AITA for not answering work emails while on vacation resulting in the loss of a client?

A Reddit user (presumably in a supervisory role) took a vacation, during which they notified everyone about being completely inaccessible. The user sent out all relevant materials and gave ample time (8 days) for a colleague to collect necessary files for an important client.

Upon returning, the user found that a client had been lost due to the colleague’s failure to prepare. The user is now being blamed, despite fulfilling their responsibilities by informing everyone in advance. The user is questioning whether they are in the wrong for not responding to emails while on vacation. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for not answering work emails while on vacation resulting in the loss of a client?’

My husband and I took a much needed vacation to the beach last week and the entire week before we left I sent emails arpund letting everyone know I’d be completely inaccessible for the week so to come and see me for any work materials needed, files etc.

I gave everyone everything I knew or thought they’d need and left confident that everyone had prepared themselves, seeing as I’d given them 8 days to prepare. When I returned I found chaos in the office.

Apparently one of my colleagues had needed files for a particularly important client of ours and had not been able to find them in my office and I never responded to calls or emails, as I warned I wouldn’t do. This coworker knew they’d be handling this client and had 8 days and 12 hours a day to ask me for all pertinent files and appears to have not.

In any case, I was blamed because the client is technically mine and I am supervisor of this coworker. I contend that I am blameless because this coworker had 8 days to collect all their files like their other coworkers did and they neglected to do so. No one seems to care about that.. AITA here?

Here’s how people reacted to the post:

[Reddit User] −  What happened is unfortunate, but you were clear that you would not be working during your time off. NTA. **Your office need a better system.** What if you get hit by a bus one day? Or quit? It’s a bad idea to have only ONE employee have access to vital files/clients. For many reasons.

Sea-Tea-4130 −  NTA-But the bucks stops at you. You told them and gave time for them to get what was needed and you tried to make sure ppl had what they needed prior to your vacay (their failure shouldn’t be thrust upon you when that was their fault, not you); however, your position puts you at the blunt for when 💩 goes bad.

You at least have a paper trail to show you did what you said in the email and asking them to get what was needed. If one person not being available can disrupt success enough that the person not physically there is blamed, then the structure of the company is not designed for success in the long-term.

RogueDIL −  Info – where was the file? If it was in an accessible location, where all files should be stored- NTA. If it was in your sole possession, yta.

QueenBlanchesHalo −  YTA though borderline N-A-H. You shouldn’t have to answer work emails while on vacation. However, it’s your* client and when you go on vacation it’s *your* job to proactively tell whoever is filling in for you what’s going on with the client and where to get what they might need, not to ask your coworkers who have their own clients to do the work of figuring out how to cover for you.

It reads like something is missing in your story where you’re saying you gave them everything you thought they needed but then also expected them to ask for “all pertinent files”…no one does that.

Going just a bit out on a limb here it sounds like you missed a exchanging some pretty important information if it resulted in the complete loss of the client. And to make sure your client knows you’ll be on vacation and unreachable to.

bluestjordan −  INFO: Did you know they would need said file? Usually the onus is on the person taking the vacation to make sure everyone covering for them has everything they may need. Not the other way around.

tyromania −  the client is technically mine and I am supervisor of this coworker. It’s your coworker’s fault, but it’s your *responsibility*. YTA because you are management and it is literally part of your job to ensure that everything is squared away with your client. Ownership of a client means that the buck stops with you

BundleBenes −  I contend that I am blameless because this coworker had 8 days to collect all their files like their other coworkers did and they neglected to do so. No one seems to care about that. Your office sucks for not having a proper knowledge management system, but the way you’re trying to pass the blame to your subordinate instead of working for a solution and trying to point out systemic issues make YTA.

Handing over everything that they might need to meet your client was your responsibility, not theirs. You should have been the one to predict what the client might need, not your subordinate, because they are your client. The fact that even you, who knows the client best, overlooked something major means your subordinate is the one who’s blameless, as she has even less of a relationship/knowledge of the client than you do.

Additionally, we don’t even know if 8 days was enough notice for your subordinate to foresee everything she might need to meet with your client. She could have also been busy in those 8 days. Pointing out that her coworkers had everything they need for a different client is irrelevant.

Furthermore, you are the supervisor. Good supervisors spot the mistakes of their reports and correct them before something of major consequence happens. (In your absence, your grandboss or assistant should have been there to do your duties.) Bad supervisors throw their reports under the bus and act blameless.

bestcmw −  It’s been a while since I worked on sales but if I was left tending to someone else’s case load ones plus my own I’d expect to be given all needed materials. As it wasn’t their account how could they know what they might need when even you didn’t know they would need it? I gave everyone everything I knew or thought they’d need and left confident that everyone had prepared themselves, seeing as I’d given them 8 days to prepare.

Edit: updated vote after reading your explanation. YTA you left your accounts in full knowledge something could go wrong and didn’t mitigate it. You’re the supervisor. If you were creating a sink or swim teachable moment then you ought to own that you saw the potential for failure and let it play out.

Sleepy-Blonde −  YTA not for not answering the phone, but for not preparing your subordinate for your vacation. If you’re having someone take care of a client for you, you make sure they have everything they need. Expecting them to know to ask for everything they may need, when you apparently didn’t know they’d need it, is silly.

lkvwfurry −  NTA. If a business can’t function without one person it’s not very well run. What if you had quit or were in a coma? They need to put a policy in place that all client files go on a common drive.

Do you think the Reddit user is justified in taking time off without answering work emails, or should they have been more available during their vacation? Share your thoughts below!