To ignore work when they tried to call me in

[Ihavehadenoughalready]

Just worked the weekend, both days, first shift. Relaxing now, relaxing on my day off tomorrow, then work Tuesday through Friday.

Call comes I ignore it as I do when I don't know the number, listen to voice mail; they want to know if I can come tonight on third shift because X has called in again, leaving one person to cover our hospital department.

Company has told us last week that there will henceforth be no more call-in pay, no more incentive pay (we were getting that for being soooo short-staffed), and the only incentive left is if the extra day happens to make the week over forty hours, thus time-and-a-half. Which this would be for me.

But X keeeeeps calling in on third. X is not ill. X is burnt out because of working full time plus attending school. X has overbooked himself. Too bad for X.

OTOH, I feel sorry for the person left to fend for themself.

OTOH (I think I'm up to three hands now), I'm tired of the fact that we are so thinly staffed that one call-in makes for a catastrophic situation.

But I seem to have lost all incentive.....because our incentive and call-in pay was taken away.

So I thought about going in, such is my feeling of guilt, but dag nab it, I deserve days off. I ignored the voice mail and if anyone asks, my phone was on silent (it wasn't) and I didn't see that they called (I did).

When will our Overlords understand if they want hospitals to function, they must increase staffing or increase pay?

OP you need a break.
Patient safety is at risk if you're exhausted.
They need to employ more people.

Well that's untrue, isn't it.

I bet you dined out on the 'key worker' title for ages.

if anyone asks, my phone was on silent (it wasn't) and I didn't see that they called (I did).

I would actually figure out how to put your phone selectively on silent. Most phones now you can programme so person X's calls will come through during whatever time but everyone else goes straight to voicemail. Or have a separate phone which you use for work and leave downstairs on days you don't want to be contacted. If you do it enough they will get the message. Enjoy your day off.

Sometimes you have to let it break before someone does something about it. I'd ignore the call, you're officially off work and you have no responsibility to answer calls

If they ask, If it's a work phone tell them as you're not on call you switch the phone onto silent and put in a draw until you're back at work. If it's a personal phone then said you didn't pick up the message until it was too late

Oh come on!

you’re an adult aren’t you? Since when do you need the opinion of strangers on such a trivial thing.

Just ignore it what's the big deal

Same situation here, NHS. For 2 years it was me and one other colleague manning dept, no help just expected to do it. We now have 4 staff inc me but someones on long term sick so back to extra shifts etc. Managers dont care.

Maybe if we started saying no theyd have to deal with the problem. Its like being permanently on call, probkem is when you are only few in number team it affects colleagues and can cause staff relationships to break down

Ive just worked weekend, off today then in rest of week and am expected to work this weekend, my weekend off. Im saying no

Ive had to give up annual leave to cover and my scheduled days off so someone else can have a day off. Management need to deal with it but they dont because people dont say no they just do it

@LadyJ2023 If My DH didn't go into work he would be arrested for going AWOL.

I'm sure they would replace your husband. Not disrespecting supermarket workers one bit but it's not the same.

Do you don't think people deserve their weekend/time off?
If you Dh said no then maybe it might lease to better overtime pay for all?

I don't work in the NHS so I am not in a job with a vocation, but I hear you.

I'd love to see the idea of some jobs being a vocation eradicated. It's a job. People do the job in return for pay.

By deciding some work is a vocation it gives those higher up the power to decide that those people shouldn't be paid a decent amount as 'they're doing it for the love of it' rather than for the money.

Nursing, teaching, caring, medicine, childcare (and others)- all jobs not vocations!

I agree with those telling them no and telling them why - perhaps in an email saying that you won't be working any more overtime and to not call you on your time off?

Even better, do this collectively with your colleagues, via your union.

But no you aren't unreasonable, in the end you will burn yourself out and start calling in sick which will exacerbate the problem.

I really empathise with the problem of employers just running the workplace at minimum staffing levels, and then when someone is ill it becomes a crisis. It seems to be the same across all sectors now, and the more people who don't bail them out, the better!

Having burnt out previously by covering all the extra due to the guilt tripping I have learned the hard way that working yourself into the ground benefits no one in the end, least of all you. The management of course didn’t care a jot, it was my family that had to deal with overworked, broken and stressed me. Now I am very firm in my boundaries but it took 18 months to repair me mentally.

