Help - how do I manage this workload situation

[Snufflebabe05]

I work in FS. A high street bank, within HR. And the workload is unmanageable. I joined in September last year and I’ve already flagged it to my line manager, which led to another chat with their line manager and work being taken off me. But it’s piled up again. It’s the unreasonable deadlines. I work p/t, and work at least an extra hour every day. 10 mins to make and eat lunch. I’m not senior, but not entry level either. Today I’ve worked 12 hours, with 20 mins to eat and take the dog out at lunch. I came into work today to find something new was needed by tomorrow. But I’ve got 2 other things needed by tomorrow, and when I said to my boss today, they all need to be done. There just isn’t enough time in the day.

I’ve got 2 kids, one with medical needs and I need to do things like set up medical equipment and give meds etc. But these unrealistic demands are becoming increasingly frequent. I think it’s my bosses boss (the person who took work off me the last time I raised this) who just keeps launching new things needing to be done. I’m the only one in the team with children, and the others work evenings and weekends all the time. I can’t and don’t want to. What’s my options here? I’m never going to change things and I’m the newest so feels like I’m already causing upset due to pushing back on workload last year.

I should add - I’m very good at planning my time and allocating hours to what’s needed. But there are new requests daily, which are then farmed out across the team and I just don’t have the capacity to absorb it.

Couple of options.

First is to ask them to increase your hours and therefore your pro rata pay. ‘I’m contracted to work 3 days but I’m routinely working half a day extra each week to get the job done. Please increase my contracted hours to 3.5 days.’ Of course that only works if you want/are able to work those hours permanently. No

If you don’t want the extra hours even with adequate pay then you need to stop when you need to stop. Ask them to help you prioritise because it’s only possible to do two out of the three things by tomorrow. And if they won’t, be sensible and pick the two most urgent seeming things yourself. Let them get used to the idea that some things will have to wait.

I don’t want to increase my hours as for well-being purposes, I have a good balance…when it works.

The thing i struggle with is that I have flagged that work is not possible in the timelines I have been given and/or the capacity I have, but my manager just reiterates that “this needs to be done. It’s can’t not be done”. There’s just no give.

Agree with pp
You need to say I have time to do x & y. But not x,y & z
Give warning deadlines will be missed, ask her for a chat to make them aware too.
It’s so hard but don’t work extra, let things miss deadlines but make your manager aware it’s going to happen

Hr not her

Sorry to hear this OP. A previous manager once advised me not to go part time as you just end up doing unpaid overtime, so you might as well get paid for it. I did go part time in the end (under a different manager) and she was right - I just did unpaid overtime. I raised the issue frequently, there were several tense discussions involving very senior people who made commitments but actually nothing changed. So I left 2 years later.

I know you said you don't want to increase your hours but I would have the discussion around overtime pay to sharpen their minds. Right now there is no downside to them asking you to work extra work. If you can have a discussion about what and how you can claim overtime, the next time you get a deadline that you can't meet you can discuss how the additional hours will be paid based on whatever overtime payment agreement you come up with, and they will hopefully either reallocate them work as they don't want the cost, or at least you will get paid for the hours you are doing anyway.

Unfortunately your best option is to look for another job.

It seems like your workplace has a toxic culture of long hours and unreasonable expectations. If ''the others work evenings and weekends all the time'' it just shows that this is a general, long standing issue.

You have already raised your valid concerns and are being ignored. It is unlikely that you will be able to change this particular work culture on your own.

I would start looking for something else and in the meantime stick to your guns and do what you can within your contracted hours. What can't be done won't be done...then they might have to actually do something about resolving the situation.

It is very common for some companies as well to hire someone part-time because they want to save money rather than because the job can genuinely be done part-time. They then pile on work on the part-time worker and just expect you to do extra hours (unpaid) to complete the workload.

If this piece of work 'can't not be done then you need to allocate it to someone else as my resource is over-stretched as I have previously informed you'.
You keep reiterating it right back.
"that will take 4 hours of time I am not contracted to work for/I do not have the contracted hours to resource that/my work timetable is full I cannot deliver that/that cannot be allocated to me as I do not have the hours available"
You can't conjure up more hours in the day to save your bosses from their poor management skills.

@Snufflebabe05

I don’t want to increase my hours as for well-being purposes, I have a good balance…when it works.

The thing i struggle with is that I have flagged that work is not possible in the timelines I have been given and/or the capacity I have, but my manager just reiterates that “this needs to be done. It’s can’t not be done”. There’s just no give.

Then your response should be "well are you going to provide additional resource to complete it or deprioritise something else instead?"

You have my sympathy, that sounds like a miserable working environment. You say it’s HR at a middling sort of level? Do you have a sense yourself of whether the tasks are actually as urgent as your managers are claiming? Do they just want everything now? I would prioritise anything relating to payroll deadlines, out of care for the staff, and anything relating to redundancy/end of contract procedures, because that really can’t be missed, but I’d honestly struggle to see what else could be urgent enough to be requesting for completion the next day…

I know that doesn’t directly help you, I’m sorry. I’m hoping it might give you confidence to try some of the excellent responses suggested by pp if you know that actually a slight delay to completing a task will not cause dire calamity, only a slight delay.

This is tough and I sympathise - I deal with similar myself from time to time but I'm full time and just expected to work into the night. Be persistent in pushing back. If you're given three 'urgent' tasks and only have the time to deliver two within the timescales demanded put it back on your line manager and ask her which two of the three you should prioritise. Check out on time and either start looking for a job in a healthier working environment or use the advantage of being newish to establish and keep healthy boundaries in this one. Easier to do this when new than years in. Good luck!

