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Most Tech Workers Would Ignore a Call From Their Boss Outside Work Hours (zdnet.com)
In this age of instant communication, there is pressure on employees to be "switched on" all hours of the day. But do we really have the mental attitude to totally disconnect from work? From a report: A new study by UK-based HandsetExpert has revealed that almost two out of three tech workers would ignore an out-of-hours call from the boss. It surveyed 1,850 mobile device users in the UK to find out how we deal with the pressures of being an "always-on" society. This number might be the roll-up of various reasons -- from being on the toilet, in the bath, or in other compromising situations. The survey showed different behaviours from different job roles. Healthcare professionals seem to be most connected to their place of work. They were the least likely to cancel any calls from their boss, with only 42.5 percent stating they would not pick up the call. At the other end of the scale, real estate agents -- who already work some of the longest hours in the industry -- are least likely to respond. Almost three out of four workers (72.6 percent) in that industry sector would not respond to calls from their boss.
I was 2 hours out of town on a Sunday at a friend's birthday party and my boss calls. He demands I come in and work on an issue that he believes I caused. And berates me for 5 minutes on the phone after I refused with the reason being that I'm out of town.
When I get into work Monday, I get reamed out further and put on a PIP (performance improvement plan). I was never told I was "on-call" for that weekend. And later on Monday, once I finally got to look at the problem. I discovered someone committed changes without running it through the mandatory integration process.
Those changes conflicted with my weeks old change and causes numerous test failures. In short, not my fault. Not even my responsibility to diagnose what went wrong. Needless to say I was out there quickly due to the PIP and my total dickishness with telling everyone at work I've been wrongly accused of such bullshit and how poorly the management handled it.
(not posting as AC, because you know who you are)
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Same here but there's another reason. If he calls me during off-hours, it means the situation is indeed dire (be it technically or politically) AND he will make sure that I get double pay for that day.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
"I know my boss respects my private life and work balance, so if he's calling me then it must be something dire"
This.
If it's important, I get an email. If it's VERY important I get a "HIGH IMPORTANCE" flagged email. If it's something really REALLY important (like needs to be fixed/addressed NOW rather than Monday or next morning I get a phone call. Then usually comp time in the very near future.
Same here. My boss wouldn't call without a darn good reason. In addition, if the shit hits the fan I'd MUCH rather fix it than have someone else TRY to fix it and leave me with a much bigger mess to clean up in the morning.
I've told my boss PLEASE call (or message) me because it's much easier for me to spend 10 minutes properly diagnosing a problem and fixing it, rather than try to figure out wtf all a co-worker did while randomly trying this and that at random hoping to make the problem go away.
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Heck, even my FORMER my boss, as I was leaving that job, I told them several times - you'll probably run into one or two situations where you have this choice:
A) you spend five hours trying to figure out what Ray did
B) I spend five minutes answering their email, answering their question
I'd much rather me spend 5 minutes answering their question than they spend 5 hours trying to figure it out without asking me.
Of course the old employer left me on as a "hourly employee" at a high rate of $xxx/hour, just in case they needed a couple hours of my time. At well over $100/hour, I'm happy to leave open the possibility of doing a little work for them. Even giving them a few minutes of my time for free.
As it turned out, I think they had one five-minute question for me, and once I asked them to send me a copy of a bit of code I'd written for them because it was a good example of a concept I wanted to demonstrate.
Most of my co-workers probably fit into this category. I routinely answer calls in the middle of the night from management or co-workers in a bind. Generally I think the authority you are entrusted with is tied to the the amount of responsibility you assume. Some people don't care about earning 30-40% more if it means any kind of commitment to the job and that's fine. Other people, they pick up the phone.