Boss lectures an employee about taking “personal calls” on their break, then gets burned when the employee start screening their calls: 'I let it go to voicemail'

The company had a policy against using personal cellphones on the job, and this manager took every opportunity to bring the hammer down on her employees. Still, when it came to her own personal calls, she was suddenly extremely lenient. 

Wouldn't it be a shame if her own double standards blew back in her face? 

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  • My company had a policy that personal calls during work hours were not permitted. So when my manager called me on my personal phone during my lunch break I let it go to voicemail.
    via CobaltNookCo
  • Angry boss trying to contact an employee over the phone.
    via Karola G

    Angry boss trying to contact an employee over the phone. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • Some background: I worked at a mid-sized company that had a fairly strict policy in the employee handbook stating that personal phone calls during work hours
    via CobaltNookCo
  • were not permitted except in emergencies. This policy was enforced selectively and inconsistently but it existed in writing and had
    via CobaltNookCo
  • Guy taking his lunch break at his desk.
    via choi dongsu

    Guy taking his lunch break at his desk.

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • been pointed out to me specifically on one occasion. when I took a five minute call from my doctor in the break room. My manager at
    via CobaltNookCo
  • the time was someone who liked rules when they applied to other people and found them flexible when they applied to herself.
    via CobaltNookCo
  • About two months after the doctor call incident, she called me on my personal mobile at 12:35pm on a Tuesday. I was on my lunch
    via CobaltNookCo
  • break, which was unpaid. and off the clock, sitting outside eating. I looked at the phone, thought about the break room situation,
    via CobaltNookCo
  • Coworkers ordering takeout at their desks.
    via Africa Images

    Coworkers ordering takeout at their desks. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • With the ringing bells of persecution still lingering in this employee's head, they decided to give the big boss a taste of their own medicine. If they were going to call their personal cellphone on company time, that would be in violation of company policy, right? Well, they wouldn't want management to think that they were becoming personal call renegades in this department, so the employee dug his heels in on some malicious compliance. 

  • and let it ring. She called again two minutes later. I let that ring too. She sent a text saying it was important and to call her back. I finished
    via CobaltNookCo
  • my lunch, went back inside at 1pm, walked to her office and said "I saw you called, I was on my break and try to keep that time personal -
    via CobaltNookCo
  • what did you need?" She stared at me for a moment and then explained what she needed, which was a minor update that could
    via CobaltNookCo
  • have waited or been sent as an email. She never raised the personal calls policy with me again. Neither did I.
    via CobaltNookCo
  • Happy coworkers eating lunch together in the break room.
    via Katarzyna

    Happy coworkers eating lunch together in the break room. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • Managers who believe that they are above the law need to be taught a lesson. 

    Nobody is above the law, especially when it comes to benign and banal rules in the workplace. Many of the silliest workplace agendas only exist because the CEO read a book about company productivity once and is trying to regain the reins of his company again. However, oftentimes, many of these rules don't actually help worker productivity at all; if anything, it just gives workers an excuse to get creative on the ways that they slack off. 

  • Even the most hardworking workers, with an unshakable work ethic, cannot maintain 100% productivity for the entire day. It's simply impossible. No matter which way you slice it, workers are going to find respite for their overworked brains somehow, whether it's a walk around the office, chats with coworkers, or looking at a personal text message from their spouse for one second too long in the break room. Nobody should be punished for that. 

    But that's why this story is so satisfying. 

    When management tries to show off that they're the most productive member of the group, they're going to be starkly reminded of their own human fragility, especially if it's during the company-sanctioned lunch break. Hope that call wasn't too urgent, boss!

  • saintscoutt I had a similar moment. Manager was upsetting the whole office off one day and texting me while her office was literally just next door and I ignored it. She came
    via saintscoutt
  • stomping out after a while and asked me why I hadn't replied. I looked at my computer monitors and told her I didn't have any emails or messages from her. She
    via saintscoutt
  • says she text me and I instantly hit back with "I'm working right now, why would I be looking at my phone" and she just huffed and moved on to what she messaged me about lol
    via saintscoutt
  • Stage Party Ohhh I did something similar. I worked in a hospital and we used to get insane amounts of phone calls that our phones were always busy.
    via Stage_Party
  • When our doctors ran a clinic, they did it a few floors above us but we were still the admin that booked the clinics, and sometimes the patients would sit and wait in our department (for
    via Stage_Party
  • adults) because they didn't read their letters properly. So the doctors had our personal numbers so they could call and find out if we had a patient of theirs.
    via Stage_Party
  • Management one day decided we were a using our phones too much and we had to put them on silent in our drawers like children. So
    via Stage_Party
  • I did and I told the doctors what was happening. They played along, we had missed calls from them and they started calling management saying they can't get hold of us. It took a week before they went back to normal.
    via Stage_Party

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