Is my boss really odd or is this fairly normal?

[PopcornPants]

I’ve been in my admin job for nearly 3 years now and although I mostly enjoy it, I have some niggles regarding my boss’s behaviour. Every single time that I am either off sick or at a team day or have time off booked, she will not let anyone else cover my job even though there are other staff willing to do so and the money is there to pay a temp agency cover person. When I asked her about this she said that she didn’t trust anyone else to do the job as well as me. As flattering as that sounds to some people, it really winds me up, particularly after a period of being ill for example, when I know I will go into the office and have perhaps 2 or 3 days of work to plough through as well as other things meaning I end up working late, working through my breaks and getting really stressed. Is this sort of behaviour normal in other companies or is there something really wrong with my boss? I’ve never encountered this in any other place I’ve worked at. I really want to start looking elsewhere for work now as it’s really grating on me, feels like she wants to ‘own’ me and I don’t like it one bit.

[justdrankacappuccino]

I'd say it's standard these days, isn't it? No one covers my work unless a major disaster needs averting. I normally come back to a mountain of work when I've been off.

She won't get anyone to cover your work because you can obviously manage very well by working late and through lunch to clear the backlog. Stop doing it. Nothing will ever change until your manager/the business feels some pain I'm afraid.

[eurochick]

No one covers my work unless a deadline would be missed in my absence, and then I have to make it happen from my sick bed.

[tribpot]

I don't think we would get someone to cover short absences like sick days or team events but we do cover for each other during longer holidays and so on. I do think you need to challenge why it's acceptable for you to come back to a mountain of work that someone else could have helped out with in the meantime.

[manchestermummy]

No-one covers my work: I am the only person in my department who can do my job, and that includes my manager and the head of department! Even my maternity leave was only partially covered. Now that was fun to return to.