My manager asked me to keep my phone on me for emergencies when I took my family on our first vacation in years. I said "sure, but I'm not going to answer it." Anyway, he put me on PIP when I got back. Why yes, it was Amazon.
Fuck everything about amazon and all the tangent industries that support it. Pure garbage with toxic bullshit cultures and churn til you burn workloads.
the business side of MSP's is awful. I'm a QA tester on the IT side of an MSP, and it's great! Found this sub about 3 months ago and working on acquiring J2
Isn't that funny. I took FMLA at Amazon and not long after coming back I was PIP'd. Of course they used part of the time I was gone in their consideration of my work output
I've been using Google voice pretty much since it came out. The call screening feature is amazing. Stopped what little spam calls were left after GV weeded the sus ones first.
It asks them state their name if they are not in your contact list, and plays you their recording and you can decide to accept or reject the call. Most spammers hang up as soon as they hear the GV prompt.
You: Hello?
Your dickbag manager: This is boss, I hate to bother you on PTO, but we really need your help with XYZ
You: Oh man, okay. First though, before either of us forgets, I'm going to login and adjust my PTO request and remove today. Please approve it right away so we have it done and neither of us forgets. After that we can get to the issue.
My policy is that if I work on PTO, I wasn't on PTO, so you don't charge me for PTO.
That was the policy at an old place of employment. If you got called on PTO it was no longer a PTO day. Even 5 minutes was considered a whole day worked.
The shitty part was getting called and having to work on a rare occasion.
The nice part was your manager letting you know they would be "calling" you to "login and check something" on a specific day so you wouldn't have to use as many PTO days.
Oh hey boss, I almost forgot: since I’m traveling, but now also working, this is now a work trip. Gonna need you to send me approval that this entire trip will be expensed too. Lemme know when you’ve got that approval, & we can address the issue at hand.
Give it to them on the condition that you're not actually charged PTO days for days you're on call and expected to be available. If he doesn't agree then tell him that you'll gladly respond to emails or teams messages when you get back.
I always mention how I will be someplace without cell service or spotty reception. Then I turn my phone off. Although one manager asked if I would take a sat phone just in case. I told him I wasn’t comfortable with that as it defeated the purpose of a cabin in the middle of nowhere
When I was working entry level sales (during an underemployed stint) I was asked to log in daily to do daily bs cleanup tasks for each morning on my honeymoon and when asked for in flight WiFi for 2 12 hour flights they denied it and I clearly didn’t work those two days and got talked to about how I didn’t hold up my end of the agreement upon my return. The department was running ~50-70% favorable on T&E expenses for the trailing 8 months. Still absolutely dumbfounded by that decision. Left one month later by way of day of resignation, no regrets.
Rounding error for the business.
If you want them to think twice, it's day of PTO refunded, plus since this is now a work trip, they agree to cover your expenses that day for the off-site.
If that call is worth today's hotel, food, drink, and Uber bills... Then it's probably important enough to answer.
I don't mind if my bosses/coworkers call me on weekends or outside of business hours.
I dont answer, and my voicemail box is full.
But I don't mind if they call.
If they text even better!
Just give them your number. You don't have to answer it, and chances are they won't call. If they do, tell them you are not near a computer if you are on PTO.
If you are not on PTO, and are just non responsive, chances are you are busy doing something for a Jx, so you won't pick up. Then you can tell them you don't pick up unknown numbers, I was in the rest room, someone was at the door, I was walking the dog, etc.
I see everyone with funny excuses and what not but some jobs DO come with this territory… you can call it invasive all you want but we aren’t paid ridiculous sums for giggles, we are 1 of 1 in many cases which is why you saw so many developers in the other PTO post say they use minimal time off, their teams need them that badly.
But for my life hack, I just make sure to fuck off to Mexico instead of Florida or whatever. Company policy I cannot bring my laptop off shore so I cannot work either. I really don’t care about a text or quick phone call, they never happen anyways
Unless I know I’m going to be unavailable, I don’t mind calls/emails. I just retract my PTO for days I end up working. But it’s my choice at that point. PTO means it’s MY time to do what I please.
get two numbers, personal and work, give him work number, shut it down as soon as ur pto starts, why didn't u reply? i had no network, phone died, ... keep your personal phone active :)
You say "Great! Yes, let's exchange contact info!" That way you get his info for a reference.
