Work colleague - say something or keep quiet...

[Ekerty72]

Need some advice!

I work in a lovely place where we follow a shift pattern. A lady joined our company a few months ago, haven't worked with her a lot due to a lot of opposing shift patterns.

Anyway I was saying goodbye to her a few days ago, I noticed she was on annual leave the following day so said have a lovely day off. She said to me shhhh dont mention it's my day off I want to keep it quiet. No problem, each to their own. She then went on to explain that in her last job she books her annual leave far in advance and then never mentions in the hope that the boss will forget to cover it and then they'll call her up and ask where she is and she'll have the delight of telling them that she's on annual leave and they should check their leave calendar. She had quite a smug smile on her face as well which I found completely distasteful. I'm guessing from that, that she intends to do this with this job as well.

I am just shocked that anyone would take pleasure in this and when I think about our lovely office I feel really sad that someone would come in with this attitude.

Would I be being unreasonable to being this to the attention of my supervisor? Thing is she would probably guess it was me who had said something which would be a bit uncomfortable.

So AIBU shall I leave it, keep my nose out and if the boss did their role correctly then the shift would always be covered or AINBU should I tell them what she told me so they can 100% ensure the shift is covered but also as a sort of heads up for maybe any future issues.

Thank you all 😊😊

I'm so glad I'm not alone in thinking it is awful behaviour

Thank you to all who have replied, it's so good to get different perspectives..

Surely most places have an online system for booking AL, like Teamseer or the likes anyway.

YABU it's just a quirk. Don't be a snitch/stirrer.

Why would she assume that the manager isn't on top of the leave calendar? I know all workplaces are different but is it normal that the manager firstly wouldn't know she's booked holidy and secondly wouldn't think to check if she'd booked the day off before calling her?

Her plan doesn't make sense to me but if she wants to waste her day off waiting for a call so she can be an arse I guess that's up to her

That's very odd and immature behaviour, but I wouldn't report it.
Maybe I'm judgemental, but I'd have eyes in the back of my head with her if she's the sort of person to delight in hiding her leave in the hope someone forgets.

She sounds delightful.

Does her job require any handover? While leave is up to a manager to co-ordinate, usually individuals would have responsibility for handing over anything that might come up during leave...

That's bloody weird. Ob has no life

What a peculiar hobby to have. I might have possibly seen her thinking if she'd been after some last-minute overtime and hoped to 'step in' to help a disorganised boss out of trouble at double time/double TOIL - or even if she just likes the self-importance of a 'saviour complex' or being a performance martyr; but just to sneer in their face??? I presume she isn't interested in career progression at all....

As PP said, a half-decent boss would be on top of the AL calendar anyway and, even if not, would check it before calling her to ask. Even if they got stung once, they'll just get the message that she isn't considerate or a team player, so will sigh and make a note to keep a keen eye on her AL calendar in particular - and not be very well predisposed to her whenever she asks for a favour in the future.

Weird.
But have always worked in places where there were efficient systems for recording all leave that was booked, so it wouldn't happen.

Afe you sure she wasn't winding you up, Ekerty?

I wouldn’t mention it either.

It could turn turtle on her, as in in this company, it may be her responsibilty to remind people. Your managers may be annoyed she hadn’t mentioned it.

Keep quiet, it’s not your place to say. Besides she’ll know it’s you that has spoke about it.
Very shocking behaviour unless she was joking of course.

What an utterly pointless game to play.

What a weird way to get your kicks, she sounds like she needs a hobby.
It’s not your problem, I’d do nothing.

Maybe she’s got a feeling op is a tattle tale and has made it all up to see if op says anything. Then she knows to be extra cautious around op

I love my job and really like all my colleagues and it really gets me down when someone behaves like this so I tend to mind my own business but stay well clear of them - no friendship.
People like that bring everyone down.

What a weirdo.

I’d probably have responsed and said that it was a bizarre thing to get a kick out of and then made a very loud and nicey-nice comment about enjoying her annual leave every single time she was off 🤣

Awful behaviour. If it does not give her what she was looking for and no call is made, upon her return suggest that this is not the way things are done here.

what a weird way to get your kicks.
steer clear of her

Surely your company has a system like Employee on Line for everyone to request leave? Where I work, I can guarantee I will always get a call on annual leave, asking if I can cover a shift due to last minute sickness etc and it's not because I'm special, it's just management trying to cover the shift without resorting to agency.

Very weird. I can’t imagine it’s very pleasurable knowing in the back of her mind she may get a phone call at some point.

Be grateful she's shown you what she's like early on. How weird and inconsiderate. If you work in good team then good communication is everyone's job. Costs nothing to say "don't forget I'm off on Tuesday" to ensure things can run smoothly.

That is so weird - I work in a supermarket and our system blocks you off the rota once your holiday has been approved and flags up what hours need covering to whoever is finalising the rota so it is hard not to know someone is off. Even if somehow the system messes up, if someone doesn't come in the first thing a supervisor/manager will do is check the holiday book and check the sick call log, just in case they have missed a message - calling the colleague would be the last resort.

I would just let it go for now OP, the only time I would step in is if you knew it would impact other people/leave you shorthanded - eg they had put her in the rota for tomorrow when you 100% know she has it booked off but if she doesn't come in then you will have to do 2 people's work and/or projects can't be completed as she has information they require to move forward etc - then I would say something because it's gone from just weird behaviour to actively disadvantaging colleagues and stopping them doing their work.

She's weird. Kind of sad, too, if something that small gives her a thrill.

I could understand if she hated the job and everyone there, though it would still be petty and strange, but apparently she does this everywhere she works.

I wouldn't say anything this time, but if I happened to notice the next time she was due to be off, I wouldn't say a word to her, but would be certain the right person knew and hadn't forgotten to find someone to cover for her.

I would give her as wide a berth as possible, it seems as if she gets enjoyment from being awkward and unhelpful to be honest.

I think she was trying to draw you into something, maybe hoping you might make a remark that SHE could report to management- so be wary, she may be on to your possible reporting of her.

Don't get involved or drawn in- these people are very manipulative.