I had this happen to me once at 11 pm for a 6 am call. Way pre-COVID. This is not a global team; everyone was on EST. The work did not require a 6 am called on 7 hrs’ notice. The guy calling the meeting was pissed about something and decided to do this as an FU to a bigger boss. I was 8 months pregnant and asleep when the meeting invite went out. But I was newer to my job, so checked in w/COS afterwards. She was gearing up to say that I should have looked at the phone between 11 am and 6 am and I just started laughing out loud.

I still work there! Dude who called the meeting does not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t OPs boss say it was fine that she missed the meeting and was understanding that she didn’t see the invite? If OP doesn’t want to check her email after hours then that’s fine, and she may miss a meeting every once in awhile, which is likely fine. But to have the expectation that everyone else in her organization is not going to do work after hours because it could upset people that don’t check emails after hours is absurd. It sounds like from OP that the people who actually needed to be on the call were on the call.

OP here. No — most of them missed it. Then the boss had to hold a mid-morning call to fill them in on what they needed to do.

Even better. If everyone else missed the call too then it really sounds like it’s a no harm no foul situation. It’s clearly the company culture not to check emails after hours where you work. Keep calm and carry on as they say.

The issue is in my case my boss sends emails for requests after hours maybe 1-2 a week. He cc”s 2-3 staff. Of course first staff who responds he knows who is working.

He actually has a wife who is a nurse and has kids in day care. So some nights he has to leave work early around 5pm then get kids, get dinner on the. With wife home he goes back on line
By then his boss CEO, Board, says someone high up could need something. The clock is ticking. Someone off line 16 hours a day really delays things. Most of time if I get it first it is like I forward it on to get info at 6 or 7pm I get online in morning around 6am and forward in answer. This is rare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t OPs boss say it was fine that she missed the meeting and was understanding that she didn’t see the invite? If OP doesn’t want to check her email after hours then that’s fine, and she may miss a meeting every once in awhile, which is likely fine. But to have the expectation that everyone else in her organization is not going to do work after hours because it could upset people that don’t check emails after hours is absurd. It sounds like from OP that the people who actually needed to be on the call were on the call.

OP here. No — most of them missed it. Then the boss had to hold a mid-morning call to fill them in on what they needed to do.

Even better. If everyone else missed the call too then it really sounds like it’s a no harm no foul situation. It’s clearly the company culture not to check emails after hours where you work. Keep calm and carry on as they say.

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t OPs boss say it was fine that she missed the meeting and was understanding that she didn’t see the invite? If OP doesn’t want to check her email after hours then that’s fine, and she may miss a meeting every once in awhile, which is likely fine. But to have the expectation that everyone else in her organization is not going to do work after hours because it could upset people that don’t check emails after hours is absurd. It sounds like from OP that the people who actually needed to be on the call were on the call.

OP here. No — most of them missed it. Then the boss had to hold a mid-morning call to fill them in on what they needed to do.

Didn’t OPs boss say it was fine that she missed the meeting and was understanding that she didn’t see the invite? If OP doesn’t want to check her email after hours then that’s fine, and she may miss a meeting every once in awhile, which is likely fine. But to have the expectation that everyone else in her organization is not going to do work after hours because it could upset people that don’t check emails after hours is absurd. It sounds like from OP that the people who actually needed to be on the call were on the call.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's frustrating, OP.

I've learned that while I'm pouring my morning cup of coffee to quickly check my work calendar to see what meetings I have that day. Doing that at 6am means I can see if anything popped up after I got offline the night before. My boss is one who often works at 10pm so this could totally happen to me.

I can’t just adjust last minute though, since I have to drop off my daughter. If I had known even during the day yesterday, I could have made arrangements.

I hear you but at least you could have declined the meeting rather than not knowing about it at all.

Fair enough. I guess I now need to be one of those people who is checking email at all hours. So much for work-life balance!

Yes, thought it's give and take OP.

