Colleague keeps putting in calls at 4pm with me

[MichelleTalks]

I’m on a 35 hour a week contract and our employer very much champions a flexible working and ‘as long as you do your hours we don’t mind when’ sort of approach.

I typically work between 7-4, which allows flexibility with school runs etc. Other colleagues do similar - some will take a longer lunch to go to the gym, some will get admin done in the evenings. No issue - we are all adults.

Recently, a colleague keeps trying to book meetings in with me at 4pm. She tends to work 9-5 every day. I point out various free slots in both our calendars earlier in the day (4-5 is always blocked out in mine) and she does eventually re-schedule for one of them. But it has happened 4/5 times in the past month now.

She is as entitled to flexible working as the rest of us, but it feels like she resents my approach. Would you say something or just ignore?

Just decline. Don't propose new times, just say sorry i can't do that time. It's more work for her, and no skin off your nose...

So weird!

Block it out. DH blocks anything before 8:30 because he’s doing the school run.

Does your colleague not know how a calendar works? Is she new to the workplace?

I have the same working pattern

block out the end of your day on your calendar and every time she sends you an invite after your hours decline

put your working hours in your email and just repeat - "sorry Susan I finish work at four remember"

book her in for a couple of brekkie meetings at 7.15

This is a non issue. If you’re determined to make a point then just put an 8-9am meeting in her diary and give her a taste of her own medicine. Or pointedly send her lots of emails prior to 9am to demonstrate that you start early and do the same hours as her.

You need to block it out of your diary and/or reset your working hours. She may be doing it passive aggressively or she's forgotten/didn't know your working hours, or she's using scheduling assistant and it's picking the time automatically.

Just tell her you finish at 4 and re-set your calendar settings.

Block out your diary at 4-5pm every day.

What is the big deal?

Why are so many people missing / ignoring the bit in the OP where it says she’s already blocked out 4-5pm in her calendar?

Very annoying. I have had similar experience and I told the person outright to stop. Just stay firm on your boundaries.

Or let them book it and decline without any further explanation. They’ll get the hint eventually.

Decline and propose a new time of 8am, see what her response is

Since you've told her you dont work then, I would just decline each request, not engage, and wait for her to schedule a meeting at an appropriate time.

I'd be really tempted to start scheduling meetings at 7am, but that wouldn't be very helpful!

Simply decline.

Dont even suggest a new time. Its not your call that you are slotting in so why make it your headache?

You have 4-5pm blocked out - the onus is on that fuckwit to put in calls when you have available time as outlined in your calendar.

Thats not your problem.

Fuck her.

Assume good intentions until shown otherwise. I would not decline but go back with new suggested time for each meeting- you can do this in outlook that is during your working day and email to confirm your normal working hours.

Civil Service here. It’s not normal at all to hold meetings after 3pm. Most flexi workers choose early start and finish. If there’s a rare 4pm one it’s always checked with everyone first.
Before you all start. I usually start at 06:30 - 07:00 and I am on leave today!

I think you need to be more forthright with her, instead of suggesting other times you’re both free, you need to outright say to her “my working hours are 7-4 so I can’t do calls at 4pm.”

CANCEL THE CHEQUE

Do this. Next time she sends you a 4pm invitation, tentatively accept it with a new time of 7.30am.

Repeat as necessary.

Absolutely this. You have the option not to accept. If your calendar is set to auto-accept you can get this changed. You can also have your working hours set so she can see you don't work after 4 when using the scheduling assistant. As an interim measure, block out the period from 4pm every working day then you won't show as free. All this assumes you're using Outlook and she knows how it works!

Decline the meeting everytime… that time is blocked in your diary. No justification , no apology. I can guarantee you that once you do that, she will stop.

Don’t offer an alternative. That’s on her to find space that is convenient for both of you.

It’s literally in the op that she has blocked out 4-5 in her diary

Just be clear, direct and factual.

Hi colleague, just so you know my agreed hours are 7-4 so unfortunately I am not available to start meetings at 4.

If you take any form of p/a constant avoidance she will assume you are skiving in some way.

And what is the problem with just telling her? Saved her getting it wrong and you feeling stressed and resentful about it.

Don't you all generally have a rule that if someone's calendar is free, they are available for meetings? If you're not free at that time, then surely you block it out so you can say you're not free?

AI tells me you can set up an automatic decline rule, use Power Automate or block off non working hours:

1. Set up an Automatic Decline Rule (Out of Office for recurring times)

Use Outlook rules or calendar options to auto-decline events outside working hours:

• In Outlook desktop:
• Go to File > Automatic Replies (Out of Office).
• Choose Send automatic replies.
• Use Rules… at the bottom.
• Create a rule that checks meeting requests outside certain times or keywords and auto-declines.

This is limited in flexibility and doesn't fully check the time of the meeting in many cases.

1. Use Power Automate (Advanced Option)

If you're in an organization that uses Microsoft 365, you can create a Power Automate flow to:

• Check if a meeting request is outside working hours.
• Automatically decline it or send a response.

This requires some technical setup but offers the most control.

1. Block Off Your Non-Working Hours

You can block your calendar with recurring events outside working hours and mark them as "Busy" or "Out of Office", so:

• Others see you're not available.
• Scheduling Assistant avoids those times.
• Optional: Add an auto-response to explain.