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?

Well you clearly have enough time to watch what your colleagues are doing. Perhaps you would be better just doing what you feel is appropriate and not worrying about the others. Apparently they will burn themselves out (which has been said with glee by other people who work their allotted hours). for me, I always felt more comfortable finishing and being on top of my work and going the extra mile. And if that took an extra hour or so or more on occasions, so be it. Some people don't think like that. It is up to each individual on how they run their days.

Education?

They sound like me! 😅 😂 But, some people are just made with a strong work ethic and want to go that step further

Let them crack on. They will be forgotten instantly when they leave/retire. As most of us will be.
Teaching can be overwhelming.
No one ever lay on their death bed and wished they’d worked longer hours.

YANBU for not wanting to have to do extra hours and go above and beyond. YABU to want to police what other people do. It does not make it look manageable - it just shows that the job cannot be done in the hours allocated. That is what I would refer to if it is ever brought up. And stop having meetings with them about it - that is very bullying of you.

Oh I knew it would be education and you aren’t teaching staff!!!

schools (particularly secondary) treat non-teaching staff particularly badly. Generally this is because teaching as a career is a vocation, it’s understood additional hours and passion is needed - it’s a way of life not just a job. All lovely, until teachers are promoted and have to manage non-teaching staff, who they pay really badly for the jobs they do, but expect the same level of commitment as teaching staff.

if I was you I’d look for a different admin job elsewhere. You’ll earn rhe same for less work or a lot more for the same level of responsibility/work load.

Basically schools function on free labour. Teachers at least end up with a half decent hourly wage, but for admin staff, their true hours for the job usually works out as less than minimum wage. But until things don’t get done, the additional staff members won’t be paid for.

(Or different policies that end up being less labour intensive- modernising the way schools work often only happens when stuff doesn’t get done on time.)

If you are questioned by management then put the onus on the others who are working extra that they need support as they can’t fit all the tasks in their working hours so the school needs to help them with work life balance rather than you are in the wrong.

there is a never ending stream of tasks in education and people get brainwashed into thinking they need to work for free or the school will end.

can you go through the tasks and allocate them fairly and so they can’t complain they are being asked to do more.

they need to stop or they will end up with burn out but ultimately if you are put across the ringer then don’t feel bad for throwing them under the bus for being inefficient with their time. Education can be dog eat dog world.

do not feel guilty. I’ve had to leave my child while poorly as getting calls to come in. Went into school while miscarrying. It’s take take take. Take pride in all you have achieved and ignore them. They have sad lives

Ignore it. I've worked with people like this. They don't make anyone look bad. In fact most of us feel sorry for them and think they don't have much of a life.

It doesn't make anyone else look bad.

In fact, management are probably wondering why they can't get their work done in normal working hours.

Why well done? Extra hours may. R expected if you are in a well paid profession, but it doesn’t sound like they are, so unless they are after promotion or escaping a grim home life, more fool them.

Anyway OP if you’re planning to move on, it shouldn’t worry you.

They aren’t, because the OP says they are doing extra. Management are probably thinking how lucky they are.

Do the best job you can within your working hours and pay structure but don’t do any more than that and don’t give it a seconds further thought. The people who work for free never get any thanks and are always taken advantage of. Job roles never advertise for example “9-5 but you will be expected to work for hours and hours at night time for no extra pay or thanks” because people wouldn’t rightly show up for the interview. It’s corporate greed. There’s never any praise for being a martyr it’s just foolish.

Surely people like this must realise they're giving their precious time & labour away for free, and probably for little or no thanks. And in a job that's not well paid!

They're also likely masking the need for another member of staff (if not more) being needed.

I can understand high fliers working in their own time, particularly if it'll help with the next step up the career ladder. But for the average job, it's plain daft.

I work in education and have a middle/senior leadership role. My work is never ever done. I could work all weekend, and still not be ‘finished’. I get in early at around 7.30, work constantly-eat lunch at my desk etc etc. I try to leave at a reasonable hour, around 4.30/5pm and I try my best not to work in the evenings if I can help it. I check emails and reply to easy ones there and then, or really important safeguarding ones, the others wait till morning. The only way I manage to maintain this is to brutally prioritise, not get sucked into chatting at work, and I teach a practical subject with not much marking and all planning is centralised and I share classes. If I taught English or history and had to create my own resources I would be absolutely screwed. I’ve also been doing this job a long time so am very efficient and am reasonably tech savvy. My lovely colleague for example can’t really use spreadsheets very effectively, so what takes her 2 hours, I can do in 15 minutes. We have people who work ridiculous hours, but with my commute and the hours I do, I am out the house most days from 7am-5.30pm. They get enough from me!

MaidOfSteel
I do get it in some ways - you want to do your job properly and actually by not doing the extra there is an inevitable consequence which impacts on students. It's a horrible feeling and not doing it sits really uncomfortably.

Unfortunately my colleague is realising the hard way. They changed her role this term which has increased her workload, a potential consequence of the masking that the job is possible in the time allocated. She's realised that even by putting in the extra time she can't get on top of it. Our whole team is beaten and most are looking for other jobs. It's essentially just poor management.

Whattodo121

I feel like if I was paid a salary to reflect the responsibility and workload then I would be more inclined to give more. However, the pay is shit (works out around £15.00 hour).

The HT had the audacity to say that he felt the same way and often couldn't leave until late because that's the nature of the job. Absolutely when your paid at least three times my salary.

YANNU for not doing it however YABU for wanting to stop others. I put in the work for my last promotion and will be starting all over again soon. The ones doing the minimum whilst wanting promotion aren't seen in a good light

And this is the bit so many schools don’t get! The teaching staff have a vocation and career, the office admin staff have a job.

look elsewhere. Bad management doesn’t get fixed easily.

Why is it wrong to be better ?

Why is it better to work hours you're not paid for especially when you are paid peanuts and in a role where there is no real career progression?
Should we all just work for free?

you are upset because others do more work then you and more hours then you is this post for real

because to some people its not the ££ that matter, to some its more the greater good or because they want to say themselves they achieved x,y,z etc or also at times they want to be ahead in their work, realise there is not enough hours in the day and so choose to do extra and if its not about the $$ then it could be more their sense of achievement ?

In my line of work it is actually a red flag when employees stay over and arrive too early. It is actually viewed as unhealthy and them not being able to cope with the workload, hence needing to work overtime!

I wouldn’t pay any mind to it, OP.

Just make sure you are getting your work done, on time.

But are you expected to?

Everywhere I gave worked people put in different hours whatever the actual expectations are. Some do it because it gives them peace of mind that they have got the work done rather than to suck up to bosses although some do that too.

As long as management are happy with your efforts and contributions that you are making within your working hours what does it matter how others choose to work.

Yes, if management starts saying you aren't performing as well as them then you can explain why ie. you work your set hours and they choose to spend their own time continuing to complete their work but otherwise you do you and let them do them.