Work group chat

[Ragamuffin]

Am I wrong for muting my work’s group chat when I am asleep/on my break? I work double shifts (3:45-7 AM and 4-6:30 PM) and so I am usually sleep for 2-3 hours after my morning shift. Even if it wasn’t muted, I doubt a text notification would be enough to wake me up if I was in a deep sleep. Very occasionally, I get asked to come back in during the day (I live onsite) to help with other jobs if needed. I don’t mind if I am told in advance, however, this is not usually the case. I have said to my boss to phone, rather than text me/the group chat, if I am needed urgently as I may be sleeping, but this morning I woke up to 20 text messages, mostly from the group chat and 1 directly from my boss. He was unable to contact me and my colleague (who works the same shifts) via text but didn’t attempt to make a call. I know we’re understaffed at the moment but I still feel we should be entitled to a break and not made to feel bad if we don’t pick up messages straight away. If it’s that important, either phone or tell me in advance!

[Everglow.]

I think it's entirely reasonable for you to switch off from work when you're not on shift. Everyone needs a balance between work and life, and if you can't even sleep without being bothered by your boss you're going to eventually start to feel burnt out. You're already working very long hours back to back, so you definitely deserve to rest between shifts. Being understaffed isn't an excuse to not allow you a life outside of work in my opinion.

Could you maybe have a talk with your boss about this and explain the position it puts you in? Are any of your other colleagues feeling the same as you? Perhaps you could all explain this in a meeting of some sort so that he understands and acts properly in the future when he needs staff in?

[Ragamuffin]

Originally Posted by Everglow.

I think it's entirely reasonable for you to switch off from work when you're not on shift. Everyone needs a balance between work and life, and if you can't even sleep without being bothered by your boss you're going to eventually start to feel burnt out. You're already working very long hours back to back, so you definitely deserve to rest between shifts. Being understaffed isn't an excuse to not allow you a life outside of work in my opinion.

Could you maybe have a talk with your boss about this and explain the position it puts you in? Are any of your other colleagues feeling the same as you? Perhaps you could all explain this in a meeting of some sort so that he understands and acts properly in the future when he needs staff in?

Thanks for your response. That makes me feel a lot better.

I will try and talk to him when I next see him. I have spoken to him about it before but he needs reminding. My colleague (there’s only two of us working full on this area of the job, with occasional help from the boss and colleagues from other enterprises) is leaving soon as he is finding it too much. We’re supposed to have 2 new people joining us but one isn’t starting until August and I’m not sure if they’ve hired a second person yet.