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Original poster

To wonder if work deliberately send upsetting emails on Friday

180 replies

Arbesque · 10/10/2022 08:21

The results of a promotion competition at work were announced on Friday afternoon. So lots of people going home upset for the weekend. I said to a colleague that it was a bit mean and they could have waited until Monday, but she reckons it's deliberate so that people will calm down over the weekend and not kick up a fuss in work.

Apparently it's common practice in lots of workplaces to announce bad news just before the weekend.

Has anyone else heard this?

OP posts:
ByTheGrace · 10/10/2022 09:58

Dd's school do this. Also send reports out on last Friday of term, if there are problems with grades then the kids have the whole holiday to worry about it. It really makes me angry. We recently had a behaviour letter sent on a Friday, they'd mistaken DD for another child and she was frantic about it all weekend.

Dreamwhisper · 10/10/2022 10:00

I never saw it this way, I always thought people ensured people wouldn't be left stressed and wondering about the outcome of something over a weekend and thought it was a way of being considerate! Perhaps it serves both purposes.

Hearthnhome · 10/10/2022 10:05

Arbesque · 10/10/2022 09:37

I agree. But why not tell staff on a Thursday? That way they have some mutual support from colleagues and can ask relevant questions of their managers and HR and then process it all over the weekend.

Dropping a bombshell then leaving them adrift for a couple of days is cruel.

Show quote history

Because that's, often, nor what people are looking for. They are looking for to moan and bitch and it impacts others.

HR will always prioritise the company. If you miss out on a promotion and moan about it all weekend, that's a personal issue. What they are avoiding is moaning and impacting other people. If its bad news, it's bad news. They would rather it impacted your weekend more than the rest of the office staff.

I am talking about promotions. Redundancy conversations should always be face 2 face imo

SarahSissions · 10/10/2022 10:06

I spend most of my week writing emails and scheduling them to land on a Friday, quite often last thing. Particularly in tense contract negotiations, I’ll land something at 4:50 it’s a common tactic

54isanopendoor · 10/10/2022 10:07

BitossiBlues · 10/10/2022 09:11

It's a common thing in many spheres. Court proceedings served just before close of business on a Friday. Schools sending out reports the Friday before the holidays or before a very short following week at the end of term. Yes, it's a tactic. It reduces the amount of time the recipient has to deal with the matter and respond, or to try to talk to somebody about it before a deadline (being the court prescribed response time in the former case, or the school closing for a holiday in the latter).

Yes.
As a Carer of a disabled young person, I have found that educational, benefits, court comms are ALWAYS on a Friday / end of term / just before a holiday.

It's always for the benefit of hte sendern, not the recipient.

MooBaggage · 10/10/2022 10:09

Yep. Fridays at 5pm....

54isanopendoor · 10/10/2022 10:10

tsk, 'the sender, not the recipient'
<need more coffee>

Winterscomingagain · 10/10/2022 10:13

It's been highlighted as a huge issue at my work.
We've had a lot of mental health input over the years and one of the psychologists involved highlight this as a key issue in work related suicides. It's very difficult for hr to defend this practice when it's discussed in detail under their nose at a mandatory session.

Metabigot · 10/10/2022 10:14

Yes, I have seen this done before.

The worst was an email at 3.30 pm on a Friday telling people they were at risk of redundancy on a bank holiday weekend.

Apollonia1 · 10/10/2022 10:15

In a previous company they announced redundancies out of the blue on the Friday before easter - so an extra-long weekend ruined. They should have left it till after Easter.
Another company announced redundancies in the US on the eve of a US holiday. Can't be a coincidence.

Toooldtocareanymore · 10/10/2022 10:18

yes definitely our policy here, bad news Fridays and good news Mondays, its to give people some time and space to mull it over, we always want to minimize knee jerk reactions, if someone gets a bad review or a warning or anything its always done on a Friday morning, not at end of day, and we set up a meeting for Monday or Tuesday to discuss, and it works both ways as one of my colleagues a few years ago mentioned when someone handed in a letter of resignation on a Wednesday that he'd never seen that before we always get them Fridays

MrsPinkCock · 10/10/2022 10:20

Our “at risk” of mass redundancy meetings happened on a Friday mid morning.

