Ask HN: My boss ask I take my emails while on vacation • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: My boss ask I take my emails while on vacation

#111

Post by SamWhited » Wed, Jun 10, 2020, 3:25 AM UTC

nepthar wrote: post #31

SamWhited wrote: post #15

With the disclaimer that I am not a manager: this is somewhat normal at smaller companies I've been at, but it is still completely unreasonable to ask you to check emails while on vacation, even at a 6 person company. I have always taken a hard line on this as a non-manager, and so should you. If they give you actual vacation hours that they have to pay out instead of nonsense like the "unlimited vacation" policies a…

Re: "nonsense like "unlimited vacation" - I've worked at a few companies with unlimited vacation and felt no such pressure. I not only took more vacation than the typical American two weeks, but it gave me flexibility to take advantage of things like last minute ski/camping trips. This really allowed me to put my life first and be a relaxed productive member of the company. I gather that some folks do feel this kind…

Lucky you. It's not just a feeling though (although there is that). My bosses have basically all constantly asked me when I was coming back if I tried to take more than a few days, and with no chance to earn vacation time there was no chance of it being paid out when I left.

Re: Ask HN: My boss ask I take my emails while on vacation

#112

Post by andreasduess » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 12:44 AM UTC

bouchardm wrote: post #24

cjbprime wrote: post #16

This is somewhat cultural: it would not be considered unacceptable in many startups in the US, where I am right now. But your username and grammar make me wonder whether you're French and in France, are you? If you are, I think it may actually be an illegal request. European attitudes towards work are extremely different to US ones, which are themselves more relaxed than e.g. East Asian. From https://newatlas.com/rig…

Haha you almost got me, french yes, france no: Québec Canada :) I will look up the law to be sure !

Hi from another Canadian. Here in Ontario it is illegal to ask employees to perform any work-related tasks while on holiday and I am 99.9% sure the same is true in Quebec (we have an office in Montreal). Whether you wish to enforce that is up to you. We actually ask people to unplug and recharge in my company - it makes for better outcomes long term.

Re: Ask HN: My boss ask I take my emails while on vacation

#113

Post by anoncake » Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 2:07 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #106

anoncake wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By definition, you get paid for 0 hours of work during a vacation. Working infinity times as much as you have to is a big deal.

I, and most people in the US paid a salary, continue to get paid during vacation days.

Obviously?

Re: Ask HN: My boss ask I take my emails while on vacation

#114

Post by jameshush » Fri, Jun 12, 2020, 4:20 PM UTC

foogazi wrote: post #95

jameshush wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is all great advice. My company uses slack instead of email, what’s helped me is silencing slack but telling people they can call me if there’s a fire. Before then I set up all the systems I can to prevent anything from slipping through, so I haven’t been called on vacation yet. It’s all about setting expectations and delegating responsibility in advance.

Having a backup plan helps. Also making full use of the available tools: - calendar OOO messages - automated email replies - slack status messages showing OOO dates

Yup! All these are very simple things you can do. People forget to do the simple things because they think work is more complicated then it is.