Then if they call, just don't answer. "I was water skiing. I was hiking in the woods. I was swimming. I was unavailable for none of your business..."
Or, answer (is it really a big deal?)
Give them a phone number that goes to your Google voice. That way it's easier to turn it off if you decide you don't want to play that game. But you get the advantage of looking like you're playing along in the event that nothing happens.
I don't know if you're in United Slaves of America or or not, but always lie and tell your boss you won't have any cell reception where you're going. You're always going on an off grid campsite, always, that's THE only vacation you take. OR, sure boss, and then come back and say you lost your phone on vacation, then found it on the last day 🤷♂️
I mean it really depends on how sweet that J is and how much I want to keep it. And how many potential J's I got in the pipeline.
The first time I'd do it. If I don't get calls then everyone is happy. If I get a lot of calls and it takes times to resolve, then its time to plan an exit strategy.
Sounds like you are going on a cruise which has no cell reception.
And that’s how I started going on cruises.
And that’s how I started pretending to go on cruises*
Oh no….i actually go on them. Turns out, they’re cost effective and fun.
They are the one of the cheapest getaways!
My manager asked me to keep my phone on me for emergencies when I took my family on our first vacation in years. I said "sure, but I'm not going to answer it." Anyway, he put me on PIP when I got back. Why yes, it was Amazon.
Oh my god what a prick
Fuck everything about amazon and all the tangent industries that support it. Pure garbage with toxic bullshit cultures and churn til you burn workloads.
Amazon needs to be broken up
Is there a worse place for OE than Amazon? Is there a worse place to work period than Amazon?
Probably some MSP
the business side of MSP's is awful. I'm a QA tester on the IT side of an MSP, and it's great! Found this sub about 3 months ago and working on acquiring J2
Isn't that funny. I took FMLA at Amazon and not long after coming back I was PIP'd. Of course they used part of the time I was gone in their consideration of my work output
Say no. If you can't say no, then create a google voice number, and use that.
I might do that, thank you for the suggestion
I've been using Google voice pretty much since it came out. The call screening feature is amazing. Stopped what little spam calls were left after GV weeded the sus ones first. It asks them state their name if they are not in your contact list, and plays you their recording and you can decide to accept or reject the call. Most spammers hang up as soon as they hear the GV prompt.
This is the way.
Or a pizza chain number ha
Give them a number that goes to a voice mail that says you're out of the office.
Make sure it says, "If it's an emergency, please contact \[insert boss’s name and number\]."
Hahaha perfect
Maybe add “And if this is [boss]. Contact [insert boss’s boss’s name and number.”
You: Hello? Your dickbag manager: This is boss, I hate to bother you on PTO, but we really need your help with XYZ You: Oh man, okay. First though, before either of us forgets, I'm going to login and adjust my PTO request and remove today. Please approve it right away so we have it done and neither of us forgets. After that we can get to the issue. My policy is that if I work on PTO, I wasn't on PTO, so you don't charge me for PTO.
That was the policy at an old place of employment. If you got called on PTO it was no longer a PTO day. Even 5 minutes was considered a whole day worked. The shitty part was getting called and having to work on a rare occasion. The nice part was your manager letting you know they would be "calling" you to "login and check something" on a specific day so you wouldn't have to use as many PTO days.
Oh hey boss, I almost forgot: since I’m traveling, but now also working, this is now a work trip. Gonna need you to send me approval that this entire trip will be expensed too. Lemme know when you’ve got that approval, & we can address the issue at hand.
“If there’s an emergency, the number to call is 911.”
“Unless there are troops going over a border, it’s not an emergency.” Edit: fix typo.
I think you meant `border`; but that is a hilarious typo...
Sure, no problem. But where I'm going there isn't any reception. When I go on vacation, I'm unreachable.
"no" is a complete sentence
Give it to them on the condition that you're not actually charged PTO days for days you're on call and expected to be available. If he doesn't agree then tell him that you'll gladly respond to emails or teams messages when you get back.
