'Ring ring! Here's me on your off day!': Employee bothers their boss with trivial work matters on their day off to prove a point about office hours, earning uninterrupted weekends for 2 years

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 23, 2024 1:00 PM EST

Weekends are sacred, so this employee drew a hard line in the sand with their micromanaging boss after getting pestered on her off days. 

Have you ever dreamed about work? Taking your work home with you–even in the corners of your subconscious–feels like such a violation because your billable hours are no longer respected. You're not being paid to have stress dreams about your job, boss, or most tedious clients. However, when you have a micromanaging boss who doesn't understand the importance of unplugging from the workplace, it's hard to cut ties with your work life. This disruption to your work/life balance can cause any employee to think twice about their employment. However, instead of running for the hills, the worker in this next story took matters into their own hands, turning the tables on their boss after getting inundated on the weekends by trivial work questions. 

Keep scrolling to read how a few silly, well-timed phone calls secured uninterrupted weekends for this employee for 2 years to come. 

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  • 01
    Ring ring! Here's me on your off day! I work part time hours, four days a week, always same days. It's stated in my work contract. My boss is generally great. For example, she checks in about our
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 02
    workload and if it's too much, we agree on what to drop. She also understands that we all have a life besides the job. For example, I once had won opera tickets for the next week, and it was busy as h I at work. Nevertheless, she encouraged me to go and rearranged the schedule.
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 03
    What she does not understand is that I never work for free. Don't check e-mails on my days off, don't answer quick questions etc. If there's an actual emergency (like if a patient of mine has gone suicidal), it's different, but in general, when I'm off, i'm off.
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 04
    So, I have been working there for a month or so. It's my day off and my phone rings, it's my boss. I scramble to pick up, ask what happened. Turns out: nothing special, she just had the time to review some paperwork I had submitted and wanted to clarify a few details. Says herself that she
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 05
    knows I'm off and it probably could wait for Monday, but she would love to get it off her desk today, so maybe I could take a quick minute? I told her that yes, the info is correct, but to please not call me again on my day off unless it's both urgent and important. She apologised and said that of course, days off are off.
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 06
    A few weeks later, my phone rings, it's boss. I scramble. Well, it's nothing special again, she just wanted to tell me that my requested vacation days for next year work fine and are hereby approved. Could've written an e- mail or waited for the next business day, but she thought a
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 07
    call was quicker, and since it's something positive for me, I surely wouldn't mind. I told her: No you're right, of course I don't mind, thank you for the info! Then I waited for the right moment.
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 08
    Well, two or so weeks after that, she asked the whole team during the team meeting if there are a few more people who could come work on a day between two holidays (when most would take the one day off and get three free days in a row), told us all to check our calendars and next team meeting,
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 09
    we would regroup and see if we have enough volunteers. I remembered the issue during breakfast with my boyfriend on Sunday, asked him about that date and turns out he was scheduled to work, so I thought you know what, I can work too if we can't do anything special over those days anyway.
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 10
    And of course it could have waited until Monday or until our team meeting, and I could also have written a quick message if I wanted to get it out of my head, but I decided to call. My boss answered pretty much immediately and sounded a bit panicked when she asked what happened. So I told her
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 11
    "Oh nothing special, I was just talking with my boyfriend about day X and we have no plans, so I can come work". She went "Really? I thought something bad happened! Why do you call me on a Sunday for this? It could have waited!" and I sweetly answered "Yes I know that it's your day off, but since it's just a
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 12
    quick info, and it's also a good thing, you wouldn't mind a short call". She just said "Thank you. But next time, please wait for Monday". After that, she never called on my day off again, any now I've been working there for two years.
    via TheBestOpossum
  • 13
    murstang My previous job did not require early mornings, and as a result I was a bit of a night owl. A woman who worked for a place where I volunteered would often call me first thing in the morning when she
    via murstang
  • 14
    reached the office, and would always ask "Oh did I wake you?" when she knew full well that she had. I finally told her to her face tha since I was normally awake at 2 or 3 in the
    via murstang
  • 15
    morning, would she like it if I called her then? Because the next time she called me at 8am, I would call her at 3am. Never happened again.
    via murstang
  • 16
    n2musicchick I feel you - my boss is never "off" even during the most horrible times when he should be.
    via n2musicchick
  • 17
    MrWolfsters I work night shifts and my boss used to always call me between 9-11am. Even though he knew that i sleep between 8am-4pm and I've told him many times that if its important enough then he can call me after 3pm.
    via murstang
  • 18
    But he continued to call me after I'd just fallen asleep, which was super annoying, for just tiny things. Most of the time asking <<hey can you take a shift tomorrow?>> even though im already working that night.
    via MrWolfsters
  • 19
    so after having told him maaaaaanny times that he can call after 3pm and to check the work schedule before calling, i started calling him for small things at 1-3am when i knew he had early shifts. he, understandably, got annoyed and asked me
    via MrWolfsters
  • 20
    why i called at such late hours. my answer? << Oh you work tomorrow morning? didn't think about that, I just got to work a few hours ago and thought i'd call you>>. Safe to say, he doesn't call me anymore. Just sends me a text <<call me when you wake up>> :)
    via MrWolfsters
  • 21
    Cheezburger Image 10431941632
    via Imageblend

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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