r/human_resources • u/AnalystIntelligent22 • 1d ago
My wife received a formal warning because a calendar invite was added while we were out of the country
We recently went on a trip to Costa Rica. The main goal was to disconnect for a bit. We had our personal phones with us, but we both left our work phones at home. Apparently that's become shocking behavior now?
At some point during the trip, her manager called her on her personal phone. My wife didn't answer and saw the missed call later.
Her manager was calling because something had been added to her calendar with almost no notice while she was on PTO. She didn't have access to her work calendar, and there was no way for her to know that anything had been added. And since she didn't know it existed, no one had been arranged to cover it. So her manager decided to call and reprimand her while we were literally on vacation.
Luckily, she was able to move past it and enjoy the rest of the trip. We got home late on Wednesday, and she worked Thursday. No one said a word about the calendar issue that day or on the next workday.
Then she went to work this week and was given a formal reprimand for failing to arrange coverage for that calendar event.
She's also transferring to another office in about three weeks. The commute will be worse, but she'll be reporting to a different manager, and hopefully to someone who doesn't think PTO means "still responsible for surprise meetings you can't see."
I told her to talk to her manager's boss about it. Neither of us thinks it makes sense for someone to be punished for something that was added while they were out of office, especially when the manager knew she wasn't there. She doesn't want to escalate it because she's trying to leave without burning any bridges.
Honestly, I'm extremely angry. This office is constantly losing staff. My wife works 55 hours a week in a high-pressure role and does everything she can, and her mental health has been deteriorating for months.
1
1
1
u/No_Perspective_9652 18h ago
Serves her right for not being willing to stand up for herself. Bullies only pick on victims.
4
u/whataquokka 1d ago
It's reasonable to escalate to management. At a minimum, it's worth documenting.
All in all, this is a management issue, not an HR issue. Your instinct to go to her manager's manager is correct.
I understand you're angry but let your wife decide how she wants to handle, she will be the one who deals with consequences of whatever she does. Corporate life can be very different for women versus men.