AIBU to refuse work meeting (coronavirus related)

[sendmeyourbestwishes]

At work I am responsible for a large team. There is another manager who has similar responsibility for his team and our work often overlaps so we meet/converse regularly.

Before going on leave at the end of last week the other manager has emailed me asking me for a catch up meeting when he returns from leave in 10 days time.

He is going to North Italy on holiday and although not going to one of the towns that has been mentioned I am not happy to meet with him straight after he returns from Italy without any incubation period.

FWIW, DP has suppressed immune system following spleen removal and kidney transplant so I am always a little paranoid about germs and bugs.

What would you do?

I think ask if you can do a video meeting and explain why.

Would you be working in the same office with him anyway? If so, I don't really see the difference.
If not, can you have the meeting by phone/skype instead?
FWIW I think he's an idiot for not cancelling his holiday.

Agreed about it cancelling his holiday. He's one of those people who follows the rules to a T so if the government said it was safe to fly to that specific town he would do so. I wouldn't want to sit on a plane right now to be fair.

Yanbu
He will fly though Milan
And it’s stated on the govt website that anywhere north of Pisa a 2 week home stay (can’t remember the word !) is advised
Selfish twat he is

Many workplaces are putting policies in place around self-isolating after trips to high risk areas. My workplace is telling people to WFH for two weeks. Maybe you should ask HR to put some official guidance in place.

Conference call him. I personally wouldn't cancel my holiday either if it wasn't in the danger area technically (so insurance would not pay) but as you have specific reasons to worry it's reasonable to refuse a face to face. Though it is the case that you could get contact anywhere of course

Talk to HR

Why do some people just simply refuse to be sensible in these situations? If he wants to take the risks of flying & continuing on his holiday, then so be it, but he should absolutely self isolate when he comes back, out of respect to others! The world doesn’t have to stop, no drama necessary...as long as we’re all sensible & respectful!
I do not think you’re being unreasonable OP. Tell him to self isolate/work from home and you’ll catch up by Conf call.
This is the age of technology afterall! We’ve got it, so we should learn when to use it.

No, that's not the advice thisisworse. You self isolate if you've been to one of the lockdown areas in Northern Italy - I can't imagine that's where he's going as they're.. Well... Locked down. For the rest of Northern Italy you only need to self isolate if you're symptomatic.

Op, given how vulnerable your husband is I'm sure people will understand you exercising extra caution. I would ask to do the meeting remotely over the phone or whatever.

@Thisisworsethananticpated

As pointed out above, you are wrong

It’s only the 11 quarantined towns in Italy where The government said anyone returning from those towns must self-isolate.

And those who have travelled north of Pisa are asked to stay at home for 14 days only if they develop flu-like symptoms.

So guy at work is not behaving irresponsibly

Can you do a Skype or Teams video call/ meeting? I work from home and we currently have a travel ban at work (finance related, not Coronavirus) and video meetings work really well IME.

YANBU. Given your DHs more vulnerable state, doing the meeting by Skype sounds like a sensible suggestion.

I work from home anyway, all my meetings are by Skype, it's great.

Can you do a Skype or Teams video call/ meeting?

< has visions of OP,sitting a few desks away dialling in via Microsoft Teams videolink >

Skype is great but Teams is even better, you can background blur your video feed so if you fancy doing your call from Starbucks or Wetherspoons none of the other attendees will ever know 😂
Obvs don’t do this if you are self isolating!
I always use the background blur feature to hide the absolute tip that is my home office 😆

@MelanieFrontage - yes
, I love the background blur

Have even taken the occasional call sitting up in bed

@aridane that happens ALL the time with colleagues joining meetings when they are in offices!
Admittedly there are remote attendees as well!

Background blur, a bit of makeup and a PJ top that looks like a sweatshirt, that’s me sorted 😂

Background blur?
I have the camera disabled on my work laptop - what we share is our screens, with useful stuff on them. Wtf would we want to look at each other?

Without wishing to REALLY derail the thread I LOVE video calls because you can see people’s reactions I.e. they don’t understand something, want to ask a question, are yawning and bored 😝 etc etc. Very useful feature to assess how engaged all the attendees are.
Plus earlier today I got to see a colleagues new fireplace (he didn’t use background blur) and a mighty fireplace it was 😂

In my many years of working in management I eventually banned meetings. They are useless in many cases, and people are bored if they have nothing to contribute really, but must be there if part of a team.

Nope, gone, and replaced with a need to know email, and if a crisis occurred, fine, otherwise, gone.

@MelanieFrontage - I know! It just tickled me the idea of OP using teams to avoid manager and said manager is only a few desks away..l

Hi all, we've moved this to the new Coronavirus topic.

We do work in a business that has Skype and home working so I think I'll take your ideas on board. Thanks all. I wondered whether I was being a little OTT!

What's OTT at the moment does depend on whether your family has relevant health issues. If you're young and fit, it seems chances are you'd barely notice this virus ; if you're older and/or have relevant health issues then it could pose a real existential threat. My DH has several issues so we're taking it more seriously.

If anyone doesn't understand that and gives you a hard time, be assertive!

Video conferencing sounds like a good idea.