Employee's mistakes

amother

OP ↓

Fri, May 31 2024, 8:20 am

Last night at 8 PM, my boss called to yell at me about a mistake I had made earlier in the day that is fixable and possible for me to deal with the next day when I get in to work. I acknowledged the mistake and took responsibility, promised to fix it tomorrow, but he kept going on and on. I hung up feeling so bad but tried to put it out of my mind. A half hour later he texted me that he's still upset about what happened. I replied that I'm so sorry and that's where it ended. But my night as ruined. It wasn't like I could go back to the office then and there and fix it, the mistake wasn't either of such magnitude that I deserved to be chewed out like that, I came in this morning and fixed it.
So I'm curious, Is it standard practice for employers to let their employees know of their mistakes after hours when there's nothing the employee could do, or is it OK for them to let them know the next day, hey, you screwed up so please fix it.
Employers, please chip in here.

amother

Hotpink ↓

Fri, May 31 2024, 8:28 am

I’m not an employer, but I am in a middle-management role, and I think your boss was way out of line. If it’s not an urgent issue, it can wait till the next workday. He should absolutely not have kept going on and on at you after you apologized and took responsibility for the error. And texting you after an unnecessary call is way over the top. I’m so sorry you’re going through that.

If one of my team members makes a mistake, I really try not to make them feel bad about it because literally everyone makes mistakes and my goal is for everyone to do their best and work productively. Harping on what someone did wrong is not going to help anybody, and criticism is not the strategy I’d choose to motivate my staff. I think any good manager needs to approach things from a “how can we make this better in the future” POV rather than “here’s how this person messed up.”

Highstrung

Fri, May 31 2024, 8:36 am

No. It’s not normal to call about mistakes after hours . It’s not an emergency

No. It’s not normal to be yelled at by your employer . Ever. Even if you made a massive mistake .

amother

Marigold

Fri, May 31 2024, 8:37 am

Way out of line and totally inappropriate. You are not responsible for his feeling upset over a mistake. I’d leave such a firm. I have and would never ever treat any employees that way and we are dealing with a critical error right now. Me, other directors and C-level are dealing with it very long hours. The employee is living his normal day to day, he feels badly enough. Call and yell, no way. Support and encourage and correct the environment that led to it, yes.

amother

↑ OP

Fri, May 31 2024, 8:42 am

amother Aconite wrote:

I think you know the answer- no.
Are you in the type of industry that you must be on-call after work hours for emergencies?

No. I'm an office employee with set hours. I come in every day at 9 and clock out at 3:30. But it's not that he called me after hours that bothers me, I would totally be OK with it if he has a question that I can answer, But in this case there was nothing I could do about what happened. I understand he's upset, I was upset too! But I could have easily fixed it the next day.
And just as a by the way, I fixed it today but he's still harping on it. He's making nasty comments all the time and reminding me to be more careful all day.

watergirl

Fri, May 31 2024, 8:46 am

I have professional boundaries as an employee, and I do not answer the phone or text messages after work hours. I have two jobs, so my main job is typical business hours and my part-time job which does not have official hours, I made my cut off time 5:00 PM. I don’t answer the phone, email, or text.

Do that.

amother

↑ Hotpink ↓

Fri, May 31 2024, 8:54 am

amother OP wrote:

He sounds like a jerk. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with him.

amother

Salmon

Fri, May 31 2024, 9:06 am

Highstrung wrote:

No. It’s not normal to call about mistakes after hours . It’s not an emergency

No. It’s not normal to be yelled at by your employer . Ever. Even if you made a massive mistake .

This. I once made a mistake that ended up costing my boss close to 25k and needed lawyers to fix. I was never yelled at. I apologized, took ownership and he told me that everyone makes mistakes and I should just be more careful in the future. That’s all.

If I had a boss who yelled at me I would honestly consider quitting. That’s such a lack of respect and common decency. No matter what you did you do not deserve that ever.

amother

Mintgreen

Fri, May 31 2024, 9:45 am

amother Salmon wrote:

I've had this too. My mistake cost my boss a boat load of money, but we're all human.

OP, it's ok for you boss to text you about something that happened earlier that day, but a call is not so appropriate (especially the way yours went). JMHO

amother

Cherry

Fri, May 31 2024, 10:03 am

Wow that's not ok. I have an employee that makes loads of mistakes, I almost never tell her about them. I just nicely fix them on my own, and if it's something I can't do I tell her about it.

amother

Peony

Fri, May 31 2024, 10:04 am

amother Seafoam wrote:

Your boss has no boundaries

True
But it's in op to make boundaries for herself
She doesn't need to take work calls after work hours

zaq

Fri, May 31 2024, 12:17 pm

Unless you're being paid to take work calls after hours, you shouldn't be answering them on your own time. The first time, well, maybe there was an emergency, the office burned down and the boss is calling to tell you to work remotely tomorrow, so you answered. The second time? Why did you answer?

In any event, it sounds like it's time for you to dust off your resume and start hunting for greener pastures. Your boss is a menace.

amother

DarkOrange ↓

Fri, May 31 2024, 12:33 pm

amother Mintgreen wrote:

I had a sit down meeting with my boss to discuss all the mistakes I made on an ongoing basis (that didn't cost them anything) and was made to feel horrible about them. It was also insinuated that my job was on the line.
Well, you know what, I had WAYY too much on my plate for a single person and had to answer to multiple managers. To expect perfect accuracy when I'm constantly being pulled in different directions is unrealistic.

It's been years and I've been at another job since then, but I'm still so mad about it.

amother

↑ Hotpink

Fri, May 31 2024, 12:42 pm

amother DarkOrange wrote:

I feel you—BTDT. You put it so well. It’s beyond frustrating when you’re doing your best and then some—and you’re being pulled in tons of directions at the same time and no matter how hard you are working, someone is always dissatisfied.

amother

↑ DarkOrange

Fri, May 31 2024, 12:43 pm

amother Hotpink wrote:

Thank you!

amother

Watermelon

Fri, May 31 2024, 1:03 pm

As a very young and new employee, I made a mistake that cost my boss a tremendous amount of money to fix. I was sure he would fire me. Not only didnt he, but he never made me feel bad about it. Its now 25+ years later and I am still with this company, rose through the ranks and probably one of his most loyal and valuable employees.

I never make my assistants feel bad about a mistake. Everyone is human.

amother

Vermilion

Fri, May 31 2024, 1:05 pm

If someone calls you to yell at you, don't listen, but don't hang up immediately. Press the mute button on your phone and walk away. Then hang up a few minutes later.

safetynet1

Fri, May 31 2024, 1:25 pm

I would call my boss out on it. You can send him an email about it.

I have told a boss in the past, ' You know that you dont yell at me, regardless if I made a mistake"?' It makes them respect you more.

I'll add, at this piont, I'm the one on top of the employees, and would never do this. I've had many complicated conversations but made sure that an employee leaves my office feeling like a mench