What would you tell your boss?

[Taurenburger]

Here in Canada, they are required to pay you for 3 hours if you report in for work, even if you work less than that.

You lucky Canadians.

For 30 minutes of work? Hell no that I'd have come over. The money gotten from that isn't worth my free time. I don't think you should feel guilty about saying you had something better to do.

[vep]

Because clearly the boss needed to leave and those little peon workers don't need their free time....that's usually the manager attitude.

I run my own business and I never treat my employees that way. It's a bad thing to generalize, what if he had some sort of emergency?

[Deleted]

If they're not calling you at unreasonable hours or with unreasonable frequency, what exactly is the problem with being willing to pick up the phone?

A lot of people, such as myself, when we leave work for the day, we leave work 100%, and unless your contract / work agreement clearly states that you are required to be available for work during evenings and free time, then I for one won't be available for my boss during my free time. The problem with me speaking to my boss during my free time is that I don't want to. It's that simple.

[Ailerist]

I run my own business and I never treat my employees that way. It's a bad thing to generalize, what if he had some sort of emergency?

This is corporate america here, not independently owned and managed small buisness. Corporate america, where you are given a budget for employees per volume for the store, and by short changing that as much as possible you rank in a yearly hefty bonus for staying below your budget. Where as you could have employed 9-10 more cashiers to deal with higher volume customer flow you will obviously take the 100,000$+ personal bonus over doing this and not a fuck will be given about long ass lines. Keep in mind, this is best buy, if the entire store's employee base quit or protested and refused to work, it would take less then a day in most cases to refill your positions as most corporations 3rd party contract through district management with temp agency's for "Crisis situations". How do I know this? I have had the extreme displeasure for working wal-mart super center in Lisbon Connecticut, Target in Lisbon Connecticut and Best Buy in Waterford Connecticut as a general manager where these practices were endorsed heavily by district management. I can assure the OP, that you put yourself in the line of fire by showing up for 30 minutes to close the store and help your fellow co-workers. Whenever you punch in to work when you are not scheduled, you better hope the human resource management has your paper work for off schedule punch ins. Because off schedule above and beyond the call of duty work ethic only grants you write ups for " unauthorized punch ins" or " unauthorized pay." Keep this in mind whenever you work for a corporation, it's not about who you work around, it's is entirely who you work for, and you will always be a " at will employee."

[Vuljatar]

It's keeping work and life separate. I personally do it because when Im off the clock, I don't want to have any connection to work at all. It's the same as not reading spam or not opening the door to people who want to talk about god or show me how the vacuum cleaner theyre selling works. I just don't want to be bothered.

That's not really an accurate analogy, since spam, jehova's witnesses, and vacuum salesmen aren't relevant to you. Your job is. I like keeping 'em separate too but your job is a part of your life, generally a pretty big part.

Well, if they wanna use it as an excuse to fire you, they probably can, but unless you're giving them other reasons, I don't anticipate it being a problem. Just remember they'll probably hold this against you

If they don't have a reason to look for a reason to fire him, they won't look for a reason to fire him. And hold it against him? Hah! As the responses in this thread clearly illustrate, he's already proven himself better than the majority simply by having the (un)common decency of answering the phone.

Feel guilty? You are a "At will employee", meaning no matter how hard you work, or what you sacrifice they don't need a reason to fire you. You may think you work for the people you work around, but truth be told if you had a flawless work ethic you would be in line more to be terminated then say someone who calls out occasionally. Why? Because they care more about their top end profit then the products/service they sell. Get a few top end pay upgrades and miss a day and watch how hard the corporate hammer falls on your head Remember, you work for a soul less corporation who could give 2 fucks and 1 less shit about you.Welcome to the adult life of capitalist america.

Try "welcome to life" or "welcome to the concept of personal responsibility". No, the fact that you have a job doesn't mean you are entitled to it--it means that you've earned it and you get to continue earning it. No shit the standards get higher the more you're paid--you don't get to just start slacking off as soon as you've done well enough to get a raise.

