22:30 work call - completely unacceptable?

[shortbreadconsumer]

I received a work call from someone in my organisation at 22:30 last night. I answered, thinking it was an emergency. The colleague was completely hysterical and impossible to understand. In the end I had no choice but to end the call with 'we can discuss this in the morning.'

This morning I spoke to the persons line manager about it, who said that it was 'unfortunate, but not unreasonable' for this individual to have called me as I had not answered any emails from said colleague over the weekend. They had sent me over 50 emails this weekend. I did not see the emails as seniors within the organisation take an 'if it's urgent, they have my number' approach.

I am more senior than both of of these colleagues and I was 'on call' all weekend as the most senior point of contact in the organisation. However, this was not an issue that required weekend working and, more importantly, it was not an issue that I needed to be consulted on. It was very simple and should have easily been resolved in working hours by this individual alone - her direct line manager would not have needed to input either.

AIBU to think that this was unprofessional and unacceptable from both of them?After no sleep, I've reached that 'was it really that bad' point where I am so sleep deprived that I am not sure whether I am overreacting in my annoyance or not!

I dont get why you spent 45 minutes on the phone to her, and why your immediate reaction is to go to HR. Personally I would have spent 5 contacted her line manager today, (last night if she couldn't), and had a good night's sleep. You sound a bit self important and probably upset her more.

Nah, no need for written clarification when the only problem is that someone in the thread doesn’t understand sarcasm.

Sounds like a minor issue for someone who’s probably paid well.

maybe she felt she would be listened to by someone more senior, maybe she was worrying all weekend, maybe she thought she would get in trouble.

No one should be at least grateful a ranting employee who cant understand a very simple process hasnt turned up at their home at 10.30pm

But why we want smi people of benefits and in workplaces so we have to accept what comes with that

This. If you were officially 'on call' you would be being paid an on call allowance in addition to your salary and tbh I'd expect you to have periodically checked your emails in that time given you were on call.

If it was someone more junior this may have left them really stressed all weekend worrying it was going to cause a huge issue on Monday because it hadn't been addressed, and I bet they weren't getting an 'on call' allowance either.

You were on call and you received a phone call, that's part of the job.

Yea....no....managers really really do not have to accept that sort of harassment from colleagues.

The OP has provided a detailed update about what "on call" looks like, and her role is not to check the emails.

Then you would not be fit to do this job.

Harassing managers because of your 'mental health' is not acceptable.

50 emails, hysterical late night phone calls or turning up at a managers house is harassment.

You'd either need more guidance to understand this, time off to address your mental helath needs, or acceptance that you needa diffrent job where you were able to understand and follow the guidelines.

Please, again , read what the system is before you jump to that conclusion.

So what's the option fire them for being mentally unwell them go back on benefits and everyone on mumsnet call them a scrounger and how they should just get a job because they don't want their taxes paying for someone mentally unwell and how they just need resilience and a job

Name one job where you don't have to communicate with a manager?

Please do everyone a favour and read the OPs posts! She is not expected to, my partner is on call at times and he isn't expected to check emails either, he will be contacted by phone if it something that is in his remit to fix. Nothing is done by email because that's the whole point of on call being for emergencies only!

The thing is, it's far easier to gauge the urgency of something when you're senior in the organisation. Junior members of staff don't have the same overview, particularly if they're fairly new (not sure if this is the case but seems like it might be if she didn't know the system).

She's clearly been fretting about this all weekend before calling as a last resort. While it wasn't right to call so late, this employee was clearly having a really bad time and you could have dealt with it more graciously. "Don't worry, that's not urgent and we can deal with in this week. For future reference..." Then talk to whoever you need to about making sure everyone knows the correct procedure.

The colleague who phoned you obviously didn't follow your organisation's procedures and should never have contacted you. Sounds like a training issue at several levels as even her line manager doesn't seem aware of the on-call process. However, you then getting so worked up that you couldn't get back to sleep makes me think you're all over-dramatic.

If this is true, it is bizarre and reasonably identifiable. In you situation, I would have concern about discussing a sensitive work matter online. My organisation would take a dim view of this.

On a moral level, you should consider how that colleague might feel if she were to read this as well. Be a professional and deal with it in work.

In which case, I would have medically suspended you and explored options around disability/capability. It doesn't sound like you are fit to be in work.

Mental health difficulties are not justifiable reasons for harassing senior managers. It is not a manager's job to provide crisis support out of hours. Turning up uninvited at someone's house is categorically not ok.

Managers are people too, and they have the right to a private life. The OP was on call as a senior member of staff to deal with emergencies only. As a senior manager, she probably isn't paid extra for this duty. A more junior manager is paid to deal with most of the on-call traffic and makes a decision about when to escalate. The protocols for contacting the on-call were circulated and clearly articulated. This individual chose not to follow the process. That is not ok.

She sent 50 emails and you didn’t reply with - thanks for letting me know, it can wait until
Monday. YABU.

One option I guess could be for the person to read and understand a very simple and clear process.

Ultimately though, yes Id absolutely discipline someone for serious harassment of another employee which may well result in them losing their job. They could always try not harassing people in their next one I suppose.

I bet they weren't getting an 'on call' allowance either.

No they weren't. Because they should not have been working.

The whole issue wouldn't have arisen if this person had not been working when they should not have been.

Because she wasn't monitoring the inbox. Because there was a junior colleague whose role that was. It's all there in her posts.

So you agree not everyone with smi can just get a job and get of benefits

My thoughts exactly. It's very inappropriate to post this in a public forum, and if I was the OP I'd seriously consider deleting it. Especially as the OP is supposedly very senior in her organisation .

How the hell can she reply to an email that she didn't read? OP does not check emails out of hours. That is someone else's job. The someone else is paid extra to do that.

My partner's on call policy doesn't involve checking emails either! Emergencies are not dealt with via email. There is a phone system that ensures the right query goes to the right person.