Aww, lots of work problems

GrungeMeister

Where to begin ? And what's the best way forward ?

I work in an insurance office, I deal with the cash. I've also got MS and have very slight mobility problems. My job suits me great, I'm always up and down dealing with customers when they come in to pay their insurance. And none of my co-workers like my job either, so it suits me, suits the company.

But there's a downside. I'm contracted for a 35 hour week. But in reality my job is 45 hours & my employer lets me take a few days off each month to make up for it. Unfortunately my health is now such that this approach is no longer a realistic option.

So I applied to squeeze the hours I do into 5 days instead of the 6 I work each week. Management declined that one, they don't have anyone to cover the 1 day each week I'd be absent.

So I asked if we could possibly lighten the load a bit, transfer some of my duties to someone else. That was declined too, everyone else is as overloaded as me.

Their only suggestion is to do a rota, 3 months on, 3 months off. But the person with whom they wish me to share, well, he hasn't a clue. I mean he's brainless, I'd spend a month of my 3 months on just cleaning up the mess he'd leave. Plus they want me entirely deskbound during my 3 months off, with my health problem I'm just going to completely seize up eventually and have to go off sick.

And I feel like they want rid of me anyway. I'm quite insistent about standing up for my contractual rights, they really don't like that at all.

Ho hum. What do you suggest ? Is there anyway you can think of me keeping my job/health but somehow cutting my hours each day. I'm can't !

k12479

As no one else has commented so far, the problem you seem to have is that you're working 10 hours longer than you should and once things like this become established, it's always going to be hard to get back to what you should be doing.

What happens on the "...few days off each month to make up for it.", what happens to your role on those days?

courtney22

Unfortunately can't help .... But do hope u get it sorted and your health doesn't suffer any more x

KiKi

You are covered by the Equality Act, so your employer has a duty to consider all reasonable adjustments (of course, what is considered 'reasonable' is ultimately determined by an ET). I don't think asking to do your contracted hours is unreasonable. The fact that the employer hasn't resourced up for it appropriately is not your problem.

Ultimately, if you work 45 hour weeks, and then get a few days off, how is that different to working 35 hour weeks consistently? That's the argument I'd be putting to them. And politely reminding them of their responsibility to you.

However, they have offered a solution. You might not like what it is, but they are offering it. So you need to put forward why that won't work, and what *will* work.

Do you have an OH department which might be able to advise? Would your employer be more inclined to adjust your current role if this were the case?

KiKi

Sambucus_Nigra

Ok - I don't understand how the 3 months on 3 months off thingy would work - what would the other person be doing whilst you are 'on'?

I think my suggestion - bearing in mind I can't see your office from here - would be to set you up somewhere where you don't have to keep getting up and down, sit you in an appropriate seat in an appropriate place - and to cut your hours down so that you don't have to do more hours and take TOIL at a later date.

Why have you ended up doing 6 days a week, and when you take the 'extra days off' who manages your work then?

At some point, someone is going to have to do some of the work - so it would be better embedded into someone else's job role on a permanent basis than all this fussing around.

And what Kiki said - do it politely until you have to get a little tougher.