With an attitude like yours, you must lead a very bitter and resentful life. I'm sorry.

A lot of people, such as myself, when we leave work for the day, we leave work 100%, and unless your contract / work agreement clearly states that you are required to be available for work during evenings and free time, then I for one won't be available for my boss during my free time. The problem with me speaking to my boss during my free time is that I don't want to. It's that simple.

Picking up the phone isn't "work". It's extending a very, very basic level of courtesy to an acquaintance. How long does it take to pick up the phone, listen to a sentence or two, and say "No thanks, sorry."? Is courtesy really dead?

[Ailerist]

Originally Posted by Ailerist
Feel guilty? You are a "At will employee", meaning no matter how hard you work, or what you sacrifice they don't need a reason to fire you. You may think you work for the people you work around, but truth be told if you had a flawless work ethic you would be in line more to be terminated then say someone who calls out occasionally. Why? Because they care more about their top end profit then the products/service they sell. Get a few top end pay upgrades and miss a day and watch how hard the corporate hammer falls on your head Remember, you work for a soul less corporation who could give 2 fucks and 1 less shit about you.Welcome to the adult life of capitalist america.
Try "welcome to life" or "welcome to the concept of personal responsibility". No, the fact that you have a job doesn't mean you are entitled to it--it means that you've earned it and you get to continue earning it. No shit the standards get higher the more you're paid--you don't get to just start slacking off as soon as you've done well enough to get a raise.

With an attitude like yours, you must lead a very bitter and resentful life. I'm sorry.

Try working as a 60 hour a week salaried manager for walmart, target, and part time salaried management for best buy for over a decade. And no, thankfully I own my own Painting/landscaping company now and while I cannot say I am any less stressed about surviving I do however have a clear conscience not having to work for these pieces of shit

[Deleted]

That's not really an accurate analogy, since spam, jehova's witnesses, and vacuum salesmen aren't relevant to you. Your job is. I like keeping 'em separate too but your job is a part of your life, generally a pretty big part.

It's not when you work to live, not the other way around. It's exactly the same. When I'm off the clock, work doesn't exist for me, I don't think about it and don't want anything from there coming to haunt my free time. It's a business contract, I trade my work for their money same as trading money for groceries at a store. I don't want people from supermarkets or shoe stores calling me either and inviting me to see their special offers or doing them favors.

[Silhouette of Seraphim]

This is corporate america here, not independently owned and managed small buisness. Corporate america, where you are given a budget for employees per volume for the store, and by short changing that as much as possible you rank in a yearly hefty bonus for staying below your budget. Where as you could have employed 9-10 more cashiers to deal with higher volume customer flow you will obviously take the 100,000$+ personal bonus over doing this and not a fuck will be given about long ass lines. Keep in mind, this is best buy, if the entire store's employee base quit or protested and refused to work, it would take less then a day in most cases to refill your positions as most corporations 3rd party contract through district management with temp agency's for "Crisis situations". How do I know this? I have had the extreme displeasure for working wal-mart super center in Lisbon Connecticut, Target in Lisbon Connecticut and Best Buy in Waterford Connecticut as a general manager where these practices were endorsed heavily by district management. I can assure the OP, that you put yourself in the line of fire by showing up for 30 minutes to close the store and help your fellow co-workers. Whenever you punch in to work when you are not scheduled, you better hope the human resource management has your paper work for off schedule punch ins. Because off schedule above and beyond the call of duty work ethic only grants you write ups for " unauthorized punch ins" or " unauthorized pay." Keep this in mind whenever you work for a corporation, it's not about who you work around, it's is entirely who you work for, and you will always be a " at will employee."

This guy here pretty much nailed it.

Enjoy your time at Best Buy. After a couple of pay increases totaling around an additional cool $0.25 an hour, you're on the chopping block.

