Expected to do bosses job when she's not there.

[yousmellMarfelus]

A few months ago at work, I applied for a more senior role, which involves more responsibilities and more pay.
I was unsuccessful at the time and the post went to someone else.
I'm fine about it, because it was good interview practice and I don't begrudge it going to the this particular person. She is right for the job.

My gripe is this.

When she is off sick or at a meeting or on a training course, I am often asked to fill in for her.
It tens to only happensabout once every two weeks, but still.....
Am I right to be a bit annoyed that they don't think I'm good enough to do the job, but are quite happy for me to step in when it suits them.
Why should I do her job when I don't get any of the perks.

Does this happen in many working environments?

I think it really depends on the nature of your work and organisational structure, but for a lot this is fairly standard practice. How else do you get some experience to demonstrate you are ready for the promotion? Did you ever cover in a similar way for her predecessor? If not, and you were up against someone with a bit more experience, maybe that's why you didn't get the job. It not necessarily about being good enough or not. By appling for it you've shown an interest in progressing and maybe are now being tested or lined up for the next one. When other opportunities coming up you will be in a stronger position because of this. Also, the extra pay is for extra responsibility, not extra work. Occasionally being delegated the tasks of a more senior role does not mean you have the overall responsibility for them, or at least it shouldn't mean that!

Filling in while someone is at a meeting or on holiday is not the same as doing the job full-time.

I fill in for my team leader occasionally - I do some of her paperwork or put orders through the system. But it's not the same as doing her role on a permanent basis. I've been offered her role before and turned it down because the hours aren't regular and I don't want to work 11 hour days or work until 10pm at night 2/3 days a week.

But, it's good to show I am capable of doing these things. If a job similar to hers comes up in the future with regular hours, I can say I've had experience and I am capable of doing x, y and z. I wouldn't ask for a pay-rise for filling in for her a couple of hours a week, though - my manager would look very if I even mentioned it!

YANBU. Where's the "someone else" who got the senior role? . You work there so obviously know the ins and outs of all this, but if all this was clearly happening with a view to you being acknowledged for the extra responsibility you take on then, I doubt you'd have an issue.

There seems to be a real sidestepping/faffing/denial regarding yes, some bosses do take the piss. They'll have you make life easier for them, and not care less. If pushed (rarely happens tho) they'll pretend they were grooming you for a better role.

Quietly choosing your optimum time to move on can be an option. Don't spend your time helping to build someone else's career dream, especially when they don't appreciate it or help you with goals. They come 1st in their life - apply the same principle to yourself. I find that tends to work far better in line with life's reality

I am either good enough.Or I'm not.If I'm not, fair enough, but don't then ask to me to do that very thing you didn't deem me good enough to do in the first place.It doesn't exactly inspire confidence

did they say you weren't good enough? or when faced with more than one person who wanted the job, they were forced to make a decision between them? which would indicate that perhaps they considered the other person better placed to take on the role, but not that you necessarily weren't good enough to do so.

You really need to think how you come across to those higher up. If you are seen to be a bit petulant and reluctant on the basis that either I'm good enough or I'm not, the next time promotions come round, you run the risk of being overlooked in favour of the person who steps up without argument or question and gets on with it when the job requires it.

Don't spend your time helping to build someone else's career dream

I'm not sure covering for an ill colleague or a meeting is really building someone else's career dream.

If the OP wants this promotion at some point then she needs to take this opportunity to get the experience. So it could be really beneficial for her.

YABVVU and petulant. Experience speaks volumes on a CV. You have a fantastic opportunity here. Be gracious.

YABU. In my job, you are expected to 'act up' to the next grade before you get it. How else do you evidence that you are ready to do that role? You would be laughed at if you asked for a payrise!

YABU. If they picked up this attitude at interview from you that you are a bit of a jobsworth then it may be why you didn't get the job.

I covered my managers job for a month when she got married, no extra pay just how it is

RJ nailed it on page one. You're getting the practice in, so that you can be promoted. I'd be grateful.

oh yes, if you ask for a payrise, you might just find someone else who is your level being asked to fill in instead. And then if your boss is promoted/resigns, your colleague, not you will get the promotion.

YABU - it is an opportunity to show what you can do. But if you're no longer interested in promotion you could ask your boss to please ask someone else to stand in for her. But it probably won't go down terribly well.

This thread helps explain why women's pay is consistently lower than men's...

I am fairly sure that most of my male colleagues would be reluctant to do their bosses' job on a regular basis without some recognition either in job title or in money terms.

