I’m up for a promotion. I’m currently the lowest level position in the company. I am the temporary assistant manager until the official hiring of an assistant manager. There will be interviews for the official assistant manager soon, which I want to apply for. Others will also apply, so I’m not guaranteed the promotion.
My general manager’s boss (let’s call them Taylor) texted my work phone in a group chat with my general manager (call them Dana) and another assistant manager (call them Alex) an hour after we closed, asking what the sales numbers were. Everyone in the group chat has access to look up those numbers, including Taylor. I don’t look at my work phone if I’m not clocked in. By the morning, Alex had answered the question. Dana was out of town for that weekend and pretty much said before leaving that they wouldn’t be available.
Taylor and Dana are salaried, Alex and I are hourly without any paid “on-call” hours. Since I closed the store, I guess I was supposed to have been the one to answer. But like I said, I don’t look at my work phone after clocking out. I wasn’t around when the conversation took place, so I don’t know what was said; but, Taylor said something to Dana about me not responding. First of all, I didn’t have Taylor’s contact in my phone. I have never communicated with Taylor other than face to face and email using work email accounts. Taylor did not announce in the text message who they were. So I had no clue. I also did not have Alex’s contact in my phone. I had Dana’s contact in my phone. Taylor texted Dana and Alex on their personal phones, me on my work. To me, it was myself, Dana, and two unknown people in the group text. I learned from this group to NEVER give your personal phone number to your boss.
Dana told me that as a manager, I basically work 24/7 and need to have my work phone on me at all times in case Taylor calls/texts. Hell no. Absolutely not. If I’m going to be “working” 24/7 I need to be paid 24/7. I have my own life. I’m not going to answer my work phone if I’m not clocked in.
How do I set this boundary? I don’t want to say something now that would cause me to not get the promotion. I also don’t want to always have my phone on me until I’m officially promoted (or not promoted) and then try to have the boundaries conversation. Cuz I feel like I’ll look like a bad person and then have a target on my back. At my job, vacation is not allowed during the Christmas season without Taylor’s permission. I’m in a long distance relationship and getting together for Christmas is a huge deal for my SO and I. Taylor has always approved my vacation requests during Christmas in the past. I don’t want my request to be denied in the future by telling Taylor I’m not going to respond off the clock. I live in an “at-will” state, meaning I can be fired for any reason. Setting this boundary could very well be one of those reasons.
TL;DR: Boss’s boss expects me to have my work phone on me at all times 24/7 to answer any calls/texts even though I’m not salaried nor do I get an “on-call” hourly rate. Literally $0 for doing what they want.
This is a throwaway account to keep myself safe from retaliation at work. I will not name the company.