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!

or all of the above :)

yeah but NOT the OP's email address

FFS RTFT

Why didn't you check your e mails if you were on call? It sounds like the colleague was desperately trying to avoid ringing and finding other ways because you didn't respond so got to a point of sheer frustration 😕 For them to do this in a state of panic indicates they were stressed and not already in bed blissfully ignorant of being needed.

No she didn’t use the on call contact manager’s email at all, she used OP ‘s email, who was only meant to be contacted by phone call by the on call manager if it was an emergency that they couldn’t handle alone!

Ah. I took it that you meant the on call junior wasn’t meant to be checking emails

equally if the junior didn’t ring op - I would almost say why answer a number you don’t know late at night

as junior didn’t contact op to say a lady is going to call you

Can't believe you actually quoted the post that explains the process very clearly and still got it wrong 😂😂😂

I think the line of work you’re in would help ? I work in healthcare and the manager on call needs to be available 24 hours a day- and they are paid to be . I’ve seen managers needing to be called even just for clarification or to get their ok to follow a plan in the middle of night . In worse situations those on call have come into work in the middle of night to help as they are on call and being paid to provide help and support . Without knowing what work you’re in it’s more difficult to know . If you were in my line of work you would definitely be TA

You sound as cold as ice….

Then she should have contacted the manager listed as on call and not the OP who wouldn’t have been expecting a contact

FFS RTFT

FFS RTFT

I KNOW … I’m getting so invested in this just because people a twisting themselves into a pretzel just to try to find OP in the wrong in some way, even calling her cold when she spent 50 minutes with a distressed colleague she wasn’t expecting late at night 🤷‍♀️

I once went on a training course during which our Latin American operative argued with me that he was right, and knew the (technical) repair procedure, and I was wrong for saying he was doing it incorrectly. A couple of months later he called me at 0300 from a different hemisphere asking me to talk him through the same machinery repair. 'Jose, it is the middle of the night here.' etc.

Did you know the Latino for "Jose fuck off"?

Sorry I don’t know what that mean but also apologies as I didn’t mean to quote you but the OP

You sound like a robot, not a human being. "Procedure" isn't the be all and end all OP, have a little empathy/compassion

Yes RTFT, there literally WAS a person paid to be on call and everyone got an email with their details on the Friday but this person chose to contact someone else instead, the OP, who obviously did not know!

Cancel the cheque ffs 🤦‍♀️

Your ON CALL .. that means ... u TAKE CALLS .. thats what on call means.

Of course not but she completely waived company procedure to spend a long time at night with this person to try to help 🤦‍♀️

Some people are on the wind up now

Yes the OP says they were on call ? They called someone else because the OP hadn’t responded to emails . Which I think they should have been doing . But I clarified by saying it does really depend on what line of work she’s in

I think I just got annoyed because of how often the word "procedure" was mentioned 😂

If you were meant to be contactable, then you should have been.

However, I completely loathe the modern expectation of everyone being available 24/7.

If you don’t want to work like that, it’s totally understandable but you need to be clear about your boundaries and ensure your role and your employer are aware of and can accommodate those boundaries.
If it’s not something your current role can accommodate, then maybe you should look for something else.

Because it doesn't tell people to contact the OP. It tells people to contact a more junior person who triages the emails. THE OP IS ONLY GOING TO BE CALLED IN EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES, by the person doing the triage.
I really don't understand why posters don't understand the system.
When I had to be on call my phone number wasn't given out. Calls went to a call centre and they contacted me. That's often the process.