Yet the women on here think it's perfectly OK.

I think yanbu. Filling in on a temporary basis, or very irregularly is fine and a good way of learning - doing it on a regular basis is the company taking advantage. Unless it is written in your contract that it is expected, in which case fair enough.

Anyfucker, no, there wouldn't be two bosses if she got a pay increase. Nobody is saying she should get a raise to the exact amount of the boss's wage, but that she should be paid a higher rate only for the time she is doing the higher job.
So if OP and her colleagues on the same level that don't cover for the boss earn £20,000 p/a, & boss earns £40,000, then OP should either get paid c.£22,000 with her JD rewritten to clarify that she does the higher role when needed, or her £20,000 plus £100 "acting-up" pay for each day she acts as the boss.

It's quite normal in a lot of public sector jobs to have this acting-up pay when you are covering for someone in a higher role, e.g my mother works as a TA, if the teacher is off that day they offer her money (usually a tiny amount, nowhere near the teacher's wage) to cover the class so they don't have to pay a lot more money to get a supply in.

Everywhere I work, this has pretty much been how you get promotions - by showing you can do the job.

It maybe shouldn't be the case, but in the places I've worked, you're expected to sort of take on the role for a while before you get the associated pay rise.

Having said that, do mention it at any appraisals you may have.

No misti. I've progressed my career hugely because I've been willing to do things above my current pay grade and learn. Then I've used it in interviews while others I have worked with both male and female have stayed static.

I've got people now who are paid less than me who I expect to make sure the service runs smoothly while I am not around. They don't do my job, make long term decisions, make budget decisions but they make things happen if needed when I can't. And j happily go to meetings or pick up work for my current manager to learn her job and also make contacts and get myself seen as being go ahead.

I get the promotions when I go for them.

I am fairly sure that most of my male colleagues would be reluctant to do their bosses' job on a regular basis without some recognition either in job title or in money terms.

Not a gender issue at all IME. The OP is not doing her boss's job if she's just covering on an ad hoc basis. There will be aspects of the boss's job that she's not getting at all involved in.

This must happen in millions of roles. I don't know any men at my work stupid enough to turn down the opportunity for experience. We can't be promoted until we can show we've got all the competencies to do the next job and this must be a good start towards that.

100% normal to cover for your line manager when they're off.

In my industry 'Acting up' is more usually for longer-term temporary promotions, e.g. covering mat leave or long-term sickness absence. You certainly wouldn't get it for stepping up when your line manager was away on a course.

Do you have to alter your schedule once a fortnight to fill in for your manager? Who fills in if you are unavilable?

I am fairly sure that most of my male colleagues would be reluctant to do their bosses' job on a regular basis without some recognition either in job title or in money terms.

I'd have to disagree. At my work (lots of parallel teams with the same hierarchy in each) it's very common for either men or women to step up to cover the role above.

And it is, as has been identified, valuable experience. Only if it was a long term arrangement would there be consideration of a pay increase- because long term is what makes the difference between a periodic "being the point of contact for issues on the day" and "planning/strategic" managerial work.

Also +another to AF's last post, if one of my team was saying they should get a rise for covering for me occasionally, I would consider them as looking a gift horse in the mouth tbh.

So unless you're about to drip feed a huge hours increase or taking on work which is beyond the days covered then yes YABU.

I think YABU, but I can see why you might think YANBU, depending upon what line of work you're in.

In my current role (professional, media-related) I act up for my boss when she's off, and often (weekly, probably) go to meetings in her place if she can't attend. She also delegates work from "her" grade to me if she has too much on or if she thinks it's more my area than hers. I don't get any extra pay for that; the benefits are in the fact that when I do apply for a more senior job, I'll have the relevant experience.

In every job I've had in this sector, this is standard. You don't get paid extra for acting up - regardless of whether you're a man or a woman - you do it to prove you can, and gain the experience. It's still ultimately the "real" boss who will take the flak if it goes wrong, so it's not the same as doing their job.

However, in previous retail roles, where I was paid by the hour, every additional bit of responsibility had a bit of extra cash with it. The pay was dire, around £3 an hour (we're going back a long way here!) but some colleagues got extra (say another 50p an hour) for being keyholders, or for taking on various other responsibilities such as cashing up.
If this is the sort of sector you're in, I can see why you think you deserve more money when the boss is off.

I work in the public sector and no way would you get acting up pay for ad hoc situations

It is for covering mat leaves and long periods pre planned etc