AIBU .. to work on 19 September?

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

It's the first day back at work for me and the first day of freshers week. Of course the student activity planned for the day will not take place but I'd got several meetings planned with colleagues and student ambassadors as well as a couple of employers. These meetings will affect what we do in the rest of the week.

It's not about not showing respect or not caring about the queen and nothing whatsoever to do with the social side of university or drinking activities. Yes we can rearrange some things. But it's going to be rather awkward and have a knock on effect on the following week when the returners come back.

If the others are amenable - and I'm aware they might not be - I want to have the meetings, probably on Zoom.

AIBU?

I'm on holiday

But it's only a few quick chats ......

Can't get access to my work environment until I return home.

Why would you need to use VPN for Zoom? You can Zoom in from your phone.

I can't be bothered to explain.

It’s a state mandated bank holiday. Even if you don’t give a shit about the Queen it’s not ‘a luxury’ it’s a right. Take a bloody day off and stop being a workaholic martyr.

I may well get some drafting or research done. But I think it would be astonishingly tone deaf to even bring up the idea of having work meetings on a bank holiday if you are in a sector that wouldn't normally work on a bank holiday.

You have no idea whether others would feel pressured to then agree.

There is no “right” to bank holidays.

You can phone them.

If it needs presentations etc, it’s not a quick call.

Why dont YOU be more flexible and work around it?

Ok OP.

If they are just chats someone in your office could arrange the zoom for Friday and send you the dial in details so you can chat.

But no, don't disrupt your holiday, just everyone else's

It is what it it is though and you'll just have to deal with it.

It is inconvenient but it's happening to everyone.

I had a huge event with an overseas professor that I've spent the last 6 months organising taking place. It would have benefited my career hugely but it's just been cancelled with no chance of it being rearranged.
But there's nothing I can do 🤷🏼‍♀️

@ImJustMadAboutSaffron YANBU to work that day but YABU expecting others to work. You need to consider if the people your meeting with will want to work.

Fair enough but I hope you get the point. The government is giving us a day off. Why are people so up their own arse that they want to work through it?

It’s not that important. If it’s a short chat, if can be done easily the next day. People may feel obliged and unable to say no if you ask, lots of people aren’t good at saying no, you only have to look at mumsnet to see that. Let people have their extra day off in peace.

Why are people so up their own arse that they want to work through it?

Why are people so up their own arse that they can't see why other people might want/need to work?

You can work, just don’t in any way involve others.

YANBU - it's absolutely your choice.

Sorry this made me laugh out loud and I don’t usually do that

have the meetings, you do say plural in your op, on Friday when everyone else is working using your mobile. Just forward the zoom invite to your phone before you finish

i liked the queen however the main reason I’ll be watching is she reminds me of my late Grandma. I want to take the day to reflect, not be thinking about zoom calls that could be done on the Friday or the Tuesday

I get it, OP !! Don't think you are being U.

I even fully understand the Zoom / VPN thing (yes I also work for a Uni).

Rescheduling is going to be such a headache across multiple organisations, and even if all attendees are within your Uni you probably can't see full diaries, or colleagues don't keep their diaries up to date anyway, so you truly can't tell what alternative times would be possible. And the rest or your week / their week will be chocka with other meetings.

Given you are NOT their boss there is no coercion or power imbalance.

I fear you're just going to have to muddle thru, consider each meeting individually how to reschedule or whether it's so very useful to have it on original date that you want to try asking for that.

The OP can work all she likes. She can work a whole 8 hour day if she wants to. She'd just be a complete arse to ask anyone else to.

You're on holiday on the Friday? Why not cancel that then? After all, it's no big deal to have to work on a day you thought you'd be having off, is it? Or is it just your colleagues' downtime you don't value?

I have no intention of closing my business that day. If I close I don't earn any money. If the government/monarchy want to give me the money I would have otherwise earned I'll close but as I doubt that's going to happen I'll most definitely be open.

So you won’t do it Friday because you’re on holiday although it’s only a few zooms - which you can do from your phone. But you want others to organise themselves around you on a bank holiday. You’d be taking the piss.

This.

Because you are asking people to work on a bank holiday and by saying you are willing to sork you are putting pressure on them to do the same. If you do that, you're a toxic colleague. It doesn't matter whether you understand why that is so, it just is.

sork = work