Do you take 5 min. here or there out of your work day to check on something that is not essential to your job? (e.g., make a dr appt., take a quick call from spouse, friend, bring in a package from the front door). Think of checking your work email on your own time as that 5 min. kind of trade-off, if you are thinking work-life balance. I am not suggesting get on email and do assignments that arrive post work hours, but just a scan to catch something late, or maybe a colleague just needs a quick response to something they are in the midst of where you can add quick value. Just a thought.

Agree. Most pp’s here want to have professional jobs and make a commensurate salary, but want to be treated like hourly wage workers when it comes to work expectations. A professional has more control over their work schedule, but they are also never truly “off.”

It takes 5 minutes (or less) to check email at the end of the day and in the am to see if anything urgent popped up. If the meeting was scheduled too late to allow you to rework your schedule, it’s fine to reply to that effect, but just not being aware is not a good look.

And referring to people who make well into 6 figures as “slaves” because they’re expected to check e-mail more than 8 hours a day is offensive.

And there is the mentality people no longer buy. $160,000 is way, way too little money to never be off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's frustrating, OP.

I've learned that while I'm pouring my morning cup of coffee to quickly check my work calendar to see what meetings I have that day. Doing that at 6am means I can see if anything popped up after I got offline the night before. My boss is one who often works at 10pm so this could totally happen to me.

I can’t just adjust last minute though, since I have to drop off my daughter. If I had known even during the day yesterday, I could have made arrangements.

I hear you but at least you could have declined the meeting rather than not knowing about it at all.

Fair enough. I guess I now need to be one of those people who is checking email at all hours. So much for work-life balance!

Yes, thought it's give and take OP.

Do you take 5 min. here or there out of your work day to check on something that is not essential to your job? (e.g., make a dr appt., take a quick call from spouse, friend, bring in a package from the front door). Think of checking your work email on your own time as that 5 min. kind of trade-off, if you are thinking work-life balance. I am not suggesting get on email and do assignments that arrive post work hours, but just a scan to catch something late, or maybe a colleague just needs a quick response to something they are in the midst of where you can add quick value. Just a thought.

Agree. Most pp’s here want to have professional jobs and make a commensurate salary, but want to be treated like hourly wage workers when it comes to work expectations. A professional has more control over their work schedule, but they are also never truly “off.”

It takes 5 minutes (or less) to check email at the end of the day and in the am to see if anything urgent popped up. If the meeting was scheduled too late to allow you to rework your schedule, it’s fine to reply to that effect, but just not being aware is not a good look.

And referring to people who make well into 6 figures as “slaves” because they’re expected to check e-mail more than 8 hours a day is offensive.

This is complete bunk that just plays into corporate lies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah the expectation to check email 1-2 times after hours doesn't start at $1M+ in salary though.

I would argue it starts in the low six figures for white collar professionals.

PP here. I completely agree and was being snarky, but honestly was a bit shocked by many of the replies here.

Same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's frustrating, OP.

I've learned that while I'm pouring my morning cup of coffee to quickly check my work calendar to see what meetings I have that day. Doing that at 6am means I can see if anything popped up after I got offline the night before. My boss is one who often works at 10pm so this could totally happen to me.

I can’t just adjust last minute though, since I have to drop off my daughter. If I had known even during the day yesterday, I could have made arrangements.

I hear you but at least you could have declined the meeting rather than not knowing about it at all.

Fair enough. I guess I now need to be one of those people who is checking email at all hours. So much for work-life balance!

Yes, thought it's give and take OP.

Do you take 5 min. here or there out of your work day to check on something that is not essential to your job? (e.g., make a dr appt., take a quick call from spouse, friend, bring in a package from the front door). Think of checking your work email on your own time as that 5 min. kind of trade-off, if you are thinking work-life balance. I am not suggesting get on email and do assignments that arrive post work hours, but just a scan to catch something late, or maybe a colleague just needs a quick response to something they are in the midst of where you can add quick value. Just a thought.

Agree. Most pp’s here want to have professional jobs and make a commensurate salary, but want to be treated like hourly wage workers when it comes to work expectations. A professional has more control over their work schedule, but they are also never truly “off.”