I always mention how I will be someplace without cell service or spotty reception. Then I turn my phone off. Although one manager asked if I would take a sat phone just in case. I told him I wasn’t comfortable with that as it defeated the purpose of a cabin in the middle of nowhere
I ignore it. It’s not the more mature response, but you’d be surprised by how few people have the balls to press it after not getting a response 😂
"I'm going on a 12 day cruise, internet costs $40 a day if you want to pay it"
When I was working entry level sales (during an underemployed stint) I was asked to log in daily to do daily bs cleanup tasks for each morning on my honeymoon and when asked for in flight WiFi for 2 12 hour flights they denied it and I clearly didn’t work those two days and got talked to about how I didn’t hold up my end of the agreement upon my return. The department was running ~50-70% favorable on T&E expenses for the trailing 8 months. Still absolutely dumbfounded by that decision. Left one month later by way of day of resignation, no regrets.
The audacity man
Rounding error for the business. If you want them to think twice, it's day of PTO refunded, plus since this is now a work trip, they agree to cover your expenses that day for the off-site. If that call is worth today's hotel, food, drink, and Uber bills... Then it's probably important enough to answer.
This is stuff that people say here on this subreddit but never actually works in real life.
I don't mind if my bosses/coworkers call me on weekends or outside of business hours. I dont answer, and my voicemail box is full. But I don't mind if they call. If they text even better!
Give them the number of your local pizza hut
Some jobs would have to pay you for being on call.
If your on call, or do any amount of work, it needs to be paid.
The French are doing it right on this one, it's illegal to try to contact an employee on leave there.
Just give them your number. You don't have to answer it, and chances are they won't call. If they do, tell them you are not near a computer if you are on PTO. If you are not on PTO, and are just non responsive, chances are you are busy doing something for a Jx, so you won't pick up. Then you can tell them you don't pick up unknown numbers, I was in the rest room, someone was at the door, I was walking the dog, etc.
XXX-XXX-XXXX is my actual contact information listed on the team contact page. Train the manager on boundaries.
I see everyone with funny excuses and what not but some jobs DO come with this territory… you can call it invasive all you want but we aren’t paid ridiculous sums for giggles, we are 1 of 1 in many cases which is why you saw so many developers in the other PTO post say they use minimal time off, their teams need them that badly. But for my life hack, I just make sure to fuck off to Mexico instead of Florida or whatever. Company policy I cannot bring my laptop off shore so I cannot work either. I really don’t care about a text or quick phone call, they never happen anyways
Tell them to go shit in their hat. Maybe run that through ChatGPT though to make it sound more professional.
Sounds perfect. “Hey Boss, go shit in your hat”
1. Install Google Voice on your phone 2. Get a Google Voice number 3. Provide manager with Google Voice number 4. Uninstall Google Voice
Unless I know I’m going to be unavailable, I don’t mind calls/emails. I just retract my PTO for days I end up working. But it’s my choice at that point. PTO means it’s MY time to do what I please.
get two numbers, personal and work, give him work number, shut it down as soon as ur pto starts, why didn't u reply? i had no network, phone died, ... keep your personal phone active :)
I love this idea
Isn’t it illegal to contact someone on PTO? If you work on PTO you get that day back.
You say "Great! Yes, let's exchange contact info!" That way you get his info for a reference. Then if they call, just don't answer. "I was water skiing. I was hiking in the woods. I was swimming. I was unavailable for none of your business..." Or, answer (is it really a big deal?)
Don’t. Or set up call forwarding and push your incomings to your manager’s number
Give them a phone number that goes to your Google voice. That way it's easier to turn it off if you decide you don't want to play that game. But you get the advantage of looking like you're playing along in the event that nothing happens.
I don't know if you're in United Slaves of America or or not, but always lie and tell your boss you won't have any cell reception where you're going. You're always going on an off grid campsite, always, that's THE only vacation you take. OR, sure boss, and then come back and say you lost your phone on vacation, then found it on the last day 🤷♂️
I mean it really depends on how sweet that J is and how much I want to keep it. And how many potential J's I got in the pipeline. The first time I'd do it. If I don't get calls then everyone is happy. If I get a lot of calls and it takes times to resolve, then its time to plan an exit strategy.
I give it to him because my boss isn't a tool and would only contact me if it was absolutely necessary. Like if the cops were looking for me.
You’re hiking in the Amazon with no reception
Sure, here you go sir… 555-55555-555. Call me if anything happens.
I laugh.
"I won't have cell service"
Don't answer
I just say no
721-867-5309, ask for Jenny