Boss won't stop calling employee on approved PTO, claiming they're needed for client emergency, employee blocks him in response: ‘He messaged me on Facebook asking me to call’

What is your reaction when you get a phone call from your boss?

Naturally, we each react differently when we see our boss's name pop up on our phone screens with an incoming call. It is highly unlikely that anyone would be excited to get said phone call, so it's safe to say no one is jumping with delight. Still, some people would do anything to avoid talking to their boss on their phone and would rather send them to voicemail than face the scary possibility of listening to what their bosses have to say in real time. While others understand that if their boss is calling them, it's probably not for a reason they can ignore, and it's better to get it over with as fast as possible than to prolong that experience for longer than necessary.

All that, however, depends on where you are and what you are doing at the time you get that incoming call from your boss. If you're already in the office and working, then accepting a call from your boss might not be as scary as accepting it while you're currently running late. Or if you're in the bathroom, it might be best to send your boss to voicemail just this once, instead of accepting the call and regretting it when you realize you have yet to wash your hands.

Being on vacation is another valid excuse for why you decided to screen your boss's call. Say what you want about PTO, but if an employee is taking their approved time off, they shouldn't be bothered with work-related issues, no matter what. That doesn't stop some bosses from calling their vacationing employees, and it unfortunately also doesn't stop some employees from answering, as wrong as it may be. 

It takes a lot of courage to refuse a call from your boss, even while on vacation, but the employee in the story below did more than just refuse to answer. They had to block their boss after his nonstop calling got way out of hand, all because he couldn't handle a client crisis by himself. And when the boss started messaging his employee on Facebook, the situation reached the point of no return…