Page 3 | To not take my work laptop on holiday?

Justathrowawaycomment · 2023-04-16T21:21:33+00:00

I have a relatively intense job - but - it's NOT a life saving type of job - it's in tech. It is a US-based firm, and I report into a US-based leader. They don't really 'do' annual leave, as in, they take their PTO (Paid Time Off) but still dial into calls, and and...well, ^work^, basically. DH, DD and I go on a week's holiday (abroad) tomorrow morning. My gut tells me to take my work laptop - so I have access to work/files if I need them. My brain tells me that taking my work mobile (with access to email + Microsoft Teams) is enough. When I ask myself "what could go wrong?" - it's nothing major, nothing that will cost us money, or be embarrassing for the company, but it might be inconvenient for my leadership team if they want access to something I can't provide from holiday. I can't really pre-provide them with access to everything they 'might' need as there is a LOT of stuff, and some of it is quite sensitive, especially without context. So AIBU to not take my (stupidly heavy) work laptop...? I think I just need reassurance that I'm not being unreasonable, more than anything.

TheaBrandt · 17/04/2023 10:49

Honestly even the meanest corporate partner in the Magic Circle law firm I was in respected staff holidays and made damn sure their own were uninterrupted.

LlynTegid · 17/04/2023 10:51

The fraud team at any large company could see it as a possible red flag if someone logs on when on holiday, or does not take time off.

As we have left the EU, you could argue that you are not 100% certain about data protection when outside the UK, standards may have changed etc. Even more so if your holiday is in a non-EU country.

Ginmonkeyagain · 17/04/2023 10:59

It is so depressing isn't it?

This is what delegation is for. If you are cocnerned about missing out, delegate tasks to a trusted team member and ensure that they send you a handover email at the end of your leave, so if you are worried about coming back in unprepapred you can read it the night before you come back to the office.

I have spend most of my career in the third or public sector in the UK so this sort of attitude is completely alien to me. When the laptop is switched off at the end of the day or start of holdiays it stays so until I am next in work.

lemonyellows · 17/04/2023 11:05

We are explicitly told not to take our laptops out of the UK from information security point of view

Whoiscomingtosaveyou · 17/04/2023 11:08

Don’t take either and set up an out of office reply to emails. Tell everyone when you’ll be on holiday.
Enjoy your time off.
We do cruises for that reason. The wifi package is WAAY too expensive so sadly we are not contactable for that time.

Nordicrain · 17/04/2023 11:11

Don't take it. I say that as someone who also works for a US company. The thing that sticks in my mind is that you are never as indespensible as you think you are, BUT that if you do make yourself available then people will take advantage of that.

I do find a really clear ooo works well. I put in mine that I am on holiday without access to emails (even though I have them on my phone) and that any emergencies need to call me on my mobile (I don't leave the number). It turns out when people can't just write you a message or email, and actually have to ring you up knowing you are on the beach or whatever, they don't tend to do it unless it genuinely can't wait. And most things can.

Ginmonkeyagain · 17/04/2023 11:16

Ha ha! I do the same if I am OOO for a day or so. A longer holiday - then I am uncontactable unless there is a severe emergency - eg the office has burnt down etc.. (but in that sirt case we have a staff emergency contact system that would be used).

AgentJohnson · 17/04/2023 11:17

If your US colleagues are stupid enough to be exploited, let them.

Urgh, I don’t think people realise how poor employment rights are in the US. I remember my American boss being warned about not taking her AL and her manager essentially sending her home. She was so used to US working culture that she found it difficult to switch to a European mindset.

Ginmonkeyagain · 17/04/2023 11:20

I find it baffling that Americans still put up with it. The whole "well I get paid well" - yes but they are paying for SOME of your time - not all of it.

Londongal123 · 17/04/2023 11:24

Take your leave and don’t feel guilty. It’s an American thing but you’re not American and don’t live there. Lead by example.

pizzaHeart · 17/04/2023 11:45

fullofeasterchocolate · 16/04/2023 23:18

My theory is that it comes down to how well paid you are.
DH has basically sold his soul to the devil and part of that is that his laptop comes on holiday with us. However, we are staying in much nicer places and going away more often than we would have been if it hadn't been for his job.
I'm well paid but not to such an extent. However, I am the only person who does my job in the company and so there's no one I can handover or delegate to when I'm away. I take my phone and check my emails each morning before breakfast & again late afternoon. About a dozen colleagues also know to simply call me on my mobile if it's critical. In five years, two colleagues have contacted me on my mobile as it was urgent; one colleague contacts me every single time I'm away for utterly mundane matters so I now just don't take his calls. Even with this system, I rarely spend more than 30 mins working a day. Those 30mins can save colleagues hours of trying to figure something out for themselves and, more importantly, mean they don't come up with the wrong answer and I then have to spend hours dealing with it.

I agree with this^ it’s purely down to your job. DH doesn’t take laptop but takes his mobile and checks emails, he used to take laptop and it’s big inconvenience for the us as the family and it caused LOTS of personal problems between two of us. I understand he can’t just disappear for 2 weeks and sometimes questions do arise but it’s very rare, he puts auto reply that he is on holiday and replies on emails only if it is really very urgent but he needs the mobile to check them obviously.

