Or is my colleague

[Iwishiwereheather]

So colleague is senior to me but we also have the same manager.

My manager and I have an agreement that I can log out of my phone 3-4pm. Our job isn’t particularly call based and you get like 3 a day max. Due to anxiety I’m allowed this break a day.

Today my manger was off and the senior told me to log in, he said he was aware of the agreement but one time wouldn’t hurt would it?

I think if discussed beforehand then I would have done it but springing it on me with 10 minutes to go I think is very unfair. There were other people logged into their phone so they weren’t left with no one answering calls.

If your manager has agreed it, that's it, decision made. Nobody should overturn that in their short term absence. Of course you don't need to divulge more of your health information to fulfil the need of nosey posters.
That wasn't your question

It sounds an odd arrangement (having worked on phones and suffer with anxiety) and weirdly specific so I can understand why your colleague thought asking you to do it as a one off would be ok. Your boss shouldn’t have shared your private health information with the colleague so they’re unlikely to have known why you have this arrangement or why you couldn’t possibly be logged into your phone during that hour of the day.

Discuss with your manager and agree what will happen if the situation comes up again.

YANBU OP! If she didn't know about the agreement then I would say it was just an error but the fact they said they knew about it means they've chose just to ignore that.

As PP said, when your manager is back in I would bring it up with them and just confirm that the agreement still stands when they're not there

Maybe the colleagues who were logged on complained to him that you regularly aren’t pulling your weight (as maybe they see it) at the end of the day. Not fair, but possible.

I don’t work on phones MadeOfStarStuff - taking phone calls is just a part of the job role but I don’t work in a call centre.

I am rather confused by some people saying the thread is pointless because I won’t give my full medical history. It’s between me and my manager the arrangement and he and me are happy with it.

Other colleague is aware of this but tried to override managers decision because “it’s not that difficult” - but to me it is and when I’m given this break and have no warning that it actually makes me feel worse.

@GreenClock

Maybe the colleagues who were logged on complained to him that you regularly aren’t pulling your weight (as maybe they see it) at the end of the day. Not fair, but possible.

Other colleagues have different arrangements (some won’t take any calls) and it was discussed in a meeting to prevent people from questioning it (people reasons for it were not discussed).

Also other areas of the job people have it massively reduced, like 50% less expected work a day then what I would do. Swings and roundabouts. I asked for help with one particular thing and my manager obliged.

I don’t fully understand stand the set up however your senior colleague is in the wrong yes

it sounds like they were deliberately pushing it

Seems weird if the phone hardly rings that everyone has different exceptions around answering it

Could it be that it was maybe short staffed today, perhaps due to school holidays, so extra help was needed just to cover as a one off?

@GreenChips

Seems weird if the phone hardly rings that everyone has different exceptions around answering it

Could it be that it was maybe short staffed today, perhaps due to school holidays, so extra help was needed just to cover as a one off?

I’m not sure what the reason was. However they knew how many people were in so if he wanted to take the arrangement away then I feel he could have approached me in the morning, rather than 10 minutes beforehand.

@Iwishiwereheather

I don’t work on phones MadeOfStarStuff - taking phone calls is just a part of the job role but I don’t work in a call centre.

I am rather confused by some people saying the thread is pointless because I won’t give my full medical history. It’s between me and my manager the arrangement and he and me are happy with it.

Other colleague is aware of this but tried to override managers decision because “it’s not that difficult” - but to me it is and when I’m given this break and have no warning that it actually makes me feel worse.

I dont think people are asking for your medical history. But they are saying that the thread is impossible to comment on without understanding the situation more fully and part of that involves why this particular adjustment is relevant if you very rarely get any calls and therefore whether this this senior was being unreasonable or could have possibly known that they were asking something "difficult " of you

The senior was unreasonable and you should have said no that you have an agreement with manager.

I am Senior in what sounds like very similar job, our team gets hardly any calls per day ( maybe 3-5 calls per day total)
There is always enough people to cover the phones and some have similar arrangements to yourself.
If a manager was not in I wouldn't dream of getting involved in any arrangements anyone has.
If the phones all of a sudden went mad (which has not happened in 8 years) then I would log on and take some calls myself I wouldn't expect anyone else to log on when they had arrangement to not be on the phone.
Sounds like they just wanted to exert some power!

@KoalaOok

It might be so OP has an hour a day when she knows she definitely won't be on the phone so has a bit of a breather from the anxiety that someone might phone. Just a thought as I work with someone who hates that she can just be rung at anytime.

If this is an adjustment made by your manager for your anxiety then I think you should be permitted to keep it when manager is not there.

