Work Stress

lulu_92

I'm getting a bit stressed out at work so I need a bit of a rant! I'm not sure what I'm acheiving from this, but I kind of needed to write it down.

In our team at work there's two of us who do the same job. We have individual things we look after but we share the main work. It's not hard but there's a lot of it. Since May I've been doing all of the work on my own. We hired a new girl in August and so far she can only do one task, which literally takes five minutes, while I'm stuck with the rest of the work. She is meant to be trained by my manager but so far nothing has happened. She was given one of my jobs to do, with the help of my manager, and I ended up having to do all of the work for it as they forgot to do a lot of it and the deadline was looming. I've spoken to both of my managers about how this was handled.

Work are very aware of how much I do as it gets brought up all of the time, but the prospect of her getting some of my work is never mentioned, no matter how much we all agree I'm doing pretty much everything. They've given her another job to do, but again that only takes five minutes to do so it never bothered me if I had to do it or not. None of the jobs that take me a while to do are ever taken off me for the sake of fairness.

I'm 17 weeks pregnant with twins. I'm coming in every day (I've only had half a day off for sickness and booked the time off for my scans and appointments) and my work load is getting to me. I travel 64 miles to work and back every day to come in and do all of the work. The stress of the workload is getting to me (It's not that I don't have time to do the work, it's a combination of having to do all of the work when someone else can help, and the fact that I've had to do this for six months when I was told it was temporary). Not a day goes by where I get a massive headache or feel like crying. (I started to feel like this before I got pregnant and before this girl started).

I plan to go off at 34 weeks but thing may not work that way. That means we have less than 17 weeks to train this girl to a standard where she can do all of the work, as well as hiring and training my replacement. I know when I've gone on leave none of this is my issue but when I already worry about the workload I'll come back to after a day off, the thought of going on leave is making me panic!

None of this is about me being pregnant and wanting an easy ride, I'm just more concerned about my stress levels now than I was before.

Guest101

Speak to HR surely?


Ultimately I'd put your concerns in writing and then miss a deadline, see what the response is then.

breaking_free

I feel your pain.

I also have to deal with a work colleague who cannot/will not pull her own weight and I have to pick up the slack. Explaining to management that her 'can't do' attitude is grinding me down has achieved nothing.

Here's what I would do in your situation

You're pregnant with twins so nobody should be the least bit surprised if you feel off colour; take some sick days. Don't space them out - take at least 3 days back to back, more if you possibly can. Right now nobody is taking you seriously because the work is still 'magically' being done. If you disappear for several days it won't get done, and this will be blindingly obvious to everyone.

I feel like you're being taken for granted and this is not good for your health or your twins. Look after yourself.

System

Leave work at work. You dont get paid for worrying about workload when you are at home. If your colleague is unreliable and the work isn't getting done properly, let the management find that out and make it their problem. Its not your problem. Keep calm and put your feet up because when those twins arrive you will have a hell of a lot more work to do and i can guarantee that workload will require 2am starts and hardly any sleep! Your unreliable colleague will soon become a mere drop in the ocean compared to what you have coming :rotfl:

lulu_92

These replies have made me want to cry!

Guest, you're totally right. The work is being done and I guess when management are so used to that they're not going to think anything is wrong.

Breaking, that's exactly how I feel! I always feel guilty when I have time off, though. I always think it looks like I'm skiving, even though this new girl and my manager are off sick constantly! Believe me all I want to do is spend this week in bed!

Spinkz, you are absolutely right!

System

lulu_92 wrote: »

These replies have made me want to cry!

Guest, you're totally right. The work is being done and I guess when management are so used to that they're not going to think anything is wrong.

Breaking, that's exactly how I feel! I always feel guilty when I have time off, though. I always think it looks like I'm skiving, even though this new girl and my manager are off sick constantly! Believe me all I want to do is spend this week in bed!

Spinkz, you are absolutely right!

Just tell yourself its not your problem! Now put your feet up, bang on some 90's music and chillout

tea_lover

Has your employer carried out a risk assessment since you informed them you were pregnant (or reviewed an existing one, to be pedantic about the regs lol)?

This should include working hours and demands, etc, as well as the more 'obvious' things like manual handling, working with chemicals etc.

If not, that would be a really good place to start (not least because it's a legal requirement). It can be a good opportunity to speak about the pressure the increased workload is having.

lulu_92

tea_lover wrote: »

Has your employer carried out a risk assessment since you informed them you were pregnant (or reviewed an existing one, to be pedantic about the regs lol)?

This should include working hours and demands, etc, as well as the more 'obvious' things like manual handling, working with chemicals etc.

If not, that would be a really good place to start (not least because it's a legal requirement). It can be a good opportunity to speak about the pressure the increased workload is having.

Is there particular times in pregnancy these should take place? I've been asked informally if I'm struggling with my hips (my manager had SPD with her pregnancy last year) but I've not had an actual risk assessment yet.

tea_lover

It should be done as soon as possible after the employer is informed of the pregnancy.

lulu_92

tea_lover wrote: »

It should be done as soon as possible after the employer is informed of the pregnancy.

Oh, well they've known for five weeks..

The whole thing is a shambles!:rotfl:

tea_lover

Things that should be considered include:

Physical agents

• Movement and postures
• Manual handling
• Shocks and vibrations
• Noise
• Radiation (ionising and non-ionising)
• Compressed air and diving
• Underground mining work

Biological agents

• Infectious diseases

Chemical agents

• Toxic chemicals
• Mercury
• Antimitotic (cytotoxic) drugs
• Pesticides
• Carbon monoxide
• Lead

Working conditions

• Facilities (including rest rooms)
• Mental and physical fatigue, working hours
• Stress (including post-natal depression)
• Passive smoking
• Temperature
• Working with visual display units (VDUs)
• Working alone
• Working at height
• Travelling
• Violence
• Personal protective equipment
• Nutrition

Info taken from HSE website - have a look there, it's really useful stuff.