I like to be prepared and its possible I'm about to be a little upset with something that work may be about to do, so I'm trying to prepare myself for the " discussion"

Here's the situation

My place of employment produces a list of employees contact detail ( name , address, phone number) each year, this list is distributed to all employees and used for a phone tree system for closures etc

We are sent an email asking us to inform a certain person if we don't want our details included( with a deadline)

I replied ( within the time period) that I didn't want my details included.

I notice that my email hasn't actually been read by that person.

The list is due for publication within the next few days

I'm fairly certain my details will be on it.

So what do I do?

I'm assuming , given Canada's privacy laws, that there is actually a legal issue here if I choose to be that arsey ?

The reason I don't want my details on this list is that when I'm off sick or even on agreed vacation, I seem to be fair game for phone calls asking , quite frankly, ridiculous questions that could easily have waited.

My two managers are very much aware of this and have fully backed my decision NOT to be included.

How do you know for sure that the email hasn't been read? You cannot trust those read receipts.

Call display and voice mail should solve the problem.

Just call the person responsible for the list and ask them to confirm that your contact details won't be on it.

not read receipt , our email system has a history function. When I pull that up it hasn't been opened.

Other things which lead me to be suspicious are general competency level of person in question and the fact that a coworker who told me that last eyar she asked for her info not to be included and I've just looked at last years and there they are.

Anecdotal I know but as I say I'm just trying to work out what my response might be

Yep - this .... politely confirming that she has "received" your email - you wouldn't want her to get in trouble, etc - said in the sweetest tone possible ....

"The reason I don't want my details on this list is that when I'm off sick or even on agreed vacation, I seem to be fair game for phone calls asking , quite frankly, ridiculous questions that could easily have waited."

It would be easier just to get an answer machine and screen your calls. Only answer those you want to. When you're sick, you're sick - work can wait.

your points are completely valid and I have learnt my lesson about answering the damn phone.
However I still don't want my details circulated.

For those of you who think that I may be deliberately out for a fight here , you may well be right

I agree with what Ann says I'd pull the person to one side and advise that "I note that you haven't read my email requesting my details be left off the list? Is there any reason for this seeing as you are quite clearly the person responsible for it??? Anyway just thought I'd double check as we wouldn't want you to - oooh - say - be repremanded for incompetence now would we. Just a heads up there "

You are 100% right except for the penultimate sentence

I'm going to leave it and see what happens , maybe she has read it. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that I'm making something out of nothing here.

It was a bad day at work on Thursday , now I'm feeling nicely chilled out

Won't people have your number anyway, regardless of the list?

The people who phone me at home are too thick to program it into their phones, they just rely on the list

As I said , hopefully none issue

In my day it would have been in a little notebook.

A little black one perhaps

'so you don't get in any trouble' is a veiled threat, you don't want that. How about sending a new email - subject line 're: contact list', and forward your original request to not have your details published, with a new preface explaining that the 'response reader' or whatever it is shows the message wasn't read, and you're re-sending it because the publication date is imminent (sp?). If this person gets a lot of mail, and if as you say, may lack some skills he/she may have missed the original message or accidentaly deleted it. Walk softly and carry a big stick is mostly about walking softly. :-)