If you’re off does your job get covered?

[WhatIsBooba]

After a conversation with DH we realised that when we are off (sick/holiday) from our jobs mostly aren’t covered and we come back to a back log.

Mine is covered a little bit more than DHs but I still come back to work that hasn’t been done, whereas his isn’t touched and he has to catch up on it all (he’s higher up the food chain than me though so maybe that is a factor?)

It just got me wondering is this the norm? What happens when your off?

Im a practise nurse. No my job isnt covered. There a 2 other part time nurses who sort of absorb my patients that need seeing over the week, everyone else just gets seen when I get back.

Oh and I'm away currently, dp is sorting out work stuff including the salaries, they wouldn't be happy if they weren't paid - he expenses hotel/ship/plane data which I can use, definitely a perk

Nope, only escalations will get picked up. All the actual 'work' gets left. I have to schedule my holidays towards the end of a month as I have a lot of reporting and meetings at the start of every month. If I don't do them, they don't get down which ain't great for the customer

If I have a blinding headache or am asleep, the work piles up. If I'm just poorly( cold etc) laptop comes to bed with me.

I draw the line at concalls in my pjs though

No, I don’t think anyone’s does above quite junior positions.

As a teacher when you are off sick you still have to plan for the day and brief the supply, which is a challenge if you are vomming or something . Often its easier just to go in tbh.

No, I’m the only one who can do my job. Some tasks might be able to be shifted to other people for a short time, but only fairly basic admin things. It always takes me about a day just to work through emails after a holiday or extended time off sick. I think this is the nature of most professional roles. Dh is a company director and is the same. We both do try to check in via email if we’re away for more than a couple days, otherwise it all just piles up.

only court hearings. the rest just sits there. H and I refer to it as the Leave Punishment - working twice as long/hard the week before you take leave, and the same when you get back.

I have two jobs. Recruited on a shared basis by Job 1 and Job 2.

Job no 1: no one can really pick up on it. It is long term project work; so it would be left until I got back. If I was off for a long time then Job 2 might be able to support Job 1.

Job 2: casework based, potentially can be covered by rest of team if there are meetings but it would depend on their diaries. Some clients would contact me direct, so they may prefer to wait for me to respond.

@521Jeanie

Not one tiny bit. No one would have the first clue. I would get back to a massive backlog. I don't effectively even get sick leave because I work part time and flexible hours - if I feel ill on Monday and Tuesday I'd just do my hours on Wed and Thu instead.

Be careful, that sounds like a recipe for massive burnout and resentment.

Holidays are not really an issue - it is education basis so quieter during the school holidays when I would be off anyway!

Nope!

For planned absences, such as holidays, I would need to delegate out to a colleague, and brief them appropriately to cover for my absence. There are two different people who regularly assist, each covering for different areas.

I return the favour for their planned absences.

For in planning absence, such as when my mother died unexpectedly, I had a fortnights break, only really urgent stuff, ie things raised from outside, was covered.

The more junior you are, the easier it is to provide cover. The more senior you are, the better you are supposed to delegate.

Lots of people tend to want ti keep control, possibly afraid others may be seen to do it better.

Some of the daily basic chores do - sending invoices out to customers and inputting receipts. Everything else gets left, and I'm quite glad because when I get back I'd rather have a mound of work to wade through than a huge pile of Olympic-sized cock-ups to find and put right.

Yep. If I'm not there someone else flies the plane. There's no homework or email backlog.
Apart from flying being awesome it's one of the best parts of the job.

There is nothing about my job that could be covered. I’m in research. When I take a day off, my research pauses. There are a few other people around who can sometimes answer questions about my area of expertise because it overlaps enough with someone else’s area, but mostly the people with a query get told they have to wait for my return.

No. It's all left for when I'm back. I haven't had any proper time off in years as I tend to work in the evenings on holiday

The basics are covered, but I will come back to a backlog.

Case work - No unless it's an emergency. We have a duty worker who deals with emergencies and decides what's an emergency and what isn't.

Management stuff- There's some time critical recording which needs doing each week, and I have to get another manager to that. And management decisions are also handled by another manager.

In theory we're all multi skilled and cover each other. In practice we stick to one job and it's there waiting for you when you get back.

Yes. I work in Data Management so we have strict deadlines some with financial penalties if we don’t meet them. We cover each other’s work when we’re off. Have to.

We usually organise our own holiday cover but in an event of a sudden absence we all have trackers so work isn’t missed.

Yes. Thankfully.

But the previous 2 jobs, it was an inconvenience to them i was off, esp the school secretary one. When. Went back in my desk was usually covered in cash, some postit notes with names and confirmation slips about trips and whatever. After 2 years i had enough and found myself a job which everyone else did the same.

I get annual leave, and love it, and if I’m ill, well i dint go in and my desk isn’t full of shit when I go back.

Mine is always covered, other than anything tricky only I can deal with. I also cover for a colleague when they are off.

I work in a pharmacy, you arrange someone to cover if you want time off.

There isnt any work when i am off as the school is closed. If i take sick leave, parts of the job are covered like the phones, emails and first aid and parts wait for me.