@Snufflebabe05

I don’t want to increase my hours as for well-being purposes, I have a good balance…when it works.

The thing i struggle with is that I have flagged that work is not possible in the timelines I have been given and/or the capacity I have, but my manager just reiterates that “this needs to be done. It’s can’t not be done”. There’s just no give.

You need to start letting them down.

You did the right thing by flagging that it wasn't possible... but by working extra time you're then demonstrating that you were wrong when you said it wasn't possible. So they do it again.

Next time you say the job isn't possible, stick to your guns. "I have 4 hours left today and I will spend all of that time on the task. But then I will stop. Next time if you want these things done then you need to allow enough time. I will not give up my own personal time because you and your managers fail to plan". It'll be hard and it may get you in trouble... but it's the only way anything will change.

It's a horrible position to be in, but by working so hard and so long you're enabling their ridiculous demands. I recognise this as very similar to my own position, for what little comfort that is worth!

These are great piece of guidance, thank you. It on me to be more assertive but it’s exhausting being the only one who is pushing back. But it’s exhausting not pushing back too. So I need to do it.

Time for some uncomfortable conversations.

I’d much rather someone pushed back straight away than just didn’t make the deadline. So yes please speak up!

My assistant currently never tells me when he’s not able to make a deadline. He just lets the deadline get close and then let’s me know. It’s infuriating. Despite me checking in with him all of last week on something he chose yesterday (the set deadline) to email me and tell me he’s too busy. So now something that was meant to go out to a client today is not going to.

Which would have been fine if he’d told me last week. I could have managed the client. Now it looks as though we’ve sat on it and been inefficient.

Every time they give you something unmanageable email straight back and say I have this this and this to do but I don’t have time to do them all in the deadline, which one do you want me to prioritise? Then it’s back on them to decide if it should miss the deadline or re allocate.

I think you have made the correct decision and hope you achieve something.

You have my sympathy, many years ago I worked as a receptionist. The work was unmanageable as I regularly worked 14 hour days 5 days a week, when I wasn't working I was chain smoking trying to prioritize what to do next. In the end I threatened to leave, luckily someone took me out and we made a list of all the jobs I was expected to complete. As a result the company recruited 3 more staff and my job was broken up.

Can you provide a breakdown of your week, show what gets done and how long it takes? What gets carried over and how long these jobs take. They can look to offer you support with additional hours or a job share partner/redirecting some of the tasks as necessary.

It could be that they do nothing, so I would look at alternative opportunities

I think you should leave , start looking and applying. There are jobs out there that care about your mental health and work / life balancebut it might take a while to find it .
Let them find another mug and you find somewhere that appreciates you.
I was in the same position as you , it took me ages , at the interview stage I had to be honest about what I could do as I am a sp . I got many rejections but now I've found a wonderful job 🙌

That's the culture in a lot of places and it's toxic and unreasonable to expect people to work like that.

Unfortunately people put up with it and things don't change.

Unless you can have a conversation, make changes (are these things really urgent or does someone higher up have unreasonable expectations and/or there is poor planning in play?), extra staff are hired or some work or other activities like pointless meetings are dropped, then it's probably best to tell them you are looking for another job as you are unwilling meet their unreasonable expectations. And then do it.

Are you being expected to manage the same load as full timers?

I would say when told has to be done, what's to be dropped then.

I would also have them have copy of your diary and put everything into it and ask when.

I'd also start putting things back to the team. Eg I finish at 3pm,sorry someone else will have to pick this up.

I feel your pain. I’m FS too and it’s just like this.

I’d put your concerns in writing to them and ask for a 121 to discuss.

I ended up increasing hours, I was sick of not getting paid for the extra hours worked. I hate my new working week.

@wingscrow

Unfortunately your best option is to look for another job.

It seems like your workplace has a toxic culture of long hours and unreasonable expectations. If ''the others work evenings and weekends all the time'' it just shows that this is a general, long standing issue.

You have already raised your valid concerns and are being ignored. It is unlikely that you will be able to change this particular work culture on your own.

I would start looking for something else and in the meantime stick to your guns and do what you can within your contracted hours. What can't be done won't be done...then they might have to actually do something about resolving the situation.

It is very common for some companies as well to hire someone part-time because they want to save money rather than because the job can genuinely be done part-time. They then pile on work on the part-time worker and just expect you to do extra hours (unpaid) to complete the workload.

I agree with this.

I took a 30h role to fit around studies, and though I'm willing to be flexible and work additional hours at my choice, I'm simply not interested in working for a company with a toxic hours culture.

So if they mucked me around, I'd simply be leaving when I needed to with a note explaining what wasn't done, and sitting there wide eyed in any performance reviews if they tried to explain to me how their business model relied on unpaid overtime.

Find a new job.

I had this and my bully line manager used to come up with gems like I could only have annual leave once everything was done. But it was never done because it was a huge project. I eventually became so sick I was off work for 7 months. In my absence 3 people did my work.

What I should have done was to push back. I did this in another role and was just told its busy but you are a deliverer. Therein lies your problem. You are a deliverer. I would say that you know you are a deliverer and you find it stressful when you are not delivering, not all things have the same priority so things need to be resolved. Do everything in writing.

It is not your problem that there is no resource so if things do not change then stop doing it all. You are masking the issue.

I would also look for another job before this makes you sick.