To get annoyed with Part Time team member

[heartmoonshadow]

Hi,

I work in a small team of 6 people, two of whom are part time - both of them senior staff. One has returned from Maternity leave recently and has a small child, I have also returned a couple of months earlier from maternity and I have a small child.

The problem I am having is that this part-timer delegates everything to the rest of us under the 'umbrella' phrase of 'we need everything ready on Monday for the rest of the week - I don't come in until Wednesday afternoon so there is no point me doing it'. As a result the rest of us are having to pick up her work and do it at home in our family time whilst she swans off and has her long weekend!

The most recent problem has been that my young son has had chicken pox and therefore cannot go to his childcare provider - so I was off for a week with him. ( I have no non-working family to help) When I got back in on the following Monday there was nothing ready on my desk for me (which in the past has been the case non-working colleagues cover for others) which left me in a sticky position. Then to top if off she sent me an email if demands on the Wednesday morning saying she couldn't make it in so could I cover her work until the next week!

Anyway I am now looking for other employment and cannot wait to go!

Heartmoon what a difficult situation. How do the rest of the team feel?

Heart, am sorry to hear about your stressful situation. Is it possible you could have a word in confidence with your team leader and outline the problem so that he/she might be able to rearrange the workload in some way?

Otherwise best of luck with the jobhunt. Hang in there, and I hope things get better

Is this a job share situation or just part time? If its jobshare, who is doing the other part of her job, and can you redelegate the work back?

Thanks for answering, the rest of the team are just as annoyed as I am. The team leader is also part time and does not see the problems we have when she is not there. I also suggested the annoying team member delegated to her 'other half' but she said as they don't see each other except for 15 mins changeover in the middle of the week that she can't give her the work that crops up Thurs/Fri.

I have spoken to personnel but they were very unhelpful and suggested covertly that they had several people who want our jobs and that we should put up or shut up. Next step is the union but again in this climate do I really want to be considered a trouble maker.

HAving said that my DH has suggested I go part time and therefore avoid this woman all together as I could work opposite hours to her.

YANBU

I used to have a colleague who would down tools and say I have to pick up my child at the nursery, I won't be in until Tuesday now, so do this, this and that. I used to get stuck working until 7pm or later, doing her work and mine.

She chose to have children, chose to come to back to work part time on hours that mean she can't get everything done. She made her choices so why should I have to pick her slack because of her own lifestyle choices.

It's the same with your colleague. Why not suggest getting everything ready for the next week by close of business on Friday. Saves the big rush on Monday and she can pull her effing weight too

Any chance you can have a team meeting to move deadlines from from monday to friday so that she will be there to do the work. Or stretch it to weds or thurs instead. And if she pulls the 'have to go to pick up children' card then what would happen if you sent her an email back saying 'sorry, can't do this as I am also committed to picking children up'?

Alternatively, if you know when she usually sends out her 'no point me doing this' email, can you pre-empt it by sending her an email to say that you are busy this week and so won't be able to pick up any of her work this week, she needs to get it done for friday and then hand over what she has to somebody else.

If you were to all send her this email every week, maybe she would begin to get the message. Or at least you would have a paper trail to show that she is not working very hard.

Do you know what work she actually does do - is she definitely doing less than her share or is she being given too much or taking too much and taking the credit for doing it despite being part time despite the fact it is you and others on the team that does it?

What would happen if you were all to do just your work and then go home at the proper time on fridays without taking the work with you so it didn't get done?

What would happen if you all were to say to her that in previous weeks you have all had to take the work home and do it, that you can't do that this week so she will have to do that instead and just email it in, you will make sure that if it is there by 10am on monday for example you will be happy to print it off for her?

sorry, lots of questions, but I know it is a really frustrating place to be when you know somebody is not pulling their weight!

A1980, not sure if I can sympathise with you there. If someone is part time, why would you expect them to cover the work of a full time person? they are getting paid a lot less than a full timer after all. Your phrase "chose to come back on part time hours that mean she can't get everything done" seems a bit unfair.

A lot of part time staff are in the very difficult situation of being expected to absorb just as much work as a full timer.

Do the hours you are contracted to do, and no more.

When she sees HER work has not been finished, just say 'I have obligations outside of work hours and couldnt get it done'.

AnyFuleKno
She had a greatly reduced case load. She wasn't doing the work of a full time person. If she had also spent less time on the phone making perosnal calls and on the internet, she might have got her work done.

I had a massive caseload of my own. Why should anyone carry the can for someone else. In my new job, one person has 3 children under the age of 4 and she doesn't dump on anyone even though she works a 4 day week.

Have a chat with the manager of the team.

I would start giving it to her other half anyway, if it is really hers to do. "It needs to be done by Monday" just seems to be trying to circumvent this.

Or of course, just discuss with her what workload you have, and make her prioritise which bits you do and don't do.

A paper trail is sensible, especially if the whole team does it.

It is mad to consider going part-time or reducing your hours to avoid one employee.