9 to 5 employee declines work call at 10 PM, gets placed on performance improvement plan afterwards: 'I questioned whether there was any urgency'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jun 15, 2026 9:15 AM EDT

Is it acceptable for a company to expect constant availability from its employees?

The rise of hybrid working arrangements has been beneficial in a lot of ways, but one of its big downsides is that it leaves a lot of workers feeling like they can never truly clock out. When you can, technically speaking, do much of your job anytime and anyplace, it becomes easy for it to creep into the hours that you used to designate as not for work.

It goes without saying that certain managers and businesses will also try to take advantage of this theoretical permanent availability, making unreasonable demands that act as a test of an employee's dedication to a job. More often than not, this kind of thing is highly unfair, but it could be argued that this is exactly the point. Sometimes they want workers to perform as workaholics to satisfy the idea that they are getting value for money from their hire, and other times, they want to set them up to fail so they can punish them. Either way, it is an unpleasant situation to be in as an employee, even if you truly love and are good at your job.

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  • A representation of an employee standing and holding an open laptop against a white background
    via Curated Lifestyle (Unsplash+)

    A representation of an employee standing and holding an open laptop against a white background

  • In this story, a QA engineer was puzzled to be called by his team lead at 10 PM, asking if he was prepared to join a meeting in a few minutes. After establishing that there was no emergency, he declined the offer, as it was outside his normal working hours and he was otherwise occupied.

    It seemed that this was the wrong move, as the next day, he was presented with a performance improvement plan by HR. He was confused, as he had always been praised for his good performance in his job. He wanted to know how he should act on this going forward.

  • Put on a PIP right after refusing a 10 PM work call. Looking for advice.

    I work as a QA Engineer for a service- based company in India and am currently deployed to a client.
    via AloneWolf963
  • A few days ago, around 10 PM, my Team Lead called me and asked if I was ready to join a Teams meeting within 15 minutes.
    via AloneWolf963
  • At the time, I was out having dinner with my family. I asked whether there was any urgency or production issue that required immediate attention. I was told only that my presence was required. Since I was with my family and no specific urgency was
    via AloneWolf963
  • communicated, I asked whether the meeting could be rescheduled. My Team Lead disagreed, and I ultimately did not join the meeting.
    via AloneWolf963
  • For context: I work a regular day shift. I was not on-call. I was not supporting a different time zone.
    via AloneWolf963
  • As a QA engineer, I have joined plenty of late-night calls in the past, including calls after midnight when there were genuine production incidents or urgent issues. The part that surprised me was what happened next.
    via AloneWolf963
  • The following day, I received a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) from HR.
    via AloneWolf963
  • What makes this confusing is that for the last two years I received Best Achiever awards, and no serious performance concerns had been formally raised with me before this. I also have a habit of documenting my work and contributions, especially during appraisal cycles.
    via AloneWolf963
  • I'm trying to understand whether I'm connecting unrelated events because of the timing, or whether others have seen situations like this before.
    via AloneWolf963
  • A representation of a hand holding an iPhone with its lock screen open against a blue background
    via Quilia

    A representation of a hand holding an iPhone with its lock screen open against a blue background

  • Hot-Comfort8839 The 10 PM call was to put you on the PIP. Missing the 10 PM call didn't cause this. They were already going to do it.
    via Hot-Comfort8839
  • Toyota Corolla Wake up your manager at 5 am to open up the office... actually your manager probably has the same issues, pester the private equity people at all hours of the day
    via Toyota__Corolla
  • Briz-TheKiller- PIP will means you will be terminated soon, start seeking new opportunities asap
    via Briz-TheKiller-
  • FrankenPaul They pre-planned your firing, the unsociable hours work call was a ruse so that they have a "legitimate" reason to let you go. Live and learn.
    via FrankenPaul
  • ems777 They want to get rid of you but they risk liability because you are a high achiever who has won awards consistently with your company. This is why companies created the PIP.
    via ems777
  • My advice is never resign. Tell them you will do the PIP - if you put in a reasonable effort, which basically means you are showing up and not just PTO'ing every day, they can't fire you until the end of the PIP period. In the meantime,
    via ems777
  • treat it as a notice of termination (because thats what a PIP is) and immediately start looking for a job.
    via ems777
  • Spektral1 Treat it as it is, a risk of termination. Do the needful at work but start your own exit process, as if that are going to do this to you they aren't worth your dedication.
    via Spektral1
  • pwnageface Fairly easy here- they'll ask you to sign a document. Before doing so, simply ask, "can you please show me the policy that I violated?" Sounds like pretty easy cut and dry here. Also assuming it would work like how it does in the US.
    via pwnageface

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