What’s your policy for PTO? I mean, what do you expect when you take a day off of work? Does anyone still in the office expect you to be reachable? Are you expected to work?

I’m taking tomorrow off for a personal errand. I’ve told people I’ll have my phone on me, but I’m not taking calls. To me, letting them know I’ll have my phone is me being more than generous. When I take a day off, I expect a day off. Deal with your shit on your own for one day. Or two. Or in rare cases, two weeks.

The last time I took a day off of work, someone noticed a page on the website was down. Since I’m the sysadmin, apparently I was the only one capable fixing it. There was some sort of internal argument about whether or not to call me, and ultimately ended up doing so. I answered my phone because I am a fool. I told them to call our local dev and have him investigate, exactly what I would have done if I was in the office. And it’s not like our dev’s number is a secret. My boss has called him before and it’s on his website. I was livid.

If someone takes a day off, they deserve a day off. That means no emergency calls either. They probably have something lined up to do and cannot be expected to put out fires or make decisions. Of course, if they want to work then it’s a different story. Same thing if it’s in a contract. But if it isn’t then they are free to do as they please, away from work.

So I best not be getting any calls tomorrow.