Also, it's a monkey job. I wouldn't have spent my free time going in either.

[Tribunal]

Picking up the phone isn't "work". It's extending a very, very basic level of courtesy to an acquaintance. How long does it take to pick up the phone, listen to a sentence or two, and say "No thanks, sorry."? Is courtesy really dead?

The bosses could also extend courtesy by not having extensive scheduling issues. My boss changes the schedule at the last minute constantly, and then I look like the dick for being the one who made plans based on what was supposed to be the schedule when the schedule was supposed to be final.

And yes, some bosses do 'use saying no as an excuse' to get you in trouble. It was brought up in my performance review. He may not be able to directly fire me/write me up/etc for it, but it can certainly affect his view. And since, as previously mentioned, he has quite the selective memory, he's unfairly using the mistaken perception that I never cover a shift/come in/etc against me. Happens all the time. You're the hourly peon, they're the salaried employee, you lose in 90% of any conflict.

Point is, I usually answer if I notice the call/am not in the middle of something else. I'm not glued to my phone on my days off. Chances are, if I didn't answer the call from work, I didn't answer a friend/family member in the same time period either. I can understand the "just don't ever answer" mentality though.

[Skippy88]

Depends on a number of factors:

1. How high in the food chain are you?
2. Does this happen often?
3. How long did he expect you to work?
4. Would it have interfered with your raiding?

My boss called me Sunday night at home for instance. He was doing payroll but his login information had been cleared by mistake and wanted to know if I had the information. I didn't at home but I had them at work and since I was closer I was all prepared to go in and get the information. Luckily he figured it out.

[Vuljatar]

The bosses could also extend courtesy by not having extensive scheduling issues. My boss changes the schedule at the last minute constantly, and then I look like the dick for being the one who made plans based on what was supposed to be the schedule when the schedule was supposed to be final.

And that's a situation that is extremely rare compared to some asshole highschool kid ditching work and leaving a shift that now needs to be replaced. It doesn't matter what experiences you've had in the past with bad bosses, as a general rule if they call and ask if you can work they have a reason to do it.

And yes, some bosses do 'use saying no as an excuse' to get you in trouble. It was brought up in my performance review. He may not be able to directly fire me/write me up/etc for it, but it can certainly affect his view. And since, as previously mentioned, he has quite the selective memory, he's unfairly using the mistaken perception that I never cover a shift/come in/etc against me. Happens all the time. You're the hourly peon, they're the salaried employee, you lose in 90% of any conflict.

Again, it's not nearly as bad as refusing to answer the phone.

Point is, I usually answer if I notice the call/am not in the middle of something else. I'm not glued to my phone on my days off. Chances are, if I didn't answer the call from work, I didn't answer a friend/family member in the same time period either. I can understand the "just don't ever answer" mentality though.

Then you're not a dick, like most of the people in this thread seem to be...

[Deleted]

I wouldn't have answered my phone.

Pretty much this.

[ghrolt]

Not your problem.

The way it works here is that when people do a "No show" the boss steps up.

[Pendulous]

Could someone please help me understand this mindset?

Do you not trust yourself to be able to say "no"?

Do you think you will somehow be in trouble for saying no? (Protip, being "the guy who never answers his phone" is worse than being "the guy who doesn't want to come in when we call him")

Or is two minutes on the phone just too big an investment of time?

Really, what happened to common courtesy?

It's not about being able to say "no". It's what employers will do to you if you DO say "no".

[Zangeiti]

Id probably Do what you do... Go on with my day then go to work and never talk about it and probably make an excuse like... My apartment flooded.

[Thetruth1400]

What you did OP was fine. By the time you were dressed and over there, the store would have been closing anyway unless you were in your uniform and live right next door to the place.

Next time, screen your call. Let it go to voice mail, then decide if it's worth it to you to call back. If you decide not to and it's brought up the next day, say, "Sorry, I missed the call." Simple as that.

