

I’m on annual leave this week and I had 3 texts messages and 2 phone calls yesterday.
Generally I answer but sometimes I just ignore when the phone rings especially if I’m busy with something.
I always check emails, we have weekly targets and it’s just easier not to deal with 200 emails when I get back to work.