That it's her responsibility to tell me when she needs replacing?

[managedmis]

When a colleague at work is off, I cover her.

We have a shared calendar, in which we put our absences and holidays.

Whose responsibility is it to determine if I cover her I. E Do I need to check the calendar daily tos we if she happens to be off, or should she just tell me verbally?

Stop blame-storming and check the calendar

She should tell you and you should check the calendar each morning, surely, or at the very least at the start of each week.

If it's your job to cover her role when she is absent and you are not doing it because she hasn't told you she is going away but it's clear she's not there, you are not going to look good. If she's put on the calendar that she is away, that's pretty clear.

Has this come up because you have been pulled up about not covering her work and you claimed you didn't know she was away?

It depends on what covering means. How much prep time do you need? Is it enough to check each morning if she is out that day? If you are both out, is it a disaster or just an inconvenience?

What’s the actual problem?

What is the point of the calendar if not to inform you of each other's absences?

Logic would dictate that you check the calendar OP.

@managedmis, have you asked her to tell you when she needs cover?

Regardless of what public opinion is about whose responsibility it should be, it sounds a lot like something a very short chat could resolve...

When I did this is an old job we would email over any planned time off as a heads up and put it in the calendar. I wouldn't just put a day off without mentioning it first so that the other person's 'card is marked'. So if your colleague is just wanging stuff in the diary without telling you or checking to see if you're ok then she is being unreasonable.

I have cover as I process the weekly payroll, so when I am booking holidays, I always make sure my cover isn't off before hand. If I'm off sick, I will ring in & let her/our manager know where I'm up to, especially if I'm halfway through the run

Although we did potentially have a clash for next year, but it all got worked out in the end!

Common courtesy is for her to let you know, so you know not to book any leave then.

Do you have 1 2 1s with your manager?

If you do, mention it to them, see what they say but tell them you think it should be more organised.

If you don't have a manager as such you need to speak to your colleague directly, just ask her to let you know when you need to cover for her, either verbally or to drop you an e-mail.

I don't understand why you (and only you) cover her job but she doesn't cover for you.

I would expect known upcoming absences to be on the calendar, and your responsibility to check this. If she took leave at short notice then would make sense to tell you verbally.

why doesn't she invite you to accept when she puts her holidays on outlook? takes less then a minute and informs you as well as to when you need to cover her.

Love thread title

If it's just her work you cover on a normal working day I'd expect you to pick it up on the shared calendar and her to maybe email anything out of the ordinary before leaving.

If it evolves you working extra days or hours I'd expect your boss to say "I've just approved X holiday for Mary so I'll need you to cover"

If you’re expected to cover any period of time I would expect a handover to be arrange covering anything that needs to be done and anything that could pop up.

For a one day absence it could be a 5min catch-up the day before but for a week it could be an hour meeting a few days before (this depends on work involved)

The responsibility should be with the person taking the time off.

This! I’m gobsmacked that anyone thinks it is your responsibility to check. Interesting how different the views are. What does your manager say?

I don’t understand all these long answers.

YANBU - She should do handover.