When you're on Vacation from your Job

[mickeyboat]

Yes, I get called when I am on vacation. There have only been three vacations since I have been here that I have not had to actually come in to work at some point during my vacation (and that was because I was too far out of town). It's a bummer.

 

[Jennasis]

I am the boss and I get calls on vacation all the time. Last time I was at WDW, we were sitting in the Fantasmic theater waiting for the show to start and my phone rang. It was one of the kids from my barn all frantic that "I think one of the horses is sick". So I had to make a bunch of calls to get someone who knew what the hell they were talking about to go over and check on it and call me back.

The horse was fine.

 

[padams]

DH is the business owner of a consulting firm. He gets calls from clients and employees 365/24/7. Calls are great because it means that we have work. By working on our vacations, we make more money which allows us to go on more vacations. DH's view is that he'd rather be skiing and take a call from a client than sitting in the office taking the call.

The employees are expected to be available if needed while they are on vacation. They all have laptops and blackberries. All of our employees have seemed to understand that they may be contacted if it is necessary. They get 3-4 weeks of vacation per year, and I would guess that they get called maybe 3-4 times overall during their vacations. DH does insist that the employees take most, if not all, of their vacation time.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

My bf's phone rings constantly 24/7 with work related stuff (he's a sales rep for an RV manufacturer so if RV dealerships aren't calling him, his bosses/co-workers are). Our agreement is that he can check VM's and return calls 2-3 times a day at certain times. He does a great job at balancing it (and gets paid very well so that helps us be able to take more vacations) and it works well for us.

We were on a tram pretty much by ourselves going to AK last November and my bf was checking his VM's. The tram guy on the microphone said "Excuse me sir, you can't be at the happiest place on Earth and bring work with you. It's not possible"

 

[SaraJayne]

DH has gotten calls on vacation before ~ but it doesn't mean he's answered them.

He generally will check VM once a day, make a 5 min phone call if needed and that's it.

 

[Pakey]

Yes, I get called frequently.

 

[LindaR]

Oh YES! On vacation, on the very rare occasion that I am home sick, before my daughter went in for some minor surgery, two days after I had spinal surgery....

I no longer answer my phone without checking the caller ID. I let the calls go to voice mail, listen to it, and if it is a legitimate emergency I call back.

Years ago, DD21 and I were at WDW. Didn't hear my phone ring. Boss called 4 times in a short time span. Voice messages got VERY rude and ugly. She was looking for proof that I'd paid our health insurance cause she got a phone call from our carrier (THEY found their error and called her back shortly afterwards), she TORE my desk apart, dumped contents of files and didn't put them back, mixed up piles of papers.

Last phone message from her was in a very nice voice saying, "Nevermind! I knew that you would never leave a bill unpaid. Hope you guys are having a great time!"

When I got home and back to work, I actually CRIED (alone, of course) at the huge mess. She even threw stuff on the floor. I have NEVER taken a phone call after work hours, while home sick, or on vacation since that time.

I am employed. Not owned.

They do the same thing to our handyman. Will call him at 11pm instead of waiting til the following day (non-emergency stuff). AND, after working here for almost 13 years, they still cannot spell my last name. It's not important enough for them to learn....

 

[Angelhalo]

yes. Not only is she unorganized, but she is also computer illiterate. She doesn't know how to look for things on her computer no matter how many times you teach her, so usually she calls because she needs to know how to find something. She doesn't do it often though. once or twice on a 7 days vacation doesn't bother me.

 

[cybrkitn]

They try their darnest to NEVER call us after our shift, on weekend or on vacations- union contract states that if they call us anytime not on our normal work hours they have to pay us 2 hours pay per phone call. I don't mind getting calls LOL--easy money!

Oh how I wish DH's union would do that, but he works for the State, so I highly doubt they would even considere that.

DH took a one-week vacation over the holidays and his boss did call him. But I really can't complain b/c his boss is great and has been a terrific mentor to DH over the years.

What I get annoyed at are a "few" of DH's employee's (he's an IT mgr). They will email, text and call him on his cell phone after business hours when I have dinner on the table. For emergencies, I can understand the call (ex. the server going down). But they are calling with things that can wait until the next day .

I do remember a day back in 1999 when I told DH to leave his beeper (prior to us getting cell phones) at home and not to bring it under any circumstances. It was our wedding day and there was no way that it was going to be interrupted. Sure enough, after our wedding day , DH looks at his beeper and found that he was beeped by a co-worker who didn't know we were getting married that day, LOL.

 

[cybrkitn]

By working on our vacations, we make more money which allows us to go on more vacations. DH's view is that he'd rather be skiing and take a call from a client than sitting in the office taking the call.

Please don't take this the wrong way (this is in no way meant as a flame as I've had the same conversation with my DH about his job). If you are taking calls during a vacation, then it's not a vacation. A vacation is meant for you to unwind and relax from the stresses of work. It also alows you to spend quality time with your family. If you are working constantly being a workaholic, then you can burn yourself out and that's not healthy. My 35 year old brother is a workaholic and came very close to burning himself out.

