Colleague goes over and above. How to deal with it?

[Amoregelato]

I work in an environment which is very stressful and there are not enough hours of the working day to get everything that needs doing done. It is relentless and really hard work. It is not well paid for the workload and responsibility.

We have a team of nine who are all lovely people. Two of those nine always go above and beyond in their work. They work late at night sending emails and doing admin tasks. They arrive early and they leave late. The issue is that they make the rest of us look bad and it looks like the job is manageable when it really isn't. They are both aware of what they do and when we have meetings they always say they'll stop working at night but ultimately they carry on.

How would you deal with this?

You don't have to deal with it. They work their way and you work yours.

Well done them for working really hard.

Log your own hours and activities if you are worried that the amount of extra work these two do is going to become expected even though it goes beyond actual working hours. Whoever is in charge can then decide whether you have done enough for the time you are paid.

Other than that, I don't think you can force people to work less.

I am also saying this on my second day of working 13 hours while being paid for 7.

Utterly ridiculous. I work very hard. I often work late but I can't put hours and hours extra in every evening and I shouldn't be expected to.

Wow these comments 😂, WTF?

Some of my NHS colleagues used to do this although it was generally discouraged. What sort of industry do you work in OP?

More fool you.

Work smart during the day, no FB, no personal calls. If anyone questions you, mention a work life balance to maintain a healthy work ethic. If people burn themselves out, their families suffer and it takes years to get over. You won't be appreciated no matter how hard you work. It is a mug's game. Time to look for another job?

Has your manager actually said anything about this? Are you the manager?

I work in education. I have never had a job like this. I never get time in the day to check my phone or personal emails. I never get chance to take a lunch break and often get to the end of a day realising that I haven't been to the loo.
I certainly won't stay in this job for long. I have never worked in an environment like this, although we have had new management so I'm hoping that we'll see some change.

Are these teachers? I’m afraid this is what you get. I found it particularly bad in my last few years of teaching when I had kids and you had the colleagues with no kids or the ones that simply didn’t seem to give a shit about their own kids staying for hours, going in very early, volunteering for every bit of extra work, paying out of their own pockets to decorate their classrooms and buy treats for the kids.

Yes I recognise this too as a teacher. Just don’t do it. Do what you can in a reasonable way.

Occasionally it's okay, long term it leads to burnout.

And can cause resentment if they don't feel they get the pay, special allowances for it.

Nah. Seen that you are a teacher. Teachers are underpaid. So, would I fuck be doing all the unpaid overtime. The occasional hour here or there is fine. But not all the time

So you think it’s ’well done’ to have individual showboating and unpaid labour and burnout?

This is poor teamwork and working in education, which is extremely challenging at the moment, with the mental health and well-being of school staff absolutely on the floor, it’s certainly nothing to congratulate them on. It’s piss poor management too to allow it.

My manager would have a word with those who seemed to work too long after end of the day. It was a “duty of care” to find out why any of us were extending our days and to ensure it wasn’t causing issues at home/with child/elder care etc.

We valued and respected his interest, care and the opportunity to informally discuss why we’d worked on and work out a plan to get our hours back when it was less busy.

So long as your work/life balance is ok, let those who wish to work on, get on with it. It’s their agenda, not yours. You can only do your best.

I work longer hours than my colleague because I have ADHD and admin tasks often take me longer. You may be getting the same amount of work done because your methods are more efficient.

Some people find it very hard to leave work undone at the end of the day. Even if they agree that your workload is unreasonable they're still trying to fit a few more emails in during the evening. Don't do any extra, your day is already long enough.

Definitely not this. They just have more time available and are prepared to work for free in this time.

I'm not actually a teacher, I work in behaviour management and whilst we are referred to as SLT and many of the staff think we are, our salaries are nowhere near this and are less than teachers pay.

I can see why you have genuine concerns about this because as you said, by working long hours your colleagues are giving a false impression of what is possible in the working day. But in your position I wouldn’t see this as something you need to control or prevent. You just need to continue as you are.

Lol I guessed you were in education/a teacher by the description. I worked above and beyond before my children were born, often 60+ hours a week. I now am contracted 16 hours a week (but really work about 30 hours) and sometimes feel that I am just really crap in comparison to my young and childless colleagues as they are at school often 7-7!

It's none of your business just focus on your own work

I also knew you’d be in education.

Im a teacher and had a colleague who was particularly bad for this. She taught the year group below mine and used to get one kid to stay in at lunch for extension maths, and another to come in at lunch for extra reading practice. Things she couldn’t find the time for during lessons. Problem was, parents thought this was great and expected it the following year when they got me. It didn’t happen. Which was entirely reasonable, but I looked bad anyway. This is just one example of her doing above and beyond, she worked every hour god sent mostly doing tiny inconsequential things it wouldn’t occur to me to do (double backing display work, writing certificates out in calligraphy pen type stuff…)

She totally burned out and quit teaching a couple of years back. I’m still going 🤷‍♀️

Oh I wouldn’t worry in that case. Everybody knows those kinds of roles aren’t paid teachers wages. You’re not expected to do the same sort of hours. Just do what your paid for and go.

I work in education and would be classed like one of those 2 people you speak of. For me its about taking pride in my job, ensuring everything is done and taking responsibility if it's not (rightly or wrongly). I'm paid a salary and that comes with peaks and troughs. I'm experienced and can do things quicker than newer staff which is expected however I did see a colleague recently booking in a 1 hour prep session prior to a 30 uncomplicated meeting, then complaining and passing their allocation of work onto me, maybe thats why other people are working late