Saying no in many businesses is basically grounds for a manager to be on your butt, waiting for the simplest mistake, then firing you. They think their word is law and as a result if you don't follow it, you should be fired. That's why letting it go to voice mail is a much better option.

I don't understand though why the person that was supposed to leave at 6 couldn't just tough it out for another half hour.

[Vuljatar]

It's not about being able to say "no". It's what employers will do to you if you DO say "no".

Saying no in many businesses is basically grounds for a manager to be on your butt, waiting for the simplest mistake, then firing you. They think their word is law and as a result if you don't follow it, you should be fired. That's why letting it go to voice mail is a much better option.

So the general assumption here is that your boss is always looking for any possible excuse to fire you. That's a completely idiotic assumption but okay, I'll humor you.

What reason do you have for thinking that not answering your phone is better than answering and saying no? Because as someone who has experienced this from both sides I can tell you without any doubt in my mind that being "the guy who doesn't answer his phone" is worse than "the guy who doesn't want extra hours".

[kivipää]

Do you not trust yourself to be able to say "no"?

Really, what happened to common courtesy?

Since people really seem to have hard time grapsing for some reason, maybe they live in wealthier European nations or something;

People do not distrust their ability to say no, but their bosses ability to not hold it against them, even in face of unreasonable requests. Especially in places like US where job security is comparatively non-existent, it's a really bad idea to piss off a person who holds all power over your livelihood, no matter how unjustified his ire might be. In such places is much safer to hold onto plausible deniability rather than risking drawing negative attention on yourself.

[Vuljatar]

Since people really seem to have hard time grapsing for some reason, maybe they live in wealthier European nations or something;

I live in Texas, a right-to-work state with at-will employment (and I'm so glad it is).

People do not distrust their ability to say no, but their bosses ability to not hold it against them, even in face of unreasonable requests. Especially in places like US where job security is comparatively non-existent, it's a really bad idea to piss off a person who holds all power over your livelihood, no matter how unjustified his ire might be. In such places is much safer to hold onto plausible deniability rather than risking drawing negative attention on yourself.

My job security doesn't come from the government declaring that I have some sort of entitlement, it comes from me consistently doing a good job with a professional demeanor and maintaining a good working relationship with my coworkers--as it should.

And no, not answering your phone isn't any sort of plausible deniability. If your phone is off or doesn't get picked up more than 25% of the time, nobody is going to assume you just miss it all the time. Everybody will assume that you are choosing to not pick it up. And that's worse than answering and saying no. Not much worse, but it's absolutely not better in any way.

[kivipää]

My job security doesn't come from the government declaring that I have some sort of entitlement, it comes from me consistently doing a good job with a professional demeanor and maintaining a good working relationship with my coworkers--as it should.

And none of that guarantees your boss won't just fire you anyway if he somehow dislikes you, so in essence, you have no job security. And even if you have a reasonable, professional boss that can be reasonably interacted with, that doesn't mean there aren't droves of superiors out there, especially in lower-end job providers, to whom nothing much matters and every employer is an expendable potential scapegoat or stress venting avenue

I do also recognize that never picking up will eventually become obvious. It wasn't the focus of my message, as i tried to simply elaborate on why this kind of mindset exists. Personally, living and working under such conditions I'd recommend a selective answering method. Me, myself? I only have worked one job where'd you'd get calls outside set work hours on your list, and those were universally known to be lucrative extra earnings so I picked every one up and said yes to all of them. Given such a job, I would still not intentionally leave calls picked.
I live in a "wellfare nation" so I'm guaranteed to never be in a situation where I get a call and suddenly don't know how I'll pay rent next week, no matter the reason save from breaking the law or severe brach of contract. Unsuprisingly, this kind of worker security also means considerably less powertripping scumbag bosses. Indeed, most horror stories about such occurrences are often foreign in nature.