TheaBrandt · 17/04/2023 11:49

I think it’s actually really pathetic to never take a proper holiday. Don’t care how “big” your job is.

MrsDoylesTea · 17/04/2023 11:49

Take your laptop. I'm afraid it's part and parcel of working in a US tech business. I'm a manager in a US tech company and I definitely would expect you to have it in case something was needed from a Sharepoint site or similar, that wasn't easily available or easily edited from your phone.

Appreciate that's against the grain from the other responses, but the militant work to rule type responses are naive in this sort of business.

BenCoopersSupportWren · 17/04/2023 11:53

Appreciate that's against the grain from the other responses, but the militant work to rule type responses are naive in this sort of business.

There is nothing "militant" about taking leave that you are legally and morally entitled to, that will benefit you physically and mentally and that models good work-life balance and personal wellbeing.

BarbaraofSeville · 17/04/2023 11:56

I definitely would expect you to have it in case something was needed from a Sharepoint site or similar, that wasn't easily available or easily edited from your phone

That's not a reason to expect people to work on holidays and is not the sign of a resiliant, well run organisation.

Surely any documents that could be needed should be saved in a workspace that is easily accessible to those who might needed?

What if the worst happened and an employee died, or just left, or their laptop/mobile was lost, stolen or damaged? You would want to retrieve information in those circumstances, so you'd make sure you could access them even if the employee or equipment wasn't available and you could use the same systems to get at the information when they're on holiday.

TheaBrandt · 17/04/2023 11:58

Going on holiday for 2 weeks is not “militant work to rule” are you mad? I worked for a short time in a U.S. investment bank and the amazing softly spoken extreme senior woman boss went to a remote part of Chile for her holiday because it meant she was utterly uncontactable.

MrsDoylesTea · 17/04/2023 12:04

I knew I'd get that sort of response , but I'm living in the real world in an ambitious business. Especially in the tech world where there are so many redundancies right now, the people who go the extra mile need to stand out.

You might not like it, but I don't think it's exactly immoral to expect people to be able to respond in the event of a work emergency.

Isthatarealname · 17/04/2023 12:07

Whilst I agree to not take it, now you've said you're contactable if anything crops up, aren't they now going to expect you to be able to deal with those? Meaning you might need the laptop.

ginlovingqueen · 17/04/2023 12:10

You provide handover notes and delegate to a colleague

Say they can contact you in an emergency and if they need access to a file, ensure it's saved somewhere accessible

BenCoopersSupportWren · 17/04/2023 12:10

Having worked for a whole variety of companies over the years across a range of sectors, my experience is that most so-called "emergencies" are anything but, they're a result of poor process, bad planning, no delegation and lack of communication. Get those right and it's amazing how few "emergencies" your business will have.

Neandertallica · 17/04/2023 12:24

fullofeasterchocolate · 16/04/2023 23:18

My theory is that it comes down to how well paid you are.
DH has basically sold his soul to the devil and part of that is that his laptop comes on holiday with us. However, we are staying in much nicer places and going away more often than we would have been if it hadn't been for his job.
I'm well paid but not to such an extent. However, I am the only person who does my job in the company and so there's no one I can handover or delegate to when I'm away. I take my phone and check my emails each morning before breakfast & again late afternoon. About a dozen colleagues also know to simply call me on my mobile if it's critical. In five years, two colleagues have contacted me on my mobile as it was urgent; one colleague contacts me every single time I'm away for utterly mundane matters so I now just don't take his calls. Even with this system, I rarely spend more than 30 mins working a day. Those 30mins can save colleagues hours of trying to figure something out for themselves and, more importantly, mean they don't come up with the wrong answer and I then have to spend hours dealing with it.

Agree with this. My dh has to take his laptop. But, the holidays over the years have been many and absolutely beautiful and we could not have gone if it wasn’t for his job.

Frabbits · 17/04/2023 12:48

MrsDoylesTea · 17/04/2023 11:49

Take your laptop. I'm afraid it's part and parcel of working in a US tech business. I'm a manager in a US tech company and I definitely would expect you to have it in case something was needed from a Sharepoint site or similar, that wasn't easily available or easily edited from your phone.

Appreciate that's against the grain from the other responses, but the militant work to rule type responses are naive in this sort of business.

And this is why the problem continues to exist, because shit managers post things like this.

maddening · 17/04/2023 12:52

Can you not have one trusted handover person who could be granted access in order to supply anything needed while you are off? It is ridiculous that you have become a single point of failure-.you should have a back up person and this is wise from a talent planning perspective also from the company's pov.

KitKatLove · 17/04/2023 12:54

MrsDoylesTea · 17/04/2023 12:04

I knew I'd get that sort of response , but I'm living in the real world in an ambitious business. Especially in the tech world where there are so many redundancies right now, the people who go the extra mile need to stand out.

You might not like it, but I don't think it's exactly immoral to expect people to be able to respond in the event of a work emergency.

And managers like you are the problem. Expecting them to sacrifice their leave for what exactly? What can’t wait for a couple of weeks or can’t be solved by someone else? Surely you can find whatever it is you need to know without disturbing your worker? What would you do if they went of grid with no wifi?

TheaBrandt · 17/04/2023 13:01

Or dropped down dead? Agree. It is shit management. And I have worked for both huge multi nationals and run my own business. Everyone needs a break from flipping work. You are a long time dead.