HR calling me on my day off

[Notsurewhatithink]

I have been experiencing some health problems which require reasonable adjustments in the workplace. I thought I was managing this well with my line manager. Today, however, I received a phone call out of the blue from the person who does our HR, to discuss "support" for me, as I had expressed "needs" to them (I have a formal diagnosis, which I think shared with management). However, I do not work on Wednesdays and the caller ID did not come up as my work, so I answered as I was concerned it was my son's school.

AIBU to be pissed off to be called about work-related issues like this on my day off? It can absolutely wait until tomorrow. I have not had more than half a day in a row off for this condition (or a full day for anything else since February), so it's not like I am never in work for them to speak to me! I was in the library with my toddler and now I am fucking paranoid they're trying to cut me loose!

Yes they definitely shouldn’t have interrupted your day off they should have sent you an email to tell you exactly what they wanted and asked to arrange a time within your working hours or if that’s really impossible asked you when you would be happy to speak. It’s probably just that they thought oh this is
a good time for me to call and not even considering you but understandable it makes you feel nervous about what’s going on.

If HR want her to have time to speak freely then it is their job to facilitate this within her working hours, ie they should arrange cover for a lesson that she is scheduled to teach on a day she is in work, not on her day off when she is not being paid.

I cannot believe how ridiculous some people being here.

This is totally on you. You could have checked your VM and not returned the call.

If you had picked up, HR might well have opened with “is now a good time or would you prefer to speak in school?”

As you called back after they left a voicemail, it’s not unreasonable that they thought you had listened to it and were OK to talk to them, so they launched into their conversation

I don’t think it’s unusual for a line manager to ask for HR support if they feel unsure about how to offer effective support.

Kindly OP, if you're not able to react proportionately to a VM and admit you're "not well", then perhaps there are some performance concerns?

OP I work in a school and can confirm that is quite unusual to have unsolicited chats with HR. You are probably right to be on your guard. However I would just make a note of what was said. I would also ask your line manager about the reason for the call. In future ask them to email you during work hours to agree a time that works fir a telephone conversation.

I think your reaction is disproportionate and you’re taking the worst possible read for everything. That’s certainly not surprising if you’re dealing with PMDD.

They called once during their normal working hours and left a voicemail, assuming you’d listen to it before choosing when to call back at a time that also worked for you. If you had picked up initially they likely would have started with “is this a good time to talk or…” but when you called back they likely (and reasonably) assumed that was your indication you were ready to talk then. It’s not their fault you didn’t listen to the voicemail, though I understand why you didn’t.

I’m always one to remind employees that HR works their employer, so being aware of what you say to them is important. But calling to make sure you were ok with the any arrangements in place and not in need of additional support is very normal and something HR should do, so the assumption that the motives were nefarious is not reasonable. You’re running with the worst possible interpretations of all of this.

Would you have complained if they had called when you were on a lunch break, or a free period or asked you to come in before school or after school?

I think you would.

I couldn't get worked up about it they are trying to support you not asking you to work so what would be the difference if they called then or your lunch hour.
Personally I'd rather discuss private matters from the comfort of my home rather than a staff room of classroom anyone could walk into or overhear.

I've already explained I thought it was maybe my son's school, hence returning the call as soon as I saw it.

Not the end of the world if they did. I'd have a chance of hearing them, for a start.

My last Occy Health appointment was after I finished work and my Access to Work contact is all done outside school hours.

Op

you are seriously overreacting here

its not that deep

Ok so by the sounds of it, this could well be your HT initiating this and I too, would be suspicious. I would definitely seek advice from your union and you are within your rights to bring a union representative with you to any meetings that HR is present at, you are also allowed to delay the meetings until a union rep is available, in my experience it’s within a week or so so not unreasonable. I’d try and keep communication over email so there is a paper trail, take photos too. I once had an a really unpleasant email from my HT magically deleted.
I hope you get to focus on your health.

You have nailed the issue for the OP - she doesn’t want to talk about it in her day off as it is her free time: HR were wrong to contact her, out of the blue about this.

OP - talk to your union and bring representation with you going forward to any meeting, you know for off the record note taking..

My guess is, the “support” I.e. reasonable adjustments are not working for them so they are looking to formalise the situation to move forward. Starting with a formal meeting, notes taken, etc. The adjustments need to be workable for employee and employer.

Or, they’re concerned that you’re trouble and may be looking to take them for discrimination or harassment further down the line. So again they want to document the situation, to demonstrate their support and flexibility as an employer.

From an HR point of view, I’m curious to know what adjustments might help with PMDD. Might be useful for others to know if you wanted to share. Adjustments I’ve implemented would be things like less hours (physical), people working on less busy shifts (anxiety), having snack breaks (diabetes), perching stools etc.

This post really baffles me. You've said youre annoyed that they've called you on your day off. You've also said that they can't call you when you are at work because you'd be busy in class. When exactly can they call you that would suit you better?

Yanbu

You work in a school. Hr would have got your number from Sims and noticed on your timetable you didn't work Wednesdays. Was the call when you would be on break or lunch. Otherwise they would have needed to check you weren't teaching or on duty

In Primary Dutch schools you have the right to not be contactable after 6pm by the Common Labour Agreement. Potentially being discussed in Secondary schools.

Otherwise, by voicemail on a working day of the week (yes, not your working day) the employer left a message for you to offer support. You did not need to respond. You did not need to write a thread. You could send an email during your working hours to schedule a convenient moment to discuss and the employer would have to accommodate this "in working hours".

You have no reason to be pissed off. You have an employer who wants to offer support. Deal with it when back in work.

Before you had a job the HR department could call you at any point to offer you opportunities. Now you have a job they can only contact you to offer support when you are being paid. And you are over thinking.

Mind blowing attitude to keep towards a place and organization you choose to spend a great deal of your life working for and with.

Very frustrating in the education sector.

Save the number for your child’s school to save future confusion.

Why are you taking such umbrage at this? Of course I didn't need to post a thread, I wanted to. You didn't need to reply with information about how these things work in another country, it is utterly irrelevant. What a strange reply!

They could check my timetable and come and speak to me in person during a free period?

Absolutely not. Though I am not a big fan of being pulled into discussions without notice at any time, but that's another issue.

I have and had already. I also have my work's number saved. This call didn't come from the school's main switchboard. I thought it might be a call that wasn't from the main switchboard from my son's school; turns out it was from my own school🤷🏼‍♀️

Showing up during your free period so you had to deal with this face to face was likely to feel even more pressuring if you consider calling once and leaving a voicemail to be railroading you into a conversation.