Some of you might remember a post I made not too long ago about the one-man IT guy taking vacations. Well, after speaking to my boss about it, and the odd chance that someone she knew who worked in IT at another company was being laid off, and our CFO resigning and moving on to something else… To keep things short, she hires this other IT guy to sit in the CFO chair and to help me out from time to time with my IT chores and most importantly to me, to fill in for me so I could take some time off work. I took this entire week off. I filled the new guy in on our entire network and gave him a list of access creds he’s possibly need while I was away. I made it clear to everyone that I am on vacation and I don’t want to be contacted about anything whatsoever unless it was an emergency.
I’ve been contacted already several times yesterday and had to remote in and fix something that the new guy was unable to resolve. And I’ve had to answer some email so far this morning regarding some VPN configurations we have set up between us and a vendor.
So, I’m thinking in the back of my head all this time, ‘what good was it to take time off work when I’m still going to end up being called for things?’
I don’t have a company phone, so if I turn off my cell, it disconnects me from everyone outside of work also.
This is just a rant.
16 Spice ups
Yeah, whenever I go on vacation I turn off the cell phone.
It will make them appreciate you all the more when you return. 
akp982
(akp982)
3
Sames gonna happen to me next week bro.
Its a crapper 
Well, technically, you should be getting paid and it shouldn’t count as vacation time if you are getting called in to work.
So they hired an out of work IT guy to be the CFO and he is failing at being an IT guy too? This sounds like the beginning of the end.
4 Spice ups
Yep, SAM’s right.
Cell Phone > Off
If you Work > Get Paid
Enjoy the rest of your time off though!
paul2860
(Paul2860)
6
I definitely keep up with the time I spend on handling issues when I am supose to be off.
i dont get paid enough to even think about this place before 730am, or after 430pm - and nobody here has or will have my cell phone number
3 Spice ups
I’ve yet to truly have vacation since I started working in the IT field. I’m convinced it just comes with the territory and we have to put up with it or find a new career. I get called all the time on my days off it’s just par for the course.
Some companies think they “own” you if you are on salary…
IE Called on vacation without any compensation either monetary or Comp Time. When things work out for them it is okay, but, when you want things back, it tends to be met with hostility.
I am fortunate in that I rarely get called while on vacation, but, I tend to get hit in other areas. If I need an hour off, I “must” take a half day, so, when called during off hours, if I am home and not very busy, I will do as necessary, if things get out of hand, I request the same from them that they expect me to give, 1/2 a day at a time for being disturbed during off hours.
I hate the feeling of this, I was hired to do a job, if I am doing my job properly, pay me my salary, if not, fire me, but don’t nickel and dime me all year when it plays into the bottom line and only in 1 direction.
3 Spice ups
Couldn’t agree with Sam more. At the very least, the owe you some kind of compensation.
1 Spice up
Scott Alan Miller wrote:
Well, technically, you should be getting paid and it shouldn’t count as vacation time if you are getting called in to work.
So they hired an out of work IT guy to be the CFO and he is failing at being an IT guy too? This sounds like the beginning of the end.
Well, this is paid-time-off, of course, but I know what you meant. I think combined, between what I’ve done today and what I had to work on yesterday, I may have used about an hour and a half or right around two hours of my “vacation” time to do work-related stuff. Not that big of a deal, really, but it could add up quick depending on what the problem is that I’m having to fix.
I’m not on salary, so I should be able to leverage some extra time off based on what work I do during off-hours. “Should” is used loosely. My boss may or may not be inclined to compensate me for that time worked when I’m off the clock.
And yes, the new guy is quite capable of being a great IT guy for us. He’s got over a decade of IT experience, but has only been around my network for about a week. So his inability to fix a few things that he hasn’t had the time to become familiar with is understandable. I asked him on Friday whether he’s ever done finance work and he said never, so I’m not sure what to think about him being the new finance guy.
skillet
(Skillet)
12
Turn the phone off, or at least don’t answer the calls that you know are from work. I have no problem ignoring phone calls from people when I’m on my personal time.
1 Spice up
tyler16
(_Tyler)
13
I like taking vactions in exotic spots where there is no cell coverage. Problem solved!
Of course, this would require that you have someone that can fill in for you and keep the ship sailing while you’re gone.
This happened to me during the 4th of July weekend. My phone would not stop ringing while on vacation in Las Vegas. After about an hour of it I finally answered the phone (this of course after many Irish car bombs at o’sheas) and drunkenly tried to give instructions while navigating the strip. I was able to resolve the issue within a few minutes. Later that night or the next morning when I returned to my room I found that my boss had room service drop off a bottle of scotch to my room. No overtime but definitely a nice gesture.
johnwhite
(John White)
15
vonschwebs wrote:
This happened to me during the 4th of July weekend. My phone would not stop ringing while on vacation in Las Vegas. After about an hour of it I finally answered the phone (this of course after many Irish car bombs at o’sheas) and drunkenly tried to give instructions while navigating the strip club.
There, fixed it for you.
OP: Don’t you have Caller ID?!
I just have Google Voice send the call straight to VM.
id would of just turned off my phone as you were on holiday 
vonschwebs wrote:
This happened to me during the 4th of July weekend. My phone would not stop ringing while on vacation in Las Vegas. After about an hour of it I finally answered the phone (this of course after many Irish car bombs at o’sheas) and drunkenly tried to give instructions while navigating the strip. I was able to resolve the issue within a few minutes. Later that night or the next morning when I returned to my room I found that my boss had room service drop off a bottle of scotch to my room. No overtime but definitely a nice gesture.
at least he did something, shows that at least he/she was cognizant that it was your vacation
ivanidea
(ivanidea)
18
I had my company phone taken off me when I switched off out of hours since they wouldn’t pay for out of hours support.
Now when I go on holiday, the (non)Technical Director just hopes nothing goes wrong, since he is ultimately responsible! The maintenance manager has some contacts who might be able to solve any problems, and has a sealed envelpe with relevent usernames and passwords.
Nobody at work knows my personal mobile number or email address.
john6020
(John6020)
19
Scott Alan Miller wrote:
Well, technically, you should be getting paid and it shouldn’t count as vacation time if you are getting called in to work.
So they hired an out of work IT guy to be the CFO and he is failing at being an IT guy too? This sounds like the beginning of the end.
This is one of the benefits of freelancing: they call, they pay. And if it’s a weekend, they pay even more. Sooner or later, one of the bean-counters will draw this to a managers attention who will have to justify the cost.
Happy days!. Apart from the lack of security, I sometimes wish I was still contracting.
On the phone front, have you considered switching yours off and getting a cheap pay-as-you-go to use with your close friends and family?
liquidram
(EBirtel)
20
It is a tough call. I do not like being called or emailed when I am off. Tomorrow is another day and unless we are losing buckets of money of your issue, trust me, it can wait.
Most times it seems the issues after hours revolve around someone who did not prepare properly or wasted time on things other than their work.
Things I like to say on the way out the door and someone has an URGENT ISSUE!
Tomorrow is another day. (true story)
You waited until now? (they always wait until the last minute or interrupt you ASAP)
Put in a ticket. Someone will get right back to you. (Best Answer Ever!)
My dance ticket is full. (sorry just made that one up)
I’m leaving now.