rant about work- demotivated and depressed

[Trinity9]

Let me know if IABU here, but I've reached a stage where I think my employers literally don't care about me at all and now it's really starting to get to me.

I stay late everyday and there is no overtime, praise or any other form of compensation offered. And you might say that maybe I am not productive enough or maybe I don't manage my time well, but it's the quantity of work that leaves some of us in the team with no choice but to stay late. They know it but it suits them to ignore it. Of course if any of us bring it up then we are told that we should have gotten a job at the council if we wanted to work 9-4.

Holidays- I definitely don't expect them to agree to each and every request, but it gets frustrating when they never want to even meet me half way.

For Bank Holidays we get told on friday not to come on Monday. Too late for anybody to make any plans and that's every long weekend gone to waste. I don't even mind coming to work on a Bank Holiday, all I want is the courtesy of being told in advance so that if my services are not required I can make plans to visit friends and family.

They are aware that I have ageing and sick parents living abroad and that I would like to be able to visit them. Before anyone asks me, yes, I would prefer to stay where they do, but there are no decent jobs in that area so in order to earn a living I have to live away from them. The only thing I ask is that I be allowed to use as much of my holiday allowance as possible to visit my parents.

This can either be done by giving me 3 weeks off at once instead of two, or by breaking it up and giving me something like 2 weeks off in summer and then another week-10 days off towards the end of the year. I was flexible enough to say that the time of year didn't matter and I was happy to take these days off when nobody else in the team had holidays booked.

Both requests were refused. I was not given more than two weeks off at once (even though nobody else was off at the times I requested) and I was told I would not be allowed to take more than 2 days of the remaining allowance in one go. This doesn't make any sense for me because it takes me 2 days just to travel to get to where my parents stay!!

I have not had a single day off this year apart from my compulsory 2 week leave. Not one.

I have been told they do make special allowances for 'special occasions'. So this time I was sure that my holiday request would be granted because it was for my brother's wedding. Well guess what? It was refused. As usual, I was told that I would only be given a maximum of two days off. Makes no sense since the wedding is in the States and the two days off would just be travel time. And the reasoning behind this makes no sense! Nobody else is on holiday around that time. We do have an experienced person leaving the team soon, but her replacement will have joined much before I take the time off. Still I was told that the team 'couldn't afford to have me go away'.

It's always about what's convenient for them, our personal lives and commitments don't matter. I feel like I'm in a jail not a job. I can't even have 7 days from my own life to attend my brother's wedding.

There is soooooooo much more that's wrong here apart from the holidays but I don't even have the energy to type it :(

In your position I would actively be looking for another job....

Oh believe me I want to!!

But for various complicated reasons that isn't working out right now.

I keep getting tossed about from one product to another with no regard for where my interest lies, whether it's too soon to move me and whether the constant moves/new training will be unsettling for me etc. Just do what's convenient for them.

Never mind that it damages my long-term career to not be on a product long enough to build meaningful work relationships. I understand the importance of diversity and moving about, but there is a reasonable period of time after which it should happen!!!

They don't care about individual aptitude. They'll put people wherever they need them with scant regard for whether an individual is even enjoying the work.

Can you take 7 days unpaid leave for the wedding? (Assuming you get holiday pay).

It sounds like a typical big business / corporation that doesn't care about the employees.

I could, but I would be told I am being selfish by 'not thinking about the team'. Never mind that I stay until 9 pm even on my birthday because the f-ing team needs me.

Moreover, I would still need their approval. Pay is not the issue here, they just don't want me to leave for more than 2 working days.

And I don't get the option to carry these days over to next year either. I HAVE to use them this year even if it is for random Tuesdays and wednesdays that I don't need off.

Have you spoken to HR?
What are the exact rules re:holiday taking in your company?

Are you in a union?

You could call ACAS for advice on whether your employer has broken any laws.

It is ridiculous not letting have more than 2 days leave at a time. I would seek advice from a union.

I don't think what they're doing is illegal but they are clearly a crap employer and don't deserve good employees.
Put every bit of your energy into finding something else and leave.

You are there to enhance the revenue and profitability of the company .......If you do not do that , you are surplus to requirement.Employers are not charity's

I would be clear with them that either they show some flexibility in letting you have the time off that you have earned when you can actually use it, or you will be working the hours you are paid to work. If the team can't afford for you to go away then they also can't afford for you to work only the hours you're paid to work. They can make a choice. This choice does not involve you treating them like a charity case.

"For Bank Holidays we get told on friday not to come on Monday."

I must be missing something. It is a bank holiday. You assume you won't be required unless told (significantly in advance) that you will be.

You are a member of a union, right? If not, join one.

Where I work is completely reasonable about absolutely everything but we still have people who aren't suited.

You don't sound unreasonable but just saying.

They grumble on and gossip in a little group about everything that doesn't suit them. They are really negative- there's only 3 or 4 of them in a staff of about 120 but they are always trying to 'recruit'. Fortunately, the rest of us think they are pathetic.

Your employer is using you with no regard for your welfare. Find a better one. They don't deserve you.

skylark- No, we cannot assume that bank holidays are off as some people are asked to come in to work on those days as well. But as mentioned above, nobody confirms if we need to come in or not until the very last minute. As a result we can't make plans.

HR in my opinion are always useless. I will not bother to say anything to them. They are there to protect the firm not to protect employees. Saying anything to them is absolutely pointless.

Someone asked earlier what my employer's policy on holidays is. It's pretty straightforward- you have a certain number of holidays that you can take in a year and your manager needs to sign them off. Pretty standard.

Not a member of a union. Would that really help?and can anybody join one?

Yes - join a union. And Yes they can help you.

But I'd be looking at this the other way round.

Stop working unpaid overtime hours.

When they ask why you are ceasing to work overtime, you state quite clearly that you would be happy to work overtime if there was a mutual agreement that you can take your leave in one or two week stretches, not in one offs as you need an actual holiday from your job and if that's not forthcoming, then any non-paid contracted hours are out of the question.

Also, if they want you to forgo a bank holiday, then they need to tell you a week in advance.

Are you the only one that doesn't get full weeks off or has this bank holiday thing? Most people with families will need a week or two off to take a family holiday. If it is just you then find out why you. If it is all of you then you need to get everyone to join a union and go en mass to get this sorted.

It's not a problem yet. If she joins and then works to rule, then it becomes a problem.