I'm curious though about your employees. Is there anyone else in the office that can help with any backload of work rather than depending on one person for a particular thing or client? Everyone is meant to have a vacation to unwind, but calling an employee 3-4 times (even if it's during more than one vacation) seems very excessive to me to the point where they might was well not take the vacation. They need that time to spend quality time with their families to relax and unwind. As a PP had mentioned she is an employee not owned. Where is the line drawn between work and one's personal life?

I don't mean to sound like I'm flaming, I'm just trying to put this in the best way that I can. The one thing I don't want to do is take this thread in a whole other direction.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Oh absolutely. I tried taking Disney cruises so that I couldn't work on vacation. You know...no international service. They were kind enough to get it for me this past trip. Wasn't that kind of them??

 

[pixiewings71]

Yup, on vacation, after work hours, on weekends. My boss will text me or call me if he needs something. He's even called me on a Saturday to yell at me because something didn't get delivered by Fed Ex, I told him not to bother calling me after I hung up on him because I wouldn't answer, then I hung up. LOL I have a couple of clients that contact me on my cell phone all the time, but it's not a company phone it's mine, when I try to tell them that they get all confused at the thought of a personal cell phone. LOL Heck I've actually made deliveries to my boss on my way to DLR, I'm in Nor Cal, he's in So Cal, on my way thru we stop at his house and drop stuff off.....LOL

 

[jlewisinsyr]

My Blackberry is on 24/7, so I get calls, e-mails, etc regardless if I'm on vacation or not. I'm always "on", but it doesn't bother me, I actually strive for being busy and engaged.

 

[FireDancer]

My current boss doesn't call me but my last one did. I would just ignore it and not even listen to the message until I was off of vacation. She was the kind of boss that tried to re-assert her authority all of the time and I was not about to let her do it.

 

[Micca]

When I was a manager I was never completely disconnected from work. Now I work from home---problem solved.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I'm a SAHM, so I am the boss.

My DH has worked for the same company for almost 22 years. In the beginning I was shocked that his boss would call on a Sunday, never mind on vacation. We were on one vacation to WDW when there was some big financial stuff going on with the company (DH is Controller/Chief Financial Officer), and there were quite a few calls back and forth. I took a picture of him on his cell phone, and when we got home I put it on construction paper and wrote "Daddy on vacation in DisneyWorld." It's still hanging in his office.

One time we had to leave a WDW park to get back to his laptop to wire money to somewhere. Oh well. At this point, I agree with this:

Calls on vacation, weekends when ever needed
Glad to have a good job to get calls from.

When we go on vacation this April though, I told his boss that I will be screening all calls and it better be very very important

You told his boss that? I wouldn't tell my DH's boss anything.

We were on a tram pretty much by ourselves going to AK last November and my bf was checking his VM's. The tram guy on the microphone said "Excuse me sir, you can't be at the happiest place on Earth and bring work with you. It's not possible"

I love when CMs interact like that.

Please don't take this the wrong way (this is in no way meant as a flame as I've had the same conversation with my DH about his job). If you are taking calls during a vacation, then it's not a vacation. A vacation is meant for you to unwind and relax from the stresses of work. It also alows you to spend quality time with your family. If you are working constantly being a workaholic, then you can burn yourself out and that's not healthy.

Everyone has to set their own boundaries, but I hardly think taking a phone call or a few phone calls qualifies as being a workaholic, or NOT getting quality time with your family on vacation, or NOT de-stressing from being at work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, or that it makes the vacation NOT a vacation.

 

[OK!]

Nope. I've always left my phone number in case of questions or emergencies or whatever, but neither of my bosses at my job have ever taken advantage of it.

 

[stinkerbellsmommy]

I'm a SAHM, so I am the boss.

Everyone has to set their own boundaries, but I hardly think taking a phone call or a few phone calls qualifies as being a workaholic, or NOT getting quality time with your family on vacation, or NOT de-stressing from being at work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, or that it makes the vacation NOT a vacation.

Ahh, the SAHM--my own lofty goal one day, that will hopefully be achieved before I can retire

As for the setting their own boundaries, I think you're correct. I should have stated that I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a few phone calls, or even checking emails once or twice (especially if you're lucky enough to be gone for an extended period of time. However, I think there are certain managers/companies that don't know how to respect those boundaries. I also agree with at this point, just being lucky enough to have a job, and I am very thankful for that. I didn't mean to come off as sounding ungrateful. I guess I'm at just feeling frustrated considering every time someone goes on vacation, we get "reminders" about how we should be basically tethered to our PDA/Blackberry/smartphones when we're not around. I just don't see the need to constantly be checking my email when I clearly have a back-up assigned to handle my business & work load when I'm out of the office. They know they can reach me by cell phone in emergencies, and as I said, I'm fine with them doing that. Considering everything an emergency is a bit overboard

I also recieved a "gentle reminder" about the possibility of checking my voicemail/email while I was on maternity leave in 2008. That really upset me--ummmm helllo, there's a little thing called the Family Medical Leave Act? I'm all for productivity, but I just believe in having some kind of livable work/life balance. Admittedly, our daughter is young, and our family is growing, so I'm at the point in my life where my career isn't going to be my everything. For some people (my single sister for example), it's the the opposite. It's great for her, and it works. To each their own, I guess.

JMHO, apaprently I'm still pretty bitter about the whole maternity leave thing, so I'll get off my soapbox, leave my $0.02 at the door, and any other cliche that I can use to end this post