Avoiding phone calls from your boss

[Angelhalo]

When I worked in retail, I hated when people didn't answer. I get its your day off, but answer your phone. If you are busy, fine just let me know. I can't tell you how many times I had someone call out at 5 freaking am and no one will answer their phone. I get that its early, but be a team player ESPECIALLY when you are a manager. No you don't have to come in EVERY time, but you can at least say no sorry I can't come in.

Let's just say come review time, the store manager at my job would have not given you a good review if you never answered your phone.

I can't tell you how many times I was called on my days off at 5am and I still came in.

The problem is that not everyone keeps their phone on them all the time. If I am told when I sign on, that I am on call 24/7 then yes I would keep the phone on me. If not then all bets are off. My phone is almost always on vibrate and when I get home I set my purse down with the phone in it and sometimes won't think to check it for hours upon hours. If I get a bad review for that, and I am not employed in a way that I have to be available at all times, then that isn't the kind of place I want to work anyway.

 

[Angelhalo]

A competent manager will have pre-planned backup arrangements. If that involves the assitant manager being on call that should have been directly specified.

Exactly. I've been a manager before and if the person isn't aware that they are to be available at all times, then I hve no right to be upset with them for not responding to me. I either needed to tell them ahead of time that they have to be at my beck and call, or I need to have a backup plan for when people don't answer their phones.

 

[mhsjax]

I completely agree - it speaks to an employee's work ethic, character etc.

There are always reasons you might not answer EVERY call - out of town, at the movies, etc. But if someone NEVER answers on their off day - bye bye!

Their day off, why should they answer their phone. Unless they are on call. Sorry, I wouldn't do it. In fact, if I am with DH I rarely even have my phone.

I don't get why you think it is ok to fire someone for not working on their day off, unless they are notified that they have to be on call. That is crazy.

What I do on my day off is of no concern to my employer, unless the specify that I have to be on call. My work ethic has nothing to do with taking calls on my day off, that makes me a sucker that a company will use up and throw away when they are done.

 

[tvguy]

We don't have on call people where I work. Managements plan in an emergency is to bring in what ever staff they need, period. The morning of the Japanese earthquake, I got called in at 12:45 am (only 2 hours early), and once at work, I had to call a vacationing co-worker and ask him to cancel his vacation and come in. He did. Just the nature of our business.

 

[mhsjax]

We don't have on call people where I work. Managements plan in an emergency is to bring in what ever staff they need, period. The morning of the Japanese earthquake, I got called in at 12:45 am (only 2 hours early), and once at work, I had to call a vacationing co-worker and ask him to cancel his vacation and come in. He did. Just the nature of our business.

Yes and you know this going in, and in your business it makes sense. But in a normal business environment, no way would I feel bad about not answering the phone.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

In the example given, if the employee was not cautioned or is not expected to be on call or that he/she might have to go in on day off, I would not expect that employee to respond. If a manager had a problem with that and I were a peer, I would have very little respect for that manager. If I were above that manager, I would note how extremely unprepared for emergencies that manager was; and if I worked for that manager, I would be considering whether or not, on the balance, I should be looking for a new job.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Of course it is acceptable not to respond. As long as you aren't doing it on purpose. Maybe the employee is nowhere near the phone. Maybe the phone died. Maybe they have their own emergency going on. Who knows what their story is. If they have something else going on and don't even know they are being called, then they should not be expected to answer their phone. The boss needs to have a backup plan.

ITA. This speaks more to the boss's abilities than his people's team ethic.

Also, some people may not be aware of this, but there are still places where there is NO internet service other than Hughesnet (not even dial up) and cell phone coverage is spotty. I can think of 3 right now that I visit on a routine basis. I've actually taken days off and had to notify folks "if you need me I will check my Blackberry at X time, so send an e-mail, otherwise I won't get your message." Then at X time I've dutifly taken a four wheeler out to Indian Hill, climbed up a rickety deer stand and checked my Blackberry! If I hadn't known someone might need me on that day, I would not have done that and it might have been a day or two before I found out about any "emergencies" that might crop up.

 

[Disney Doll]

I would let it go to voicemail and then listen to the message and decide what to do based on the message.

 

[arminnie]

We don't have on call people where I work. Managements plan in an emergency is to bring in what ever staff they need, period. The morning of the Japanese earthquake, I got called in at 12:45 am (only 2 hours early), and once at work, I had to call a vacationing co-worker and ask him to cancel his vacation and come in. He did. Just the nature of our business.

Well that's different from just a regular day. I didn't have to call anyone to ask if I should go in after the Loma Prieta earthquake in CA. I just knew to go in and work at whatever needed to be done.