It takes 5 minutes (or less) to check email at the end of the day and in the am to see if anything urgent popped up. If the meeting was scheduled too late to allow you to rework your schedule, it’s fine to reply to that effect, but just not being aware is not a good look.

And referring to people who make well into 6 figures as “slaves” because they’re expected to check e-mail more than 8 hours a day is offensive.

I often ask people whether they would prefer:

A. Regular, set M-F hours for, say 40-45 hours/week, with the expectation that you will be almost 100% on during those hours, but then 100% off the rest of the time; or

B. Have no set hours, with the expectation that you’ll be mostly available all the time, including mornings, evenings, and weekends - but have nearly 100% flexibility in terms of working whenever and wherever you want, as long as the work gets done.

I am always shocked that everyone I ask says A. I have B and LOVE it. There is nothing more pointless to me than sitting at a desk scrolling DCUM just because I’m supposed to be working at a set time, but have nothing that actually needs to be done.

That said, I check my email constantly, so I would never miss a meeting invite. But if it didn’t work for schedule, I would respectfully ask my boss if we could shift the time, or I would just call in rather than be on camera. I often take meetings from the car.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary.

How is that possibly related? Are you gonna put in a promotion packet “I checked email at 8pm and responded to something”?

If you don’t see how these are related, that says a lot about your situational awareness.

I’ve been regularly promoted on the basis of exceptional work, not simply responding to emails after hours. So explain how this is crucial part of moving up?

Good for you. We're talking about correlation, not causation.

PP said "I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary."

You asked "how is that possibly related"?

The answer is people with more ambition tend to be the types that will check their emails more regularly outside of work hours. There is a correlation.

Correlation does not equal causation, my friend. Go back Stats 101.

Right. There’s a correlation between people checking emails after hours and being ambitious. Checking emails does not cause you to get promoted. What are you missing?

If you’re not arguing a causation, then what’s the point you’re trying to make? There are countless meaningless correlations. This appears to be one of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary.

How is that possibly related? Are you gonna put in a promotion packet “I checked email at 8pm and responded to something”?

If you don’t see how these are related, that says a lot about your situational awareness.

I’ve been regularly promoted on the basis of exceptional work, not simply responding to emails after hours. So explain how this is crucial part of moving up?

Good for you. We're talking about correlation, not causation.

PP said "I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary."

You asked "how is that possibly related"?

The answer is people with more ambition tend to be the types that will check their emails more regularly outside of work hours. There is a correlation.

Correlation does not equal causation, my friend. Go back Stats 101.

Right. There’s a correlation between people checking emails after hours and being ambitious. Checking emails does not cause you to get promoted. What are you missing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary.

How is that possibly related? Are you gonna put in a promotion packet “I checked email at 8pm and responded to something”?

If you don’t see how these are related, that says a lot about your situational awareness.

I’ve been regularly promoted on the basis of exceptional work, not simply responding to emails after hours. So explain how this is crucial part of moving up?

Good for you. We're talking about correlation, not causation.

PP said "I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary."

You asked "how is that possibly related"?

The answer is people with more ambition tend to be the types that will check their emails more regularly outside of work hours. There is a correlation.

Correlation does not equal causation, my friend. Go back Stats 101.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary.

How is that possibly related? Are you gonna put in a promotion packet “I checked email at 8pm and responded to something”?

If you don’t see how these are related, that says a lot about your situational awareness.

I’ve been regularly promoted on the basis of exceptional work, not simply responding to emails after hours. So explain how this is crucial part of moving up?

Good for you. We're talking about correlation, not causation.

PP said "I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary."

You asked "how is that possibly related"?

The answer is people with more ambition tend to be the types that will check their emails more regularly outside of work hours. There is a correlation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the after-hour email monitoring as tracking more with individual ambition and interest in upward mobility than current salary.

How is that possibly related? Are you gonna put in a promotion packet “I checked email at 8pm and responded to something”?

You absolutely should add a line about responding to time sensitive items after hours. Why wouldn’t you put that in a review?

-np

Because unless it truly couldn’t wait, it’s pointless and seems like fluff.