And I’m a lawyer - we have been known to send certain letters at 16:00 on a Friday for tactical reasons.

so yes, it’s definitely a thing

FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 10/10/2022 10:21

Yep. Friday-Monday. Standard management stuff

KILM · 10/10/2022 10:21

CousinKrispy · 10/10/2022 09:44

Sometimes it's probably the case, sometimes it's just going to be that it's when something finally got through the approval process (or whatever lengthy thing it goes through) and the communications can be sent out. Coincidence, in other words, and wanting to go ahead and get the word out rather than waiting til Monday.

This is also true - an old boss of mine got shafted this way, big corporate - she had a 10 day August overseas holiday booked with her school age kids, leave due to start on the Friday.
Redundancy for part of her team that had been in the pipeline several months kept getting pushed, kept getting pushed until HR insisted it needed to be announced the week she was away. She fought like hell but was overruled, so she went on holiday on the Saturday, redundancies announced on the Monday by her boss as HR.
She was blasted for having annual leave and 'not being there to answer questions' 'coward' etc. Got completely thrown under the bus, when the decision was taken out of her hands. I often wonder if that was the case when people here mentioned bad news being announced when leaders were on leave etc.
I wouldnt cancel a paid for holiday unless i was a CEO of a big company, i dont think middle managers on 40k should be expected to cancel leave because of announcements etc.

StClare101 · 10/10/2022 10:38

I used to work in HR and we did the opposite as some people have no support at home and could be a risk to themselves. By sharing news on a Tuesday or Wednesday you know immediately if you have a problem the next day if the employee is not contactable or refuses to come in.

hesbeingabitofadick · 10/10/2022 10:42

SquirrelSoShiny · 10/10/2022 08:23

Yes. Lets people lick their wounds over the weekend in peace.

And do a search for a new employer...

HoppingPavlova · 10/10/2022 10:47

I don’t this is something that anyone can ever get right. Several years ago DH was made redundant and was notified on the Wednesday. He was fine about it in concept (we didn’t need to rely on his money as such and it came with a nice whack of $), but he couldn’t believe they did it on a Wednesday. He thought it was common sense to do it on a Friday as even though he was okay with it, was still a shock and something unexpected. He felt it would have been ‘right’ to do it on a Friday so he had the chance to get over the shock over the weekend rather than being expected to do that in front of work colleagues on Thursday/Friday.

He was pissed off at the way they did it (although not with the redundancy), and so took Thurs/Fri off sick. He said if they had of done it on Friday afternoon he would have had the weekend and then been fine to turn up on the Monday. Even now, several years later, whenever mention of that employer comes up he says ‘the arseholes who made me redundant on a Wednesday (as opposed to Friday).

user1471538283 · 10/10/2022 11:02

Yes this absolutely happens.

I was once told that I didn't get a job on Christmas Eve so I wouldn't think about it over the break.

I think its about what is convenient for the employer. I do not buy any other reasoning.

PugInTheHouse · 10/10/2022 11:06

Our previous shot management used to do this, it was definitely deliberate.

Our new fantastic management would never treat staff that way, they will ensure everyone is informed at the same time if it is something non specific to individuals or would speak individually to anyone affected and will then ensure they are available at any point to discuss.

LadyApplejack · 10/10/2022 11:11

Who knows. Probably. But I'd much much rather be rejected before the weekend than agonize during my leisure time only to be let down anyway and ruin the rest of the following week!

KCandtheSunlightBand · 10/10/2022 11:13

I worked with a local support group offering parents advice to get a Statement for their children. The LA always sent out bad news on a Friday, about 4pm, so that parents would have calmed down before phoning the office on Monday.

SleepingStandingUp · 10/10/2022 11:13

Do yo u really want to spend the weekend obsessing over if you got the promotion? Do yo u want to have to work into work the very next morning and have to play happy for the person who got it? Personally I'd rather have the weekend to deal with it.

KimberleyClark · 10/10/2022 11:15

A former colleague used to work 7am-3.30pm. They would always send potentially upsetting/annoying emails just before leaving work for the day.

JanesBond · 10/10/2022 11:20

That's what I would do if I were them, wouldn't you?

PugInTheHouse · 10/10/2022 11:29

I don't necessarily think giving bad news on a Friday is the wrong thing to do, it's more emailing out bad news with no opportunity for staff to discuss with you etc.

For instance our previous management team emailed out a new structure that had several posts missing, obviously there was a lot of speculation over the weekend and staff texting each other etc. Not good at all.