Boss Continuously Calls & Emails Employee On Vacation, Says There Better Be A 'Good Reason' For Missing Zoom Calls
He made sure to let his boss know he would be out of the office.
Tima Miroshnichenko | Shutterstock After making sure to take time off from work to enjoy a vacation, a man's resting bliss was suddenly interrupted by his boss, who demanded to know where he was.
Posting to the subreddit "r/AmItheA--hole" (AITA) — a forum where users try to figure out if they were wrong or not in an argument that has been bothering them — he explained the entire debacle in a now-deleted post.
While on vacation, his boss continuously called and emailed, saying there better be a 'good reason why he's off the grid.'
In his Reddit post, the man wrote that he was recently moved to another team with the company that he's worked with for almost three years.
Before his promotion, he made sure to have a week booked for vacation so he could go visit his sister and newborn niece.
"The new team was informed as well but I could tell my new supervisor was annoyed by it," he recalled. "He even asked if I could reschedule but I said I could not."
After informing everyone he worked with that he would not be there, he left for vacation, and upon arriving at the airport, promptly turned off his work phone.
"I barely have had any interest [in] checking my own phone because of all the catching up, baby time, and relaxing," he continued.
However, a couple of days into his vacation, he noticed an unknown number had called him on his personal phone but didn't think much of it.
"Today we are having a lazy day and I decided to flip my work phone on to see if I had any emails to start prepping for next week."
As soon as he turned his work phone back on, he was bombarded with a slew of voicemails, hundreds of messages, and emails from his manager, who demanded to know why he hasn't been in their zoom meetings and why he's been impossible to reach.
When he checked the voicemail on his personal phone, he realized it was from his boss, who said he "hoped there was a good excuse for why he was off the grid" if he wanted to keep his job.
At the beginning of the voicemail, his boss questioned if he was in the hospital, pointing out that his being seriously ill or injured would be the only reason why he wasn't at work.
When he went and checked Slack, he also noticed a handful of messages from his coworkers, who urged him to respond to their boss "as soon as possible."
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He's now worried that he may be fired because of the entire incident.
After receiving an influx of messages from his boss and coworkers, he's now worrying about the repercussions.
"This is my first time not being in an entry-level position and I'm freaking out," he admitted. "Is the standard that vacations are still worked on?"
He explained that while working in the other department before being promoted, taking vacation days meant that he wouldn't be responsible for working during that time off, but now, he's beginning to think the same rules don't apply anymore.
"I'm just scared I'm missing something and [being] a huge a-hole to my boss and team," he concluded.
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A majority of people who commented on his Reddit post agreed that he was NTA (Not The A-hole).
"Your manager sounds like they are just trying to initiate you into the team by ensuring you know how they run things ie terribly," one user wrote.
"Don't even acknowledge the messages. If they say something about it when you go back to work, tell them you were on vacation and you don't work while on vacation. Don't apologize and don't explain yourself."
Another user added, "Contact HR immediately. Report the manager for the hostile language."
"You gave advance notice for the time off, [and] stated that it could not be rescheduled. Time off is TIME OFF, not 'time where I am in another location but still working.' The manager is 100% in the wrong."
"Some jobs require that you'll be reachable even on holidays (in case of emergency for example)," a third user chimed in.
"But that should be agreed on prior to employment and should have [an] impact on your salary (in plus of course). And it doesn't look like it is this kind of case."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.