I posted this on a different sub and they informed me of antiwork so here I am! I added a bit more detail this time:
I’m an entry level worker. Last week I took my 1 week vacation. I didn't have any plans to travel and wanted to rest at home. I already met my deadlines so I didn't think there would be anything pressing that my team couldn't handle. I did let my team know I would be on vacation and will return the following week. I wrote instructions for my team in case anything did come up.
When my boss found out that I would still be in the country, she later mentioned in a team meeting that I would have to be on-call and work during my vacation. I don’t get paid to be on-call and it’s not in my contract that I’m expected to.
In the past, my boss had blown up my cell-phone and Teams when I was away sick or at an approved appointment because an issue occurred. My boss relied on me to advise and solve issues even though she joined the team around the same time I did. I would always try to refuse but my boss would guilt trip or intimidate me into working.
My older team-members routinely cancelled vacations and PTO and worked weekends. This expectation was pushed onto me from the start when I was reprimanded for leaving after regular hours. I was told my behaviour was escalated to my boss’s superiors since I am required to work over-time when necessary but I felt it wasn’t necessary for me to stay back at that time and I wasn’t instructed to.
I am young so I just thought that’s how things go. Expectations became more unrealistic when I was expected to perform a task at 11pm. Later on I brought up my issue with this lack of work-life balance but my boss told me that this was normal and the whole team does it.
While I was on vacation my boss texted and called me about an issue. I had enough and just wanted to rest so I ignored the texts and calls. My job is demanding since my workload increased and I put in 10-20 hours of over-time a week but it's still an entry-level position. I don't think they need me to advise and offer solutions but supposedly no one else in the company can.
When I returned to work yesterday, I opened my Teams to a great deal of missed messages and some deleted messages from my boss. My boss immediately called a team meeting to criticize me and told me that I abandoned my duty during an emergency. That I let my team down who had to work over-time and I show no care for my work. That I knew I was supposed to be on-call and ready to work since I was going to be home all week and blindsided them.
The VPs work a few hours every day during their vacation but I’m not a VP. I want to set better boundaries but I feel like I can’t. I feel guilty for not working during my vacation but I also feel sour. My team-members lost vacation time that cannot be carried over and I don’t want that happening to me.