Forwarding work to others

[TurqoiseBlue]

When our staff are driving site to site, or on days off, their out of office directs customers to contact X if its an urgent query. AIBU that one staff member forwards on customer queries on their days off? Generally minor things they could answer themselves at the time, or wait till they are back on shift to resolve?

Uh? We always put our OOO on if not available. You can’t know in advance if the customer query will need same day - or even urgent - attention or not.
If you mean an auto forward, then the receiver can always send it back if they deem it can wait a day.

@Cocomarine- Its not an auto-forward out of office. The customer didn't deem it as urgent- hence didn't contact the out of office contact. The staff member does this on days off and will forward on nearly ALL customer emails to them- even those clearly non urgent that could wait till they return to work a day or 2 later. No one else in the team does this.

That would shit me too. If I were you, I'd wait until the morning they return to work and forward it back to them with a note along the following lines:

"Hi X, this customer didn't contact me today so I'll leave it with you to close this out."

I like Panticus’ idea. Just leave them for him/her to pick up when they get back.

I’ve had this before where I ended up dealing with too much as my priorities were different to that of my colleague. Also I think the “customers” deliberately came to me as they found me more approachable. I now tend to leave things for their return unless they are life and death matters. I also try to have a handover with the person in question sufficiently in advance so we can gauge what’s likely to come up. I think it is the other person’s responsibility to manage the time leading up to their absence, when it’s known about.

I wouldn't expect them to answer the query on their day off but equally if it's not urgent they shouldn't be forwarding it, I would go with @Panticus suggestion.

Are they not just auto forwarding emails over? In which case everything just gets sent.

If they are sifting through and forwarding on that’s different

Auto forward is wrong, an out of office if they work shifts is good. Let's the person emailing them make the decision who to contact.

Talk to the person concerned, if it persists, their manager.

Your work should have a system.

If you all have your own portfolio of clients to look after, and you're out and about, non urgent queries should generally be dealt with when you're available again.

Queries would only be directed to another person if it can't wait until the main contact is back in the office. Maybe if something lands with you that's not urgent, perhaps ask your manager if it is urgent and why X can't do it when they're back in? Frame it to your manager as 'what would you like me to do, my work that I'm currently getting on with, or Xs non urgent query that they could do when they're back in tomorrow'.

So the person doing this, is actually actively on their work email (I’d guess it’s a phone notification?) and manually forwarding on their day off?

Why do you think they’re doing this?

Do they respond same day when they’re in the office, to all queries, and think that’s what should happen?

Are they really lazy and see this as a sneaky opportunity to offload work?

Do you and their colleagues not just ignore the non-urgent ones?

I don’t understand how you’d end up bringing this to MN without ever actually talking to the colleague first 🤷🏻‍♀️ This isn’t a delicate matter of personal hygiene… it’s a simple, “hey Jack, you always forward emails on your day off. You should be actually having a break! And customers will see your OOO for anything urgent. Is there a reason you’re doing it?”

To answer questions: its a small company with antiquated computer systems. All emails aren't auto forwarded. The staff member is on a day off, checking work emails, and forwarding the ones THEY think need urgent replies!

Our gripe: The staff member has their own customer details in front of them and could reply with the answer or not reply till their next working day. The rest of us don't have each others portfolio nor all the information the customer might ask for. To find the information takes multiple calls to another site and even then- may not be up to date or accurate. And yes- I have refused to assist when my own KPI's and workload is a priority.

They should absolutely not be expected to respond to work queries on their day off. They shouldn't be checking their email at all, in fact.

I don’t think there is any expectation from OP that they he respond on his day off, just that if he does want to ruin his day off by ensuring the customers get a response, then he should do it himself.

Staff members working on days off and especially when on holiday should be a no-no. Makes you wonder if they are hiding something, not just lacking rest and relaxation.

What could they be hiding balalake?

@TurqoiseBlue

To answer questions: its a small company with antiquated computer systems. All emails aren't auto forwarded. The staff member is on a day off, checking work emails, and forwarding the ones THEY think need urgent replies!

Our gripe: The staff member has their own customer details in front of them and could reply with the answer or not reply till their next working day. The rest of us don't have each others portfolio nor all the information the customer might ask for. To find the information takes multiple calls to another site and even then- may not be up to date or accurate. And yes- I have refused to assist when my own KPI's and workload is a priority.

Well that detail was important and you left it out of the previous posts. God, this is like pulling teeth!

So he towards them on his days off because HE THINK THEY’RE URGENT.

So he’s not just pushing work into others for the sake of it, or because he’s lazy.

Whether he’s mistaken as to the urgency is irrelevant - he thinks they are, so in that see he’s going the extra mile, checking on his holiday.

Again, why are you posting this instead of TALKING TO HIM? 🙄

@eldora

What could they be hiding balalake?

It’s a pretty standard red flag (well, very slightly pink one!) @eldora If an employee is doing something they shouldn’t, they don’t let anyone cover their work, so no-one sees what they are / are not doing. Doesn’t have to be the fraud of the century - could be falsely reporting sales figures when behind target.

Ignore them and send them back to him for the next day. And maybe tell him to stop checking his work emails on a day off.

The staff member is on a day off, checking work emails, and forwarding the ones THEY think need urgent replies!

Someone - preferably their manager - should tell them they shouldn’t be checking work emails on a day off, and their out of office should be sufficient for general purposes, and that if there is an urgent specific matter with one client that will potentially need action whilst they’re off they should inform the client who to contact in advance e.g.

Dear client x, I’m not in tomorrow and Monday but I’ve cc’ed in colleague y here, so if the proof is signed off please let them know and they’ll get it into production for you

Or whatever.

@Cocomarine

It’s a pretty standard red flag (well, very slightly pink one!) @eldora*
If an employee is doing something they shouldn’t, they don’t let anyone cover their work, so no-one sees what they are / are not doing.
Doesn’t have to be the fraud of the century - could be falsely reporting sales figures when behind target.

This doesn’t make any sense. If he had something to hide, why would he be forwarding emails he receives to his colleagues to respond to?