 

[DaisyLynn]

This is a business that is open for face-to-face customer contact 72 hours a week. There are 12 people that work in this location, an amount which is dictated by "higher ups" that do not work at the field level, who have actually never even visited this location (national chain) beyond opening day.

It does not happen often that circumstances come up where people are called in on days off, and when it does, they are never reprimanded for not coming in if they can not. There are 4 managers (one on vacation out of state, one on bereavement, two in town but only one scheduled these two days). The first day, one manager worked a double because the other said she could not come in because she was having a bad day. The second day, that same manager who worked a double the day before had to work another one because the manager having the bad day the day prior did not return calls or texts.

We are not talking about a large organization. This is small scale, but yet there is still a business to run and to me, it really does not look on the individual who does not even respond.

 

[Imzadi]

The first day, one manager worked a double because the other said she could not come in because she was having a bad day. The second day, that same manager who worked a double the day before had to work another one because the manager having the bad day the day prior did not return calls or texts.

So you are changing your OP?
She is not an assistant manager after all, she is a manager?

When she called to say she wasn't coming in, did she say she was going to switch days and work the following day instead? Or did she still have the following day off, as stated in your OP?

If I had Saturday off and I asked for Fri off too, because I was having a "bad day" or I was having a crisis, and I did NOT make arrangements or was expected to come in on Sat in exchange for Fri, then I'd feel I had Fri AND Sat to take care of my crisis.

 

[DaisyLynn]

So you are changing your OP?
She is not an assistant manager after all, she is a manager?

When she called to say she wasn't coming in, did she say she was going to switch days and work the following day instead? Or did she still have the following day off, as stated in your OP?

If I had Saturday off and I asked for Fri off too, because I was having a "bad day" or I was having a crisis, and I did NOT make arrangements or was expected to come in on Sat in exchange for Fri, then I'd feel I had Fri AND Sat to take care of my crisis.

Nope, not changing the OP. Maybe in your line of work, managers are categorized differently. Her title is "assistant manager". But there are "managers" and "associates". There are functions that only managers can do, whether you are store manager, co-manager, assistant manager, associate manager...you are a "manager". There must always be a manager on the premises.

She was not scheduled either day. The manager with the family emergency was scheduled, as was the one who ended up working two doubles. The manager who was not heard from today was called on day one to see if she could cover a portion of that day. She responded via text message "no, I'm having a bad day and really don't want to come in". She knew the circumstances of why she was being called, but she did not want to come in. Fine. She was then called to see if she could help cover a shift today...maybe she was having a better day? Well, she was called and was texted, by her direct supervisor, who was just looking for a response, yes or no. No response was given.

 

[shortbun]

If she wasn't scheduled to work and she's already indicated that things were not going well for her, I don't see why she would be expected to respond again. Something could really be wrong OR she could have gone to a movie and be out of contact totally. I have actually be incommunicado for a couple of days at a time-phone off accidentally due to movie turn off and no need to use it. It IS possible.

 

[mhsjax]

This is a business that is open for face-to-face customer contact 72 hours a week. There are 12 people that work in this location, an amount which is dictated by "higher ups" that do not work at the field level, who have actually never even visited this location (national chain) beyond opening day.

It does not happen often that circumstances come up where people are called in on days off, and when it does, they are never reprimanded for not coming in if they can not. There are 4 managers (one on vacation out of state, one on bereavement, two in town but only one scheduled these two days). The first day, one manager worked a double because the other said she could not come in because she was having a bad day. The second day, that same manager who worked a double the day before had to work another one because the manager having the bad day the day prior did not return calls or texts.

We are not talking about a large organization. This is small scale, but yet there is still a business to run and to me, it really does not look on the individual who does not even respond.

Then they need to assign on call days. Half the time on a weekend, I don't carry my phone, I leave the house and very rarely come home, except to maybe check on the dog. I don't waste my time on my day off (well when I was working) checking e-mails to see if anyone needs me. I think this is silly to expect a person to return calls or texts to their employer if they aren't on call. This spills over into the company controlling time off, which isn't happening in my world without being "on call."

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Their day off, why should they answer their phone. Unless they are on call. Sorry, I wouldn't do it. In fact, if I am with DH I rarely even have my phone.

I don't get why you think it is ok to fire someone for not working on their day off, unless they are notified that they have to be on call. That is crazy.

What I do on my day off is of no concern to my employer, unless the specify that I have to be on call. My work ethic has nothing to do with taking calls on my day off, that makes me a sucker that a company will use up and throw away when they are done.

So sorry you have had bad working experiences.

