Work Related Stress - What are my options?

kanosam

only work your contracted hours and definitely get signed off by your GP.
you're just a number to your employee, they'll soon find somebody and forget you in a heart beat.

ohreally

You need to step back and stop allowing yourself to be put in this position. You can't be held to complete open ended overtime at managements whim.

Raise the issues once more by paper trail, copying in your managers manager and their manager as well.

Why haven't you went to grievance long ago given the state of play?

shortcrust

Itsjustsammy19 wrote: »

Unfortunately there is a clause in everyone's contracts to say we have to be flexible to meet the business needs, so therefore I am expected to work extra and I am in breach of contract if I don't

Doesn’t everyone have that clause in their contract?! As others have said, you seem to have massively misinterpreted what it means.

Email managers, tell them you’ve been working x number of extra hours to get the work done but this can’t continue. You’ve planned the next few weeks and there won’t be time to get all tasks completed. You propose not doing x, y and z but would be happy to have a meeting about prioritisation if required.

Don’t whinge or moan. Just be matter of fact about it. Give warnings and explanations about things that’ll slip and let them slip.

Potbellypig

Do you know what will happen when/if you leave? I'll tell you what will happen. They will get someone else in to do the job you're doing. It's as simple as that.

Remember, you're just a number.

Yellow_mango

Do you have any holiday to take? Maybe taking it will throw some light on the situation for them.

Smodlet

OP, you say you are on "2 months' notice". Do you mean you have given notice, been given notice or that that is the required notice, should you decide to leave?

If you mean you will be gone in two months anyway, why do you care if it all falls apart now? It sounds as if it will after you leave, anyway.

As just about everyone else on here has said, your employers don't give a damn about you; you are just a cog in a wheel to them. They probably think you're a pushover if they think about you at all. No-one will look out for your interests unless you do. You really do need to put yourself first; no-one can do it for you. If you choose to be a martyr and, heaven forbid, end up in hospital how many of your managers do you think will come to visit you? If any do, they will be HR and will arrive bearing not flowers or grapes but forms for you to sign absolving them of any wrongdoing.

Please, for your own sake, stop being a doormat and stand up for yourself.

EmmyLou30

I can only echo what everyone else has said, don't think the company give a damn about you, they don't. Try and 'work to rule' and do just the hours you are paid for. Management will deal with it when you make it their problem. Getting irate customers put through to them when you explain you can only do one persons work will make them start to listen to you. While you appear to cope and they know they have a mug who'll work for free why would they do anything?
If this fails to work or is too hard to do then get yourself signed off. Has the same effect in getting the issue noticed.


I have been in the same position, still am to a point. The stress of my job caused my hair to fall out, I'm now looking at a lifetime as a wig wearer as it's unlikely to come back even if I quit my job and removed the stress. I do however now work to my set hours and let the work pile up if I'm unable to do it. I'm one woman, not super woman, and it's not my job to bail out the company that's too cheap to replace 5 members of the team. You have to change the way you respond to the company's demands or your health will suffer.

Takeaway_Addict

I think I'd be tempted to push back by emailing your boss each morning going

I have

A
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
to do today and plan to do it in this order, its likely I won't get to e downwards today so could you let me know if any of these need completing before A-d

Or similar- start pushing decisions of importance onto someone higher

Mnd

I used to think that I was holding the department together, working early, short or no lunchbreaks, worrying myself, not sleeping properly..and then I retired..I don't know if anyone noticed!

So either do as above suggestions, go sick or leave.

TBagpuss

I agree that flexibility doesn't mean working yourself into the ground. It would mean you don't walk out of the door dead on 5 when you are half way through a call with a client, or when there is a hard deadline the following morning which has to be met.

What you can do is document and manage expectations.

Things that may help:

- if you get direct e-mails from clients, can you set up an auto-reply which acknowledged receipt of their e-mail and gives them an anticipated response time (e.g. I aim to respond to e-mails within 5 qorking days"). It won't stop them chasing but it shpould help reduce it and manage expectations a bit.

- document the situation. Send an e-mail to your line manager setting out what you have 'on ypur plate' and asking them to identify which things they want you to prioritise. If they tell you it all need to be done, you will need to push back "That won't be posisble. As you know, over the past x weeks I have been working 12-16 hours a day to try to cover [name of person who left]'s workload as well as my own, and to then train and support [name of new person] but this is not sustainable, and is having a serious effect on my health. Of course I am willin to be flexible and to put in extra time when necessary, but I cannot continue to effectivelydo 1.5 / 2 full time jobs ."

- manage expectations internally, Whenyou are given something to do, respond to the person to give them an expected timescale. If they come back to you to say they need it faster, respond to them to let them know that that won't be posssible given your other urgent deadlines, unless your manager instructs you to miss a different deadline in order to met theirs. CC it to your line manager and ask them o let you know ifthey do want you to prioritise this over the other work. (and if they do, then e-mail whoever's wpork gets bumped to let them know the new expected date and that your manager has instructed you to prioritse other matters and as a result, the expected date for their work to be done will now be dd/mm/yy instead of dd/mm/yy.

What this does is return the problem to your manager to deal with, and also gives you a paper trail to show that you have made them aware that the workload is unsustainable. If there are specifc deadlines you know you are not going to hit, tell them now, tell them if there will be penelties and ask them to let you know what they want you to leave undone in prder to do those bits f work, or alternativelt, who those pieces of work should be given to instead.

Same with the trianing - ask your manager if they want you to prioritise that, or your own workload.