On annual leave - colleagues messaging

[Bunny2021]

My first AIBU - please be gentle 😂

I’m on annual leave this week as I had holiday days I needed to use up before the end of the month. I haven’t gone away anywhere other than visiting family Monday and Tuesday.

Yesterday my boss sent me a WhatsApp on my personal phone asking about a document that had corrupted and would I be able to go back in to redact the information and resend. He finished the message with “if you can’t, not to worry I will do it tomorrow”. I did it last night.

This morning at 8:30 - so outside of normal working hours - another colleague has messaged (same level as me) asking for a call today to talk him through a contract that could probably wait until Monday. If not, my boss has my notes from when I went on mat leave that covered this contract. This message has really annoyed me. I think because it’s before our usual working day (which starts at 9:00).

YABU - it’s a quick message and they only want to chat for 5 mins.
YANBU - you’re on annual leave and it’s unacceptable to be messaging at 8:30 on your day off.

I don’t wish to contact my staff when they are away so I remind them we need a full handover before they go on leave, which all of them are great at. If I have a genuine issue I know I can send the odd message in dire need, rare! The whole point of holiday though is that they should have a break to unwind! That being said, a lot of them message into group at least once whilst away because everyone misses each other 😂.

I am also totally flexible about docs calls, lunches being taken at odd times to facilitate things and so on, because, you know… Life! Equally a bit of understanding cuts both ways (as said by PP).

I, on the other hand, am available 24/7, but, that’s my job right now 🙂.

You should ignore all messages from colleagues. Don't even bother to read or reply. You are on annual leave away from work, regardless of a 5 minute call or text. They should be more than efficient and can cope when someone is away.

You can reply back at 8:55am on Monday and say; yes sure! Let me know

I just think help if you can but if it’s really inconvenient then you can’t - so don’t.
it looks a bit odd if you help your boss but not a colleague imo.

Sod that! I would have previously but now I think why the hell should I! My boss asked me to take AL for an oncology appointment a few months ago and something in me just snapped. I no longer go over my work hours like I used too, or bend over backwards, I do the minimum I need to do for my targets, I won’t take a call or message on AL anymore. Work is a 8 hour dent in my social life from now on! Life’s to bloody short! I’d just ignore it and wouldn’t even read the message. Life has felt a lot more chilled since and I intend to stay this way, I do my job and well when I’m there but that’s it!

I agree with the previous posters - it depends on money/seniority. I generally get paid quite a lot of money on a contract basis to manage projects, so would expect to do this occasionally. I would never expect my team members to do it, though.

Bloody cheek! You’re on holiday! I’d have just ignored it or replied sorry I’m busy

"I'm on leave this week, I can help you when I'm back in on Monday."
I'd decline. And consider blocking them on my personal number, at least while I'm on leave.
I'm a pleb though. I might feel differently if I was senior/on senior pay.

@Hiouo

My boss asked me to take AL for an oncology appointment a few months ago and something in me just snapped.

That was both mean and short sighted of your boss because s/he/the business has lost some of your goodwill. Most people react so much better to someone who appreciates them and often tend to give more. How much would it have hurt him to give you some sympathy and his wishes that your appointment went well. I hope your appoint did go well... 🌹

See I thought that, but then after more thought decided actually I wasn't sorry and they can simply bog off rather than interrupting my holiday. I wouldn't apologise at all.

Honestly I think you are BU for replying. You ignore any messages that are work based outside of work hours. They get the message pretty quickly.

If your a lawyer this is entirely normal.

I’d mind and consequently ignore all
messages but I don’t have a job of great importance or pay!

Annual leave is just that. This idea that people should be contactable when on leave is just so wrong. There should be back up systems in place so that issues can be dealt with whilst people are on leave. A dire emergency would be different, or if you are the prime minister, but how often would that be the case? Put your “out of office until … “ message on.

This x 100!
when I am on leave, I am on leave - I’m unavailable as soon as I’ve turned my laptop off regardless of chat notifications… unless you are C suite or have specific on call duties, then they do not own that time and you do not owe it to them
it’s so much easier to ignore people than to try and be helpful… being helpful sets the precedent that your time can be so easily given to the job (sometimes this may be true but you always want this to be your decision not their assumption)
just ignore them & they’ll eventually figure out how to open /read documents without you being there…..

When you return to work, make it clear you won't be reading work messages while on leave in future.

It's fine for people to say you should, but the point of leave is to have a break - mental as well as physical. If you allow it, it grows and grows. It's also becoming a culture of expectation and selfishness where no one cares if you're on leave.

I know because it happened / happens to my DH. If we go on holidays the calls start from 8am, day one. Both staff and clients. Last year we drove through a black spot service area and a person from a firm he deals with kept calling while we were driving, even though it kept dropping out - in order to try and berate him for not being available to do something. She KNEW he was on holidays. He also spent the entire holiday working on a deal under pressure from his boss, and when internet service (via his phone) kept dropping out his boss accused him of 'giving up'. This is where allowing it to creep in leads. For all of us. He said no more!! Yet Xmas hols it happened again and I told him to ignore it. Clients/colleagues still call at all hours, though. There's zero respect.

Unless we set boundaries we'll all be working 24/7, forever. So unless you get paid the big bucks, turn your messages off & let them be self sufficient for a while.

My manager did this to me once. Not on holiday, but after working hours on a Friday, so officially the weekend. She WhatsApp'd me to ask if I'd completed a task before finishing.

Yes, it was just a quick reply, but it completely got my back up that she asked me something work related outside working hours. And no, I'm not paid enough to be bothered on my weekend!

YANBU, they must not contact you on annual leave, it's in our contracts that we're not to work during leave.

Are you joking OP? Of course that's out of line. Why even answer them!?? Mute them all, ignore until you are back.

We got told we needed to provide our numbers in case of an emergency (I think they meant like don't come in, the office is on fire), but it's been abused

You are on annual leave. Whether you are at home picking fluff out of your belly button and binge watching Netflix or on a spa break or on a beach somewhere warm, you are on leave. You do not have to do anything to do with work. Whether you do any work or not is entirely up to you, but you don't need to. 'Sorry, I am currently on annual leave, I will deal with your request upon my return'

To the people saying it’s about seniority level, it’s not. I am a senior leader earning 6 figures and I would ignore / block any messages while on leave. If it was srsly urgent I would agree to do it only for a day back in lieu. Know the value of your time ❤️

I ignore any messages that I receive outside working hours. Don’t read them, if it’s emergency they would ring you. If anyone mentions the messages when you’re back in work just explain that you was on leave and leave it at that, they’ll soon get the message.

Never ever respond to any work or boss requests while on leave. You have just set a precedent for how things will go in the future. The requests from both work and your boss are extremely inappropriate and you should have ignored both.

Unless you are a company owner or director nothing should be so important as to need to be contacted during your annual leave

If it's a genuine emergency then the emergency services are your first port of call. If it doesn't warrant the fire brigade, ambulance, police or bomb squad then it's likely not an emergency and will wait. If it's to do with the imminent downfall of the company then it's acceptable to get in touch with ceo or director. Everything else can wait til your return

And if you're a very good business leader, you hire good staff who can act autonomously in your absence, and have robust systems in place so that everything runs well without you.

I take great pride in the fact that when I became very unwell and was signed off work, eventually choosing to leave, handover of my role took just three short conversations.

My team were bloody brilliant at handling the situation without me, and my successor thanked me for leaving everything in good order so that she could pick it up without issue.

I spent a portion of each year preparing for key person loss. It was my job to make sure the company didn't suffer a detriment from such situations!