If you keep plugging the gaps the higher ups will not see the problem bonus points of they can keep the costs down

See boiled frog analogy

YANBU, OP, not at all. Businesses and services can't expect to keep going just because of the goodwill and commitment of their staff. They need to reward them enough to make doing extra hours attractive if that's what they want from them. And better pay might go some way to easing their staffing difficulties.

I have a friend who works in a care home. She's on a ZHC by choice, she likes the freedom to be able to go away or go to a show when she feels like it and being able to pick and choose her shifts suits her. She also some other income which means she's not desperate for the money.

The pressure they put on her to come in and do shifts at the drop of a hat is ridiculous. Because she loves her job and really cares about the residents, she's very susceptible to emotional blackmail, and will often will do 2 shifts in a 24-hour period, so her only free time is spent sleeping. Even when she was signed off sick from work for a few weeks following a knee injury, 2 weeks into her sick leave, they were on the phone pleading with her to come in and cover a night shift.

She's seriously thinking about jacking it in and getting a job in retail, where the hourly rate is better, there are no night shifts and ZHCs are often available.

Good idea. It's important they understand that their actions are having consequences. Make it clear what the problem is.

Are you in the USA?

I know what you're saying and of course it is a job that people do for the pay, but I would say that it is also a vocation.

There are other jobs with easier conditions and better pay but people stay in nursing, teaching, medicine etc because they have a vocation too. You see doctors and nurses flying to war-ravaged countries to risk life and limb to help those who are less privileged. There's no way it's not a vocation - I doubt John in Accounts would feel inclined to risk his life to fly to a dodgy location to do a spot of payroll 😅

I think the fact it is a vocation is one of the reasons why it's so hard to say no. Most people would be really quite comfortable saying to their employer "sorry, it's my day off, I'm knackered and you've removed the financial incentive so I won't be in."

I can understand why OP decided to say they didn't hear and their phone was switched off. When you are a compassionate and caring individual and you know patients/children etc might suffer as a result of not going in, it's much harder to say no (even though it's perfectly justified).

Absolutely the correct answer is no. OP needs to put themselves first and not burn out. But although it's logical just to refuse, sometimes the emotional tug is hard especially in these kinds of jobs.

Look after yourself OP. It is important that gaps in the provision are identified by those holding the purse strings and they won't spot the crisis if you knacker yourself filling in the holes.

I presume your husband is in one of the armed forces. If so, he knew what he was signing up for and agreed to the lack of autonomy that goes with it.

That is not the case for people working in health, social care or many of the other sectors where they seem to think you can be expected to go to work at the drop of a hat when you're on scheduled time off.

I’d ignore it. The hospitals need more people like you to be strong and not give in so they realise that they have to employ more people. Don’t give it another thought. They clearly don’t think a lot of you if they’re taking away all of the perks 🤷‍♀️

I wouldn’t ignore work calls, unless they were persistent when I’d already said no, because I think it’s childish.

It takes minimal effort to pick up the phone and say “I am unable to come in”. It means the person attempting to arrange cover can cross you off the list and move on to trying others.

Ignoring phone calls just leaves you as a “maybe” option so they’ll keep coming back to you if no one else can do it.

It’s just a shitty thing to do on another person who is trying to do their job.

I mean, in the time you’ve took to post this thread, you could have told them umpeteen times that you’re unable to come in? What’s the point?

Isn’t this part of the reason nurses and healthcare workers have been striking?

Don’t work, it’s in the hands of your management and the government to resolve this

My mum was a nurse for nearly 50 years, she pretended she didn't have a mobile for years 🤣 to avoid givong her number out, so they always rang on the home phone. My parent's didn't have a caller ID phone so she never answered the home phone on her days off as it'd always be work (of course unless one of us was trying to ring because they weren't answerer their mobiles!). They always rang my mum as she was the reliable one who would never not turn in, she needed a break though. She would go in if they were desperate, usually when one of her friends she works with texted her out of desperation. Working 12 hour shifts you need your days off especially after a run of several shifts back to back.

Don't feel bad, ignore your phone, you need a day off, you know dam well you make a mistake through being knackered it's on you.

I’m sorry for you ( understand as I’m a HCP), as you won’t be able to enjoy your time off in peace now. Because you’re clearly conscientious, unlike your managers.

YANBU OP, but I’m laughing at the PP that thinks her DH is single handedly responsible for the country having open supermarkets