Supervisor Says They'll Be Unreachable On Vacation, Fails To Give Employee Important Info

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mattstaff
Aug 8, 2021 7:00 PM EDT

The thing about taking those much needed vacations and potentially even dipping your toes in the warm waters of some faraway paradise is that you're banking on your work life not eclipsing the dreamy sunsets of whatever destination you've chosen. By the sound of it this company was put in a bit of a tight spot because the supervisor could've done a more effective job at leaving all the important info that they needed to leave, with the company, before they dipped out.

 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/AmITheA**hole subreddit by u/hollandaisecrabcake, who expressed that they gave their coworkers more than a week to request and collect necessary materials prior to the Redditor's vacation. The responses the original poster received in the comments section were a bit divisive; some felt that they gave their employees plenty of time to anticipate what documents they would need in their supervisor's absence, while others felt that as the supervisor, the Redditor clearly needed to come up with a more effective system. The failure here is the infrastructure of the company. It shouldn't be so difficult for an employee to leave for one week and have everything fall apart. Keep scrolling below for the full story!

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  • 01
    Font - AITA for not answering work emails while on vacation resulting in the loss of a client? Not the A-hole My husband and I took a much needed vacation to the beach last week and the entire week before we left I sent emails arpund letting everyone know l'd be completely inaccessible for the week so to come and see me for any work materials needed, files etc. I gave everyone everything I knew or thought they'd need and left confident that everyone had prepared themselves, seeing as l'd given t
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 02
    Font - When I returned I found chaos in the office. Apparently one of my colleagues had needed files for a particularly important client of ours and had not been able to find them in my office and I never responded to calls or emails, as I warned I wouldn't do. This coworker knew they'd be handling this client and had 8 days and 12 hours a day to ask me for all pertinent files and appears to have not. In any case, I was blamed because the client is technically mine and I am supervisor of this co
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 03
    Rectangle - O 2 3 O 11 Awards What happened is unfortunate, but you were clear that you would not be working during your time off. NTA. Your office need a better system. What if you get hit by a bus one day? Or quit? It's a bad idea to have only ONE employee have access to vital files/clients. For many reasons. G Reply 4 29.9k 3
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 04
    Font - Sea-Tea-4130 · 3d Partassipant [4] NTA-But the bucks stops at you. You told them and gave time for them to get what was needed and you tried to make sure ppl had what they needed prior to your vacay (their failure shouldn't be thrust upon you when that was their fault, not you); however, your position puts you at the blunt for when goes bad. You at least have a paper trail to show you did what you said in the email and asking them to get what was needed. If one person not being available
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 05
    Font - tyromania · 3d 3 2 Awards the client is technically mine and I am supervisor of this coworker. It's your coworker's fault, but it's your responsibility. YTA because you are management and it is literally part of your job to ensure that everything is squared away with your client. Ownership of a client means that the buck stops with you 6 Reply 4 1.6k 3 ...
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 06
    Font - RogueDIL · 3d Partassipant [3] 1 Award Info - where was the file? If it was in an accessible location, where all files should be stored- NTA. If it was in your sole possession, yta. 6 Reply 1 3.3k
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 07
    Font - FoxUniCarkilo • 3d Certified Proctologist [27] YTA It's not your subordinates job to ask you for the files and other pertinent information they may need for your client. That's your job as their supervisor and the person in charge of this clients account. You're not expected to answer calls and emails while on vacation but you should have left an emergency only contact had you done that this wouldn't have happened. There's just no way you can try to explain this where somehow it isn't you
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 08
    Rectangle - metropoliskoala · 3d I was about to say N T A right up until you casually slipped in that little detail at the end that you're this person's supervisor. In that case, YTA. Sounds like you knew their work ethic and client load, so should have accounted for this. 6 Reply 1 44 3 ...
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 09