Some phone calls are informative - the trip is cancelled, the meeting time changed etc. If an employee doesn't ever return a call then yes it can be a problem.

And some phone calls are good - my phone rang on Christmas Eve at 9:00am. Could not answer since I had hair coloring in my hair - but you bet I texted that I would call back in an hour. The reason for the call was to tell me that I was getting a bonus of $ xx,xxx. She wanted to tell me live versus an email.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

This is a business that is open for face-to-face customer contact 72 hours a week. There are 12 people that work in this location, an amount which is dictated by "higher ups" that do not work at the field level, who have actually never even visited this location (national chain) beyond opening day.

It does not happen often that circumstances come up where people are called in on days off, and when it does, they are never reprimanded for not coming in if they can not. There are 4 managers (one on vacation out of state, one on bereavement, two in town but only one scheduled these two days). The first day, one manager worked a double because the other said she could not come in because she was having a bad day. The second day, that same manager who worked a double the day before had to work another one because the manager having the bad day the day prior did not return calls or texts.

We are not talking about a large organization. This is small scale, but yet there is still a business to run and to me, it really does not look on the individual who does not even respond.

So, essentially, the manager said she was having a bad day, because she obviously didn't want to share her sob story about how her son had broken his toe when he tripped over their dying dog and when she came back from the ER she found her BF in bed with her brother or whatever was going on in her life and she expected you to respect her privacy and need not to come in.

The second text/call/e-mail was an irritant and an intrusion onto the manager's privacy IMHO. She has a job, she is not a member of chain gang.

 

[DaisyLynn]

I think that some pp have not comprehended the circumstances, and that's my fault because I'm having a hard time explaining without giving out too much info.

I was just looking for opinions, and the DIS never let's me down!

All managers know that as a team, the store needs to be covered at all times. They are aware that they could be contacted at any time by the store. They are expected to be reachable, and this has been communicated.

In this situation, until this person is actually heard from, no one knows if her phone died or what the deal is - but it is her only phone, and she normally has it on her at all times constantly checking it.

If she was in fact ignoring the calls, then I find that to be very rude and disrespectful to her employer. I could never be so rude to not return a phone call, especially knowing my team was counting on me.

 

[mhsjax]

I think that some pp have not comprehended the circumstances, and that's my fault because I'm having a hard time explaining without giving out too much info.

I was just looking for opinions, and the DIS never let's me down!

All managers know that as a team, the store needs to be covered at all times. They are aware that they could be contacted at any time by the store. They are expected to be reachable, and this has been communicated.

In this situation, until this person is actually heard from, no one knows if her phone died or what the deal is - but it is her only phone, and she normally has it on her at all times constantly checking it.

If she was in fact ignoring the calls, then I find that to be very rude and disrespectful to her employer. I could never be so rude to not return a phone call, especially knowing my team was counting on me.

Well, than that changes everything. This has been my rant. If I was not told that I was on call, or that I needed to be reachable, then all bets are off. Now as you have explained, every manager is told that they need to be reachable, the 100% yes, she should have returned the calls.

 

[RachaelA]

Well, than that changes everything. This has been my rant. If I was not told that I was on call, or that I needed to be reachable, then all bets are off. Now as you have explained, every manager is told that they need to be reachable, the 100% yes, she should have returned the calls.

Isn't it the case anyways in most retail situations that you need to be reachable as much as possible if you are a manager? The store is a team. You need to work together and that may mean working doubles, etc. on short notice so the store stays open. Sometimes you need to work when you don't want to. Sometimes you need to work when you are "having a bad day." Its part of working a retail job.

 

[kamik86]

My answer to the OP is that really it depends.

If my work called me I would answer or (more likely) return the call immediately. The reason returning is more likely is that I don't always have my cell next to me at home and often by the time I manage to not trip over the cat getting to it the phone went to voice mail.

However my job is one where no one is going to call me in unless they really need me. 90% of things they may call about could be handled online if I VPN in from home or by directions on the phone. Also I have only once been called about a work issue in almost 2 years at this job. Which I did handle by VPN.

My husband works retail. He is not a manager and probably wont' be as this store has a tendancy to pass over extremely qualified people in order to help those that go out for drinks with the managers after work. (For example the person that was filling in after their supervisor quit was passed up for the job in the end by someone who never worked that area of the store at all because he was the managers friend and the manager wanted to make sure the person didn't quit).

My husband never returns calls from work and really I don't blame him. If he did he would be threatened that he would lose his job for not coming in. If he doesn't return the call he has the plausible deniablity that he never got the call and by company rules can't be fired for it.