DKM Has Rude Boss

[Fro]

One of my dkb's is sick today. I tried for an hour to call his mom at work. (they cant have cell phones at work, so I have to call her boss to get to her)
Her boss will not allow me to talk to the mom. she asked if it was an emergency, I said yes. she asked the nature of the emergency, and I said her son is sick. she said does he have a fever, I said no, but according to daycare policy, he cannot stay here today. ( I think I should have just said, it is a medical emergency, and I cannot by law disclose the details to anyone other than his mother... but I got frazled over the phone) She just said, well I'll relay the message, then hung up on me!
I am giving her an hour to return my call, then Im calling back. I have only had to call her once before, and she never gave the mom my message.
Does anyone have any advice on how I can get her to put me through to dkm? and how would you prevent this issue from comming up again in the future?

[jen]

Whoa! Mom's boss best be careful! She's going to cost her company a whole bunch of money if she continues that nonsense! Holy cow!

I would either call back in 30 minutes or contact her emergency backup!

[Fro]

well I waited an hour and tried calling back, her boss is no longer answering the phone. Im going to call the emergency contact, I hate to do it over a cough and runny nose, but it is a really nasty sounding cough.

[MG&Lsmom]

Whoa! Mom's boss best be careful! She's going to cost her company a whole bunch of money if she continues that nonsense! Holy cow!

I would either call back in 30 minutes or contact her emergency backup!

I'd do the same. That's completely uncalled for. Unless this is the ultimate boss, I'd go over said bosses head.

[Fro]

I tried finding information on who to call over her head, and im not able to find anything other than the corprate number, and that seems a little extreme.

[Zoe]

Wow. I get not wanting your employees to use work time for personal calls, but this is about her sick kid! It's none of the boss' business how sick the child is. The kid needs to be picked up!

If I were that mom, I'd be p-ed off if my boss didn't give me a message that my child was sick!

I hope you get through to someone!

[wdmmom]

The woman is lucky she hung up on you rather than me! I wouldn't tolerate it. For the few and far between time that you need to call, it's obviously an emergency and it's none of the bosses darned business. Parents are the ones needing to make judgment calls. I would call again and ask to speak to DCM directly stating that it is an emergency and you called previously to no avail. Tell whoever answers that someone needs to physically go get her and put her on the phone. End of story!

[Fro]

I have tried calling back, they put me through to her bosses office,and she is no longer answering her phone. Im going to wait til after he wakes up from a nap to call his emergency contact, mostly out of the hope that I get ahold of her and dont have to call.

[SandeeAR]

Call 911, and tell them you think someone is being held hostage

Report the boss, say you tried to call about they sick child you have and know the parent would come to the phone, so they must be, being held hostage!

[Fro]

Well the emergency contact is on her way, And I got ahold of dkm! she said boss was rude to her, stating that she had a daycare for a while too, and there is no reason for him to go home for a cough, that he should be isolated, and everything should be sanitized, but he shouldnt go home. the boss also told her if she called me back before her lunch break, she would get points taken away, which I gather is a threat. I have a policy however that They only have 1 hour from the time I call to pick up their child.... How do I handle this boss? What if it was a bigger emergency than a cough?
To top it all off, dkm was aware of the cough before she brough him, and even told me on the phone, that she thought about taking him to the dr because of how bad it sounds, but decided not to at the last minute.

[Fro]

@ sandeeAr

[jen]

Well the emergency contact is on her way, And I got ahold of dkm! she said boss was rude to her, stating that she had a daycare for a while too, and there is no reason for him to go home for a cough, that he should be isolated, and everything should be sanitized, but he shouldnt go home. the boss also told her if she called me back before her lunch break, she would get points taken away, which I gather is a threat. I have a policy however that They only have 1 hour from the time I call to pick up their child.... How do I handle this boss? What if it was a bigger emergency than a cough?
To top it all off, dkm was aware of the cough before she brough him, and even told me on the phone, that she thought about taking him to the dr because of how bad it sounds, but decided not to at the last minute.

Agh...poor Mom. I'm guessing she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm sure she needs her job to care for her child, but her job is making it tough to do just that. Her boss sounds like a piece of work. Maybe Mom should just have you immediately go to the emergency back up for all illnesses.

[mac60]

Seriously, I would of called the police and told them you were trying to contact a parent at work due to a sick child, and can't get thru. I had this happen to me once, kid came in with burnt hands, parents didn't answer their cells, I could not get anyone to pick up the phone at the plant, and I vowed if it ever happened that I would call the police to go get them.

[MG&Lsmom]

I'll second having a talk with her about going directly to the emergency backup. Regardless, she will need to be called and notified in a timely manner about her sick child. I might encourage her to speak to HR about the situation of the boss. I highly doubt that corporate would like to find out that a middle manager was acting so harshly. If she won't and it continues to be a problem on your end, I would not think it was out of place to call the Corporate office or a TV outlet yourself

[daycare]

Im not sure that it's illegal what the boss did, but it sure is immoral. Who is he/she to decide if it is an emergency or not. I would never work for a place that did not understand and accept my family life. I would be checking with my state right to work laws under FMLA to see what can be done.....