This. I get why it helps the OP. That extra hour may help OP to manage the rest of the day. It might sound like nothing to some people, but knowing that a break from the constant background anxiety, from feeling on edge and heightened, is coming can really help.

@Iwishiwereheather

I don’t work on phones MadeOfStarStuff - taking phone calls is just a part of the job role but I don’t work in a call centre.

I am rather confused by some people saying the thread is pointless because I won’t give my full medical history. It’s between me and my manager the arrangement and he and me are happy with it.

Other colleague is aware of this but tried to override managers decision because “it’s not that difficult” - but to me it is and when I’m given this break and have no warning that it actually makes me feel worse.

You are being kind of aggressive for someone asking for peoples opinions. I presume that means that you only want opinions that you like, so maybe you should have posted what opinions were welcome.

Nobody here knows why this may or may not have been reasonable of your colleagues, but if "you and your manager made the agreement and you and your manager are happy with it", then maybe you and your manager should be the ones talking about it and you shouldn't be posting it on a public website.

YABU because if it's none of our business, that's absolutely fine, but then you shouldn't be making it our business by posting it here.

In relation to an adjustment isn't it more that a more junior worker should not overturn an adjustment that the manger has considered reasonable. The details of how the adjustment supports OP aren't relevant, it has been deemed reasonable by her work and should not be removed without prior discussion or at least an early warning. When it comes to something that makes you anxious your brain isn't thinking I rarely get more than 4 calls a day, the phones are unlikely to ring.

For those saying she rarely has to deal with calls, anxiety doesn't work like that. When the thing that makes you anxious is a possibility it's there in the back of your mind, you're on edge. Knowing a break is coming can make a big difference.

OP you really shouldn't do an AIBU on this
You have an arrangement with your line manager
You don't want to give details of why and yada yada
This is a chat with your manager about when others cover her or his role, not an AIBU as zero detail = zero chance anyone can give you sensible advice

Thanks to some posters for explaining it better.

And Moondust I’m not being aggressive in the slightest - buzzwords like that and “you sound very angry” are said all the time on aibu to control a nonexistent narrative and discredit the OP.

I’m trying to not detail this thread. Because I’m not asking for opinions on an agreements.

I’m asking whether someone who is more senior than me has the right to determine something as “not difficult” and go against an agreement I have in place with someone senior to us both.

I have no understanding at all of this situation....I would understand maybe if it was usual to receive several calls per hour & the need for a break from it & so not anticipating incoming within the 3-4pm period. If only 3 a day spread across a team then chances of incoming are minimal. But regardless of my understanding...if there is a pre-existing arrangement, it's not for temp supervisor or acting manager for a day to revise it unilaterally. Take it up with your manager.

Did you log into your phone? Speak to your manager tomorrow and make a complaint. I think your colleague was very out of order to try to enforce this given the existing arrangement.

It sounds like they were abusing their power and need to be taken down a peg or two. Report to your manager. It takes a certain type of person to act in that way when their superior is only away for one day - imagine what they would get up to with more time.

Agreements come in many forms. You could have an agreement to go to lunch half an hour later than the set lunch time as it suited you better. Or one to do the same so you could pump breastmilk. Or one to leave early one day and make the time up the next. I don't think all agreements are of equal weight. Something that is a reasonable adjustment is certainly of greater weight, but afaik this would relate to a disability and OP does not want to (and does not have to) comment on whether her anxiety amounts to a disability for her.
To an extent we all benefit in the workplace from occasionally having an all hands on deck approach. However we do not know what the personal cost to the OP would be from going along with the request, I would assume it would be great given the post.

Ultimately because manager was off - did you need to be available on the phone to field queries from team etc?

Sounds like the senior person today resents you having that agreement with your proper manager and saw their chance to throw their weight around. Its totally unreasonable and l am not surprised you are upset about it. Bring it up with your manager tomorrow so next time you will be absolutely sure there will be no interference with an existing agreement.

@Iwishiwereheather

I don’t work on phones MadeOfStarStuff - taking phone calls is just a part of the job role but I don’t work in a call centre.

I am rather confused by some people saying the thread is pointless because I won’t give my full medical history. It’s between me and my manager the arrangement and he and me are happy with it.

Other colleague is aware of this but tried to override managers decision because “it’s not that difficult” - but to me it is and when I’m given this break and have no warning that it actually makes me feel worse.

Isn't this what your, you know, actual break, is for?

Your colleagues are probably starting to find you a bit of a CF.

He was being a dick and it sounds like he was trying to flex his power. Speak to your manager.

I have no idea why people are being so difficult. Other than it being mumsnet and it's what people do. It's fairly clear to me from your op that it was something you'd agreed to support your anxiety.

You need a break in the last hour of your shift??!!