Boss continually contacts employee after work hours with non-emergency asks: 'I'm muting her number going forward'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 2, 2026 9:45 AM EDT

Do you answer work calls after work hours? 

Every job requires something different of you. You have to set your boundaries where you can, or else you might end up in a situation you might regret. This is different depending on where you work and who you work with. The person in this story was fed up with the way their organization was running, and they wanted to set firm boundaries around it. Unfortunately, this wasn't met with a lot of understanding. They wanted to keep their work life separate from their personal life, which was a reasonable expectation. Their boss, though, didn't seem to think that was a good idea. 

When you're not at work, you're not at work. Maybe if you're a business owner or you have a really demanding job, you're used to answering phone calls after hours. But if you're just a regular joe and you only get paid to do your job, then you might bristle at the ask for more. That's what was happening here. This worker wasn't willing to do more than they were paid for. This is an understandable stance, especially when you can't actually help with the problem at hand. They worked completely in person, and that meant that they didn't have access to any of the necessary information after the fact. This is a good excuse to not work when you're not at work. But the boss did not understand this. 

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    A stressed man looks at his phone

  • I'm Not Remote Do Not Text Me

    I work an office job in a physical building. I don't engage with or do work outside of office hours. This is the 3rd time my office manager has texted me off the clock with non-emergency questions. My company functions in 1998, there is no remote option or access to any information without being in office.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • What sends me over the edge is that this time she asked me specifics about sh she could have easily looked up AT WORK or simply asked the customer she talked to without bothering me at all. I don't engage with or track work things when I'm not physically there. How the f would I know what specific items a delivery driver failed to drop off if I can't look at the information.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • I'm muting her number going forward, idgaf if there's a work emergency. There's no reason to do this to people. My company ships supplies to businesses, there is absolutely nothing so extremely important that it needs to be texted about off the clock.
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  • If it was my boss asking about the $35k shipment where I am point if contact, fine. I'll answer that. But a lightweight customer service question? F all the way off. BTW I'm absolutely talking to my boss about adding billable hours for being asked to perform labor off the clock. 10 minutes is 10 minutes. Pay me.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644

  • Commenters gave their takes on the situation.

    PeachPandaStar Remember, if you're not allowed to WFH and they insist on being in office then that also means not answering anything work related once you leave that office. You're doing the right thing.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • HZLFC The best thing about my company's RTO was being able to slam my laptop shut and walk out of the building at the end of the day. If I can't work remote, then my laptop stays on my desk and I'll have to look at your request when I see it in the morning.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644

  • When you have a problem at work, it can feel like you're all alone. Unless you have a coworker whose ear you can bend who truly understands the situation, you might feel like you're at sea all by yourself out there. This is where the internet comes in handy sometimes. The internet can be a great sounding board for all the problems you have in your life. Plus, people have experiences that might relate to yours, and that can be infinitely helpful. Keep reading to see what happened here and let us know what you think.

  • A man looks stressed at his phone at night
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    A man looks stressed at his phone at night

  • BGKY_Sparky I'm never more glad to be in a trades job than when I read stuff like this. F working after hours. I have a 2 text/5min limit on my boss. contacting me after my shift. If I can't fix it that quickly, he needs to call me in and pay the 4-hour minimum call in pay. One time a contractor
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • tripped a breaker while refinishing the floors on a Sunday. I got called in to fix it. I was on the clock 15 minutes, but because of the 4 hour minimum, and because Sundays pay double time, I got 8 hours of pay.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • zleuth 10 minutes is 15 minutes when you round to the nearest quarter hour.
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  • cooky561 My laptop goes off at 5pm, whether I am on an office visit or WFH. No-one should put up with this stuff.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • Primordial_Gravemind My place has a thing where if you're called it's a minimum of 15mins of OT. My boss has started texting me rather than calling so I don't get that. So I no longer respond to texts.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • PdfDotExe work emergency If no one's life is at risk, it's not an emergency. And I frankly think it's disrespectful to first responders to call things. "emergencies" when they deal with actual life-or- d th emergencies.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • br0d30 I treat it as a give-and-take deal. My boss doesn't track whether I'm showing up 5 min late or taking 5 min longer lunches, and in return I'm not going to nickel and dime them for eating up 5 min of my time outside of work hours if I'm not busy with something else.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644
  • My boss learned pretty early on that he loses emergency access to me outside of work the instant that he starts worrying about whether I'm punctual within working hours.
    via Antique-Sorbet-6644

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boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working toxic-boss workplace bad bosses Reddit toxic-work-environment
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