To be annoyed I'm being 'told off' for 'working'

[squiddybear]

Last week I had a week off at work, it is my first week off I had since I started the role and was looking forward to it. Due to the nature of the role I kept my emails on as notifications as lots of things could have gone wrong.
Day 1 I received a panicked email stating something was missing and they needed it for a meeting that day. I ignored this and then got an email from my boss to them saying that they would have a word with me for not planning better and they could only apologise for my mistake! Now there was no mistake the paperwork was there so I emailed back advising them where the paperwork is and reminding them how they can access it.
Day 2 I received a call on my personal number who had left a voicemail it turns out it was someone from a different department and there had been a big thing that had happened and it was imperative that it get sorted straight away. I called my colleague and explained the situation so that it got resolved. (Person who called me was isolating and had no access to the email system so wouldn't have known I was out of office)
Rest of the week had been quiet and I was asked to sign in on Friday to take part in the team 'Christmas party' which I did.

This week I was pulled into a meeting with my boss basically chiding me for working. Saying it wasn't on and that I was being silly etc. I explained that I wanted to make clear where the paperwork was to avoid any situations like that later on in the week and due to the urgent nature of the phonecall I received it was not something that could have been left hence why I passed the message on so that it could be dealt with.

AIBU to be pissed off that I'm being told off for this. In my eyes I'm an adult and I am fully aware that I was doing this 'in my own time'. I feel like I'm being treated like a naughty child!

Sounds like nobody where you work knows what the hell they're doing. I feel for you

Set up your out of office with your boss's contact details on

Is it the same boss that sent the passive aggressively email apologising on your behalf? If so, I reckon they’re annoyed that you “showed them up” by actually having the paperwork ready and clarifying it in the email chain, and they’re now using this as a rod to beat you with

It's not great that you feel like you e been told off like a child.

But your boss is right; you shouldn't be working or reading emails when you're on holiday. It's bad for your mental health long term and it's therefore bad for the organisation if you haven't had a proper break. It also builds an expectation that people will be available for work while on holiday- if I was your colleague I'd be annoyed

Are you on furlough when off? The company can get into trouble if you’re found to be working when mean to be on furlough.

Could it be that?

You should tell your boss that you agree, and request a work number/phone and set up an out of office email response. Next time, you won’t be available.

@WoolieLiberal nope. Just normal holiday

You should introduce a proper handover process, you should not be working at all when on leave. Holidays are enshrined in law, increased during our time in the EU. The more people work in some way during leave, the easier it will be for the Tories to erode holiday provisions.

Just to clear up. I had out of office on emails hence why my boss received a copy of the email regarding paperwork.

I also have a work mobile which has been switched off hence why this call came to my personal number.

I am a manager at the company which is why i responded proactively because it would only be my fault if it went wrong!

Your boss should not have sent that email apologising for your mistake, even if it were your mistake that would not have been on.

But otherwise no you shouldn’t be working whilst off and it sounds like you could have briefed other colleagues better so that they did not need to contact you.

@Aprilx don't know how I could've briefed better than I did which was in person and an email stating 'the paperwork for x is here. If for any reason you are not in to grab it then I have also sent a copy to your email. I have also made sure that your assistant had received copies'

The phonecall was out of the blue and couldn't have been foreseen

Errrr they sound ridiculous. You sent one email and made one phone call so your colleagues could get on with their work while you were away. Sounds more like you were forced t work by their incompetence.

In the future ignore the emails and just clarify once you get back to work. It’s their fault if they can’t follow instructions

Do you work in a bank or with anything financial? When I did you had to take two weeks consecutively off a year with no access to things. It's a fraud measure the two weeks is that in that time someone else covering for you should be able to spot any irregularities in your work.
This is on top of it being good for you to take a proper break for your mental health.

@Ijustdontcare no nothing like that. Back office in education

I feel your pain OP.
My micromanaging ex boss would ring me at one minute to 5 daily to check I hadn't gone home one second too early yet if she caught me still working at 5.10 she would ask me why I couldn't manage all my work within work hours.
I could have strangled her.

The first one, I would probably have sent a passive aggressive email CC-ing everyone in saying that I had not made a mistake and the paperwork was in XXX, as per my handover email of XXdate.

The second one, I would have emailed the person to say contact XX, I am on annual leave.

The Office Christmas party, I would have said no chance mate I'm on holiday.

Sounds like your colleagues couldn't organise the proverbial in the proverbial.

I'd bite my tongue this time, but in future not respond to emails while on holiday, and not pick up my personal phone to work people. If any shit hits the fan over it you can remind your boss of this conversation.

Holidays are enshrined in law, increased during our time in the EU
Dp got a bollocking for not being available for work calls when he was on holiday. His contract was terminated soon after

I have never know a holiday when work haven’t called.

I almost always answer emails or do other bits of work if I'm not in. Unless I am actually physically on holiday away from home.
Completely normal in schools though.

I am usually contacted a couple of times during my annual leave and tbh prefer it to coming back in afterwards to a pile of messes that take ages to sort out. If my boss gave me a telling off for that I would email him confirming the discussion and before I went on leave again would send him the usual handover with said email attached and confirmation that I would not respond to attempts at contact during my leave period. But then my boss is not an arsehole, so we wouldn't need to go through that sort of ridiculousness.

don't you do a short handover email before you leave outlining where things are?

Did your boss apologise to you for suggesting to your colleague that you had failed to plan adequately? Failing that, did your boss acknowledge to you that he/she now understood that you had done everything as expected and it was the other person at fault?

Only after resolving that would I be remotely open to any discussion about whether or not you should have been working while on holiday.

Your boss and your colleague both sound like idiots.

And, to be clear, you are being criticised for answering a call on your personal number which happened to be from a colleague?

Brefugee, the OP has said what she left for her colleagues in terms of handover.