    Font - Southern-Gazelle2225 · 3d YTA If you are the supervisor of the employee who was not able to find the files then yes, you sre at fault. What kind of misunderstanding do you have of being a supervisor? Apparently you did not prepare them enough, that is on you not as colleague on vacation but as supervisor. How sbout as supervisor you establish a more failsafe system of people being away maybe for sickness or vacation without everything turning into chaos. Poor employees. 6 Reply 4 11 3 ...
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 10
    Font - HarrySeldon85 · 3d Mmmm gonna have to say YTA. When you are in a supervisory/manager role, there are no excuses. First you say it's a coworker, but then you say you are also their supervisor. In the end, it was your client, you were in a leadership (supervisory) role, and so ultimately it was your responsibility as their supervisor to make sure they had everything they needed. G Reply 4 160 3 ...
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 11
    Font - annekh510 · 3d YTA not because you didn't respond on holiday but because as supervisor of the coworker and the person the client is assigned to you failed to have the forethought to check if these files would be needed. G Reply
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 12
    Font - YTA. If this person was simply a co-worker you wouldn't be, but you are their SUPERVISOR. That means you are responsible for their performance. You knew they tended to be lazy and forgetful. That makes you responsible in two ways. First, if their performance is/was consistently subpar, you should've corrected that problem long before your vacation happened. Up and including replacing them. Second, if for some reason you were unable to correct this problem (YOUR problem), then you should'v
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 13
    Font - QueenBlanchesHalo · 3d 7 Awards YTA though borderline N-A-H. You shouldn't have to answer work emails while on vacation. However, it's your* client and when you go on vacation it's your job to proactively tell whoever is filling in for you what's going on with the client and where to get what they might need, not to ask your coworkers who have their own clients to do the work of figuring out how to cover for you. It reads like something is missing in your story where you're saying you gav
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 14
    Font - YTA because you are their supervisor. You knew they would be working with this client. It's your vacation, so it's on you to be proactive to make sure your team has everything they need and/or know how to find everything they need before you leave, you can't just sit back and shrug and say "well I told you I was leaving." Why kind of crazy office system do you have where your employees can't find the needed files without your help?? G Reply 5 3
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 15
    Font - Rainbow-24· 3d YTA sounds like you purposefully never gave the staff what they would need because you think they should have asked you. If your the supervisor knowing someone is taking over one of your clients and you know they would need that file why did you leave it inaccessible? Your to blame. G Reply 1 26 3
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 16
    Font - LEGOMYBrick · 3d YTA I'm a supervisor as well and I'm currently on medical leave, however, I am still checking my work email to ensure my team has everything they need/ aren't left without help. We also work 12 hour days, sometimes there isn't enough time in the day to cover everything that may occur. You lost a client, this is huge, and you seem hesitant to accept any fault in this scenario. Your team member could not access pertinent information, you refused to answer emails, and you lo
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 17
    Rectangle - Eaboyle57 · 3d YTA - You surreptitiously mention it's actually your client. And you supervise this employee. IMO you should have made sure the people handling your client had everything they could possibly need. G Reply ...
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 18
    Font - monk8919 · 3d YTAH I'm a lawyer and my boss is a lawyer too. When we take week long vacations we still have a 15 min check in every few days to make sure things aren't on fire. You losing this client is sad. If you want a job where you can disappear for a week maybe you should go work as a cashier or something G Reply ...
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 19
    Font - SnowFlake1013 · 3d ΥΤΑ I am going against the tide on this one, but here is why: 1. You cannot honestly expect your co-workers/ employees to be able to foresee every single potential issue that might arise while you are on vacation. Issues pop up unexpectedly on a regular basis. 2. It is your responsibility to make sure all work related files are organized and easily accessible (meaning- there is no reason for them to have difficulty locating a FILE!). 3. I know you said you would not res
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake
  • 20
    Font - mermicide · 3d YTA - a good manager is frankly responsible for their employees' mistakes. You could have answered the phone once to help your colleague out or check in to see how things are. A week is a long vacation - if this was a couple of days then it's a different story but a lot can happen in a week. G Reply ...
    via u/hollandaisecrabcake

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