Taking annual leave on-site, on-call, and general boundary issues with employer

Andypandyboy

SillyOne wrote: »

I have tried to delegate (see above) and it ended in mistakes and post mortems. The mistakes weren't due to a fundamental lack of training/understanding but just sloppiness and lack of attention to detail. The unpalatable fact is... we don't have the calibre of people we need due to cost cutting etc and I am picking up the slack. Perhaps the 'PC' view these days is that there are no "people that don't meet the calibre we need", everyone is trainable. Not true. Some people just need to be written off as regards a particular career path (but could excel in others!)

Edited to add: For example -- could you just take a bunch of people off the street and train them to be doctors because they have experience going to the chemist and picking up a prescription. Similar principle...

I wish it was as simple as me-being-played and falling for it, as I am savvy and assertive enough to deal with that -- but no, it's that they have recruited people in good faith who don't have the skills but are within budget. Because they have an 'Senior' person (myself) to pick up what gets through the holes.

Analogy: they expected the holes to be like in a sieve, but they are more like a tennis racquet.

Sorry, but you are playing their game. You didn't recruit them, you had no input into that so they should be capable. If they aren't, then that is tough.

You really are not assertive or savvy if you keep allowing this......and as long as you keep deluding yourself that this is happening because they need you and not because they are using you, it will continue.

You sound the ideal employee tbh, Stepford Wife comes to mind. I have worked with those sort of people and being honest others call it the "martyr syndrome" and raise their eyebrows when they hear the latest tale of woe. Honestly, you need to sort this out before you become a laughing stock as the person who thinks the place will fall down without them. It won't, it really won't.

Take those holidays, shock them into manning up.

Manxman_in_exile

I'm confused on a couple of points. I apologise if you've already answered them.


First, you said in an earlier post that you've not had an "actual" holiday for seven years. I think you've also implied that most (if not all) of your holiday requests end up being refused. If I was an auditor working on your company's accounts I would be concerned about any employee not taking any time off. Where I used to work this was a standard audit check - for a number of reasons. Has an auditor ever asked why you don't use up your holiday entitlement? Or do you think your employers are concealing this fact from the auditors?


Second, you say your OH gives you "grief" when you are called back to work at some ridiculous time on a Sunday. Well, why wouldn't they give you grief? I've certainly done it. But who else is at work on a Sunday to call you in - your manager? Well let them sort it out. Or don't they know how to do what you can?


You've not had a proper holiday in seven years!!! And you are worried about what will happen to your fellow colleagues and the company?


You've also had a lot of good advice from other posters but keep coming back with "reasons" why you put up with this treatment. If you can't get your employer to sort out this mess of their own making, find another job ASAP

Andypandyboy

OP deep down are you worried that if they can train someone up to be your equal in skills that will mean you are no longer "indispensible"? Do you think by doing as you are asked you are protecting your position?

Honestly, there is much more to life than work!

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

My 13 year old daughter makes a huge fuss about things. When you point out simple and obvious solutions, she comes up with illogical reasons why she can't do those simple obvious things, and continues to make a huge drama out of it.

The reason for this of course is that she doesn't really think there is a problem, she just likes making a drama and being the centre of it.

The excuse I would make for her for this behaviour is that she is 13.

What's your excuse?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

SillyOne wrote: »

Yes and no. On paper no, but we have become "detached" of late. Not due to this on the surface of it, but it's definitely true that I put work ahead of personal relationships. Because what allows you to have a house and a family life? Oh yes 'The Company' !! If I lost the job, I'd lose my house and family too, and as such they are 'subordinated' and admittedly I have pointed this out more than a few times when being given grief by my OH about "do you have to go in at this time on Sunday? Really??" etc.

I thought you could get another job with no problems at all.

Also, ignoring this, you'd lose your house...maybe. You'd lose your family though? They only stay with you for the money, then?

SillyOne

getmore4less wrote: »

so just a widget tester.

the person responsible for the generation of the money maker(the monthly widget reports) needs to have control over the team that create the input to create that report.

You are not responsible for the report if you have no control over the inputs.

do your bit based on the inputs from the others if they are wrong so be it you should not be checking everything unless that is your job and you get them to do their work again if it is wrong(do not do it yourself).

The person above you that set up the team is the fall person if stuff is late.

That's exactly it - I am "Senior" based on tenure and level of knowledge but it isn't an official promotion to be in charge of people and so on. Here a 'Senior' is just someone that's been there longer and knows more than the others. For example if we run the test 'T' on the particular widget and it produces result 'R' which is unexpected, the 'standard' widget tester would just report that to the Senior as 'unexpected result on T' and move on. The Senior would then investigate that result: is it legit, repeat the test, what could have caused R and does it happen every time, etc. Ultimately the stuff we report on has to be "reconciled" as regards unexpected results being explainable.

The complicating factor is that the manager of this team doesn't have a great deal of knowledge about Widgets or general diagnostic procedures (e.g. if something fails: When did it last succeed? What was changed? Rule out variables one by one, etc) the manager is perhaps good with people but with no specific technical knowledge.

SillyOne

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

I thought you could get another job with no problems at all.

Also, ignoring this, you'd lose your house...maybe. You'd lose your family though? They only stay with you for the money, then?

Yeah it's a contradictory situation for sure. In myself I'm confident I could get another, better, job - thinking rationally. Then panic, catastrophe, 'awfulising' as I heard it described on another website, sets in. I'm a tenant and would have to report the job loss to them (which I wouldn't if just moving on to another, better job in the natural course of things!) Although I am pretty sure I could then find something else.

Family don't "only stay for the money", no, but I am the main provider. They have other options.

SillyOne

As an aside: Wow, this has really flushed out some issues and discussion, and the responses (perhaps especially the harsh, "this is how it is" ones) make me see sense! I initially thought this was just about the details of how could the holiday be handled in this case -- but thanks for all the discussion, it's really appreciated!

SillyOne

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'd suggest that the OP goes to her manager with the 'what if I fell under a bus?' question. Personally I think everyone should ask that question at regular intervals.

I did indirectly ask something like this, but got the response that "I don't know what we'd do. It would be panic stations" - my paraphrasing, again, but essentially that.

I don't take on any unnecessary journeys, activities etc outside of work because of this risk. If I do have unavoidable "unnecessary" trips (e.g. visiting parents 150 miles away) I am on edge the whole time. I'm a good driver but who knows what might happen.

Manxman_in_exile

Post #97


You say "...the manager is perhaps good with people..."


Surely the whole point of your thread is that they are NOT good with people, except insofar as they are able to exploit YOU successfully.