Was this insulting?

[Sharnita]

I love it.  I've had the opposite - letters basically calling staff pansies for being concerned about our safety, even though state police had advisories not to drive if people could avoid it. They are fortunate to be in work environment where their safety is a priority.

[TootsNYC]

Maybe if they read it right away when it arrived--mid-storm, you said, at 6:30am--the weather was so *obviously* bad that it seemed like obvious stuff. But many people might not see it until 8am or something. I wouldn't, even if I did text--I'd be asleep until 7am and wouldn't check texts until I was out of the bathroom.

[gramma dishes]

I would find such a message a strong reason to stay working with such a manager. You were more than fine.

This.  Most people could only wish for a manger like you!  You did great!

[gramma dishes]

P.S.  I would take note, however, of which of your employees made the complaint!   

[English1]

OK thanks. Feeling better about it now.

The complainer was moaning to another member of the team (who just made mmmmmm noises) and I overheard from my office. She is a bit 'difficult' in several ways.

'Is 9AM your usual start time? It seems to me like you were saying that you would be in the office at the normal time, but that they could come later if needed. If so, that can come off as a bit patronizing.'
Most people start at 9, some at 8. The difference between me and them (other than my position) is that I live 5 minutes walk from the office - and they all know that. Whereas they would all be driving/coming by public transport. So I don't think they would see any subliminal criticism in my saying I'd be there at 9.

[SingMeAway]

That is exactly the type of message I would expect a concerned, conscientious manager to send to staff. My manager (who is awesome) would have done exactly the same as you. Don't know what the employee's problem is, but you are well in the clear!

[menley]

I would have loved to get messages like this from my managers. You did well.

[shadowfox79]

Sounds like they just have to find something to moan about.

I live in the north-east of England, so the storm didn't reach us. However, at my workplace we are expected to come in as normal no matter how extreme the weather. On one occasion, when almost every other building around us had closed due to heavy snow that had made the roads impassible, they told us that, rather than close the office, we could just stay overnight and sleep in the library. (An hour later they finally gave way and closed up, by which point getting home was a nightmare. Cars had been abandoned all over the roads so everyone had to walk for miles.)

I would have been thrilled to have a manager like you.

[Pioneer]

A personal message from a manager (you) was great. 

What is even better is an official company policy.  Where I work, if public school closes in the morning due to weather, we can report up to two hours late and dress code is relaxed.  That is a reasonable amount of time to find back-up daycare for young children and to dig your vehicle out of a snowdrift, plus main roads are generally plowed by that time.  The unspoken official company policy is that we do whatever is necessary to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.  Unless an employee has abused the attendance policy to the point that they are on progressive discipine (verbal warning, written warning, buh bye) we can make up the time or use a vacation day.

If work has begun and the weather becomes truly menacing, the office has closed.  Even if the weather is only somewhat threatening, if I ask my supervisor if I can leave now to allow plenty of time to get home in the daylight, she is always accommodating.

[DaDancingPsych]

It seems obvious to me that you have a worker who would complain about anything. I would not let this one bother you.

One of my jobs is with a small company; total employees are less than 20. In any one given night no more than six people will be working. It is the sort of job that I MUST be on time, so I plan accordingly. I have the longest commute (over an hour on a good day), so if the weather is bad I make an effort to leave even earlier. The boss will not make a decision to close the business until an hour prior to my starting time, so I am certainly on the road at that point. Yet, we are expected to check the local news to see if we are open; she will not contact the less than six employees who are working that day. And I don't mean to be a special snowflake, but to avoid me on the roads, I wish she would at least contact me!

The one day, the weather was terrible and I left super early. I drove for an hour in the terrible snow and barely made a dent in my trip. I realized that even if I managed to keep my vehicle on the road, I was going to be late. So, I pulled off the road to call into the work to let them know that I was trying, but it was not looking good. No one was there. They had closed and since I was on the road, I could not check the news. I had to turn around and fight the snow and traffic back home. So a manager willing to contact employees with this sort of news is highly appreciated in my book!!!

[Kari]

I know my workplace morale would improve if I got such a text from my boss. As is, we're expected to show up even when there are "for goodness sakes, don't travel" warnings. And we just work in a run-of-the-mill office, involved in nothing vital. But the company's owners are so hyper-vigilant about time theft that they get extra sensitive to bad weather, as if employees are just waiting for an excuse to skip work and goof off. Many choose (or are unable to) come in during bad storms and are forced to lose a day's pay and not are permitted (or must grovel for) a chance to make up the time even though they're full-time salaried employees.

Last year, Hurricane Sandy closed the roads and wiped out the electricity. Yet the company wanted us to show up to work even though we couldn't do anything. Those that made it had to use a generator, which set the building on fire. My boss still wanted people to show up to "get credit" and then be permitted to go home. In a snowstorm before that, my boss berated someone who called out because the roads were too dangerous and made him come in. He subsequently ended up driving into a snow mound and got stuck. That, in my opinion, is treating people like children, not a caring "Don't kill yourself coming in!" text.

[Lady Snowdon]

I would have been thrilled as an employee to get a text like this!  A previous director at my old company sent us an email one day saying "Well, I tried to come in, but couldn't get very far, so I'm going to be working from home today.  If any of you were late coming in, see your manager to make sure you only get paid for the appropriate number of hours".  That one email destroyed the morale of our team, and when she sent out emails later on asking for overtime, no one was really willing to take it.  She, representing the company, didn't seem to care about us, and so we didn't really care about her. 

[earthgirl]

OK thanks. Feeling better about it now.

The complainer was moaning to another member of the team (who just made mmmmmm noises) and I overheard from my office. She is a bit 'difficult' in several ways.

'Is 9AM your usual start time? It seems to me like you were saying that you would be in the office at the normal time, but that they could come later if needed. If so, that can come off as a bit patronizing.'
Most people start at 9, some at 8. The difference between me and them (other than my position) is that I live 5 minutes walk from the office - and they all know that. Whereas they would all be driving/coming by public transport. So I don't think they would see any subliminal criticism in my saying I'd be there at 9.

I think you were fine.  in my experience as a manager, some people are just going to complain no matter what you do. 

[artk2002]

Is 9AM your usual start time? It seems to me like you were saying that you would be in the office at the normal time, but that they could come later if needed. If so, that can come off as a bit patronizing.

How is it possibly patronizing for a manager to say "it's bad out there, don't sweat coming in on time"? There are many, many (MANY) managers who would take the opposite position: "I'm going to be in at 9, so a force 8 storm shouldn't stop you. If you're late, you're docked."

[cwm]

I think you did great. Where I work, it's understood that if the weather is bad enough and you can't make it in, you can't make it in. There's a number to call that says if the company is open or not, but even if we are open, it's up to you to decide if it's safe enough to drive to work. (We have some people who drive over an hour to work here, on the interstate system at 75mph the whole time, so it's not like an hour in rush hour traffic.)

The text you sent out let people know to stay safe and come in if/when they could, and still let them know where you would be in case they needed to reach you or someone else at the office.

If it was just a complainer complaining and the other person didn't respond, and nobody else has any concerns about it, I wouln't worry too much. Some people aren't happy unless they're unhappy.