Working for a Charity/Third Sector

elsien

Can't you stop doing the unpaid overtime? While you're doing it theres absolutely no incentive for them to sort out additional help. After going off ill with stress and having to give up the job I now have a more strict leaving on time attitude. Not inflexible, but if I stay over I now take the time back.
And if someone tries to pile more work on, I ask my manager to specify what job they would like me to not do instead. No job is worth making yourself Ill over.

I have always worked in the voluntary sector, and it does depend on the charity, how big it is, and whether they follow national or local procedures. My current company goes above and beyond in terms of upholding employment rights. But any job in any sector can try to demand too much and at some point you have to be able to say no.

zzzLazyDaisy

Well, despite what I said, if you are not happy in your current position and are feeling overwhelmed, then you may have nothing to lose by giving it a go - whatever you find in the not-for-profit sector is unlikely to be worse than how you feel now, and you might enjoy it, many people do.

As regards moving back into the private sector - it is true that there is a perception in the private sector that (rightly or wrongly) employees in the not-for-profit sector would never hack it in the 'real world' of targets and deadlines. But if you already have good experience in the private sector and good references to fall back on, a year or two in the not-for-profit sector probably wouldn't harm your prospects of going back into the private sector.... and charities are often so understaffed that 'admin' often means 'jack of all trades' - which isn't always a bad thing as you may get lots of experience in areas that you would not otherwise have access to, which could be useful on your CV. But a year or two can be explained as 'taking a sabbatical from the private sector to give something back to the community'. Longer than that might be viewed by prospective employers as 'languishing' or 'lacking motivation'

elsien

Our local administrator doesn't do any overtime, btw. She has child are commitments, leaves on the dot, and it's not been held against her.
I would suggest you find out a bit more about the company, the role and the expectations before taking the plunge. Some charities have both national and local sectors, so even if its a big name, the local branches might be making it up as they go along.

Newwashingmachine

The charity has got the 'Committed to excellence' sign so I thought that might mean that it looked after it's employees?

Regarding not working any overtime - I know what you mean - but unfortunately I have deadlines every day and if it's not done I'd have to go in even earlier the next day.

I have done everything I can to show them how much work I do and I'm worried now because I'm getting REALLY resentful - especially with my boss who seems to chat away all day but is very aware of how much I do and who I think actually makes it worse for me by giving me stuff that she doesn't want to do. I'm a bit worried I'm going to end up screaming at them all to !!!!!! - I seriously have thoughts of doing that at work and running off into the sunset.

I don't think anything could be worse but of course I'm pretty nervous after this experience.

I have a wealth of experience in the private sector and excellent references - so maybe I should just take the charity job and see how it goes.

It's been really helpful reading all your replies.

zzzLazyDaisy

elsien wrote: »

Some charities have both national and local sectors, so even if its a big name, the local branches might be making it up as they go along.

And that is exactly what tends to happen. Some local branches are a law unto themselves, despite the rules and procedures handed down by the national office.

Also, not all 'local branches' are actually part of an over-all cohesive organisation. For example, many people don't realise that Citizen's Advice Bureaux are independent advice centres, with different structures (some are run by a team of volunteers as unincorporated management committees, others are incorporated companies). They all 'fly the flag' of the CAB and come under the umbrella of NACAB, but they operate more like franchises than branches.

Newwashingmachine

elsien wrote: »

Not inflexible, but if I stay over I now take the time back.

hmmm I wouldn't mind if I got time back for it - working late or early isn't a problem and I'm not interested in overtime.

Where I work they are really strict and it's not flexi time - so even when you work overtime - if say in a week's time you need to leave early to go to the dentist - you have to make the time back either that day or the next 3 days - they don't take into account all the extra hours you've worked previously.

The charity I've been offered to work for doesn't say they do flexi though (just my luck!)

zzzLazyDaisy

Newwashingmachine wrote: »

The charity I've been offered to work for doesn't say they do flexi though (just my luck!)

It is very common in charities to offer toil (time off in lieu). So if you work over-time you can take back the hours at a later date. The problem is that if there is no-one to cover for you, the work will just pile up until you return, but at least there should be no problem getting time off for an appointment using toil.

mountainofdebt

I worked for a number of charities and one in particular was very touchy feely .....all we didn't do was have a group hug in the morning!


Obviously it does depend on the charity and the people who are already there but on the whole I found charity employers to be more sympathetic to child care commitments etc than private sector employers.

In fact the only downside I can think of working for a charity is wondering if the charity concerned would get the funding to pay for the position.

Newwashingmachine

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

It is very common in charities to offer toil (time off in lieu). So if you work over-time you can take back the hours at a later date. The problem is that if there is no-one to cover for you, the work will just pile up until you return, but at least there should be no problem getting time off for an appointment using toil.

I'd be happy if that was on offer even if you didn't get all of the time back - but if you had to leave a little early now and again it would be extremely useful.

I think I'm going to give it a go and see what happens. I really like what the charity is doing and hopefully will help to make a bit of a difference. I'm not worried if I have to work late every now and again and I'm not worried if I'm busy (just not completely overwhelmed).

Like you say I have years of private company experience so if it goes wrong I can always go back to that (hopefully).

Jobseeeker

yes Newwashingmachine i think you should give it a go!

if you're really unhappy in this job you've nothing to lose. If the new one doesnt work out then think about what you want to do next, maybe a career change etc

i dont know about this bullying thing, i think thats more an office thing than specific to charities!