They Could Hear Him Wailing All The Way In New Zealand

We had one of those super organised managers thrust on us as a result of the usual every-eighteen-month reorganisations. We had to be there at 8:15 am and out at 5:15 pm.

One of our very good customers was in New Zealand. (We are in the UK.) Several of us were told to be present at 2:00 pm for a telephone conference call that [New Manager] had organised. When we asked to verify the time, we were shouted down; [New Manager] knew what he was doing.

Except he didn’t know that 2:00 pm our time was 2:00 am the customer’s time. So, when it didn’t happen, he rearranged it for 2:00 pm New Zealand time!

[New Manager] got very upset when told that if we were to attend, we would all need to be paid overtime and have paid time off, as well.

He went to his boss to complain about us, and the subsequent shouting match ended with [New Manager] stalking to his office and telling us that he had to “reconsider his position”.

He never came in again.