If your an employer/have your own business, will you look back and remember which staff helped you out during this difficult time?

[workaholic9]

Just that really, genuinely curious.
I work in a small team as a key worker and apart from 1 other staff member, I am now the only person still working. My colleague works in a different part of the country so it’s now only me covering this area (the north west).

The rest of my team decided to self isolate when lockdown began, even though there was still work to be done and enough hours to go around. This has now resulted in me pretty much working 6 days a week and I am absolutely shattered beyond belief. Not that I would be able to do anything during my day off anyway, but it’s just nice being able to stay in bed and lounge around, have some time to myself and actually get time to go and do a bloody food shop!!!

I am still being paid my normal salary and I am extremely grateful to still have a job, I know there are many people who are much worse off. My boss has thanked me and shown his appreciation (sort of) but I can’t help but feel slightly frustrated about the information thats been passed onto me today. One of my colleagues (who is at home) has been told she’s being furloughed as is everyone else on the team who decided to self isolate. Now, I would completely understand if there wasn’t enough work to be done, but that is just not the case as mentioned above. There is plenty of work to go around and this would mean that I wouldn’t have to work myself into an early grave if the work was spread out fairly across the board.

I would also understand if my colleagues were high risk but that just isn’t the case either. I spoke to one of my colleagues today as she phoned me to discuss something about work, and she mentioned that she’d happily come back to work as “she’s so bored at home” but that there just isn’t enough work to go around. At this point I had to stop myself from screaming down the phone “WELL THERE IS, IT’S JUST BECAUSE MUGGINGS OVER HERE IS DOING IT ALL!!!”.

I love my job and get on well with my team (most of the time) but I just feel like I’ve drawn the short straw massively. I am 100% confident that there jobs are still safe even though they have been furloughed, as moving forward there is no way I would be able to cope with the work load. I am just about managing now. My boss had made a comment the other day about how he feels “some people are treating this as a national holiday, not a national crisis”. I have no idea if it was directed at my colleagues but it very well could be a possibility. If I decided to follow suit and self isolate, he would not have anyone else to run his business.

AIBU? As an employer, will you remember who kept your business going so to speak?

Cut back on your hours. Its that simple, stop being a martyr.

All they will remember is that you're the mug and continue to load the work onto you. Sorry but I've seen it so many times. What will you really get for doing this? A thank you and a small payrise? Is it even worth it? Businesses rarely reward people for 'helping'. They see it as someone doing their job.

I have a really good example. Worked my arse off for a company. Weekends, 7 days a week, long shifts. I made the place better and sorted a lot of their issues. When it came to redundancies, I was first to go. What did they need me for? I had done what they needed and now they could get others in for less pay to build on what I had implemented. They don't remember when you sacrificed a lot for them, I've never heard of it to be honest

If you want something done, ask a busy person.

You have a boss problem here. Please speak to him and tell him you cant continue with the current workload as you are mentally and physically exhausted. Offer solutions, bosses like those.

@YappityYapYap is sadly spot on.

I have a friend who was senior cabin crew for a recently defunct airline. She lived and breathed the airline, loads of unpaid overtime, did lots of PR for the airline, wouldn’t hear a bad word against them. Her customer service went above and beyond. She let passengers use her personal mobile to make calls, brought in home made cakes (yes really) and even drove passengers home!

Airline went bust and now she’s on Jobseeker’s Allowance feeling very bitter. Those passengers are all long gone, I wonder if they remember a stewardess who once smiled at them or whatever.

To have someone treat the whole situation as a joke and angle for furlough, when we can actually do a lot of useful work to get ahead and survive this is a bloody insult.

This is something that should be said as bluntly as this to the employees, if necessary.

I think a lot of people have misunderstood the furloughing scheme - offered as a last resort in lieu of redundancy, not something the employee requests because they want to sit it out at home.

If your employer has furloughed others, but not you, then you're already viewed as important to the business. I know it's small comfort when you're working your arse off and others are sitting in their gardens, but it does mean you're valued and will be at the bottom of any redundancy list further down the line.

I think line managers and business owners all around the country are becoming increasingly aware that their workforce is split three ways - the ones stepping up to help, the ones genuinely self-isolating but doing what they can from home because they're not actually sick, the ones who have done their level best to get out of any work (or indeed, been actively unhelpful and obstructive).

Some employers might be in a position to reward in a concrete way, and others might not, but you will be in a much stronger position than others when it comes to handing out redundancies, demotions, crap jobs, reduced perks/incentives, rubbish shifts, denied holiday requests etc.

I reckon you will find loads of companies taking advantage of this situation.

I know my PLC has we have 3 team members on furlough we are covering their work. This has happened across all departments

Flog a willing horse springs to mind

None of our team has been furloughed, we have key worker status (not NHS)
We definitely will - very outing if i give more detail, but amongst other incidents, we had a few people complaining that the laptops we gave them (and spent hours setting up with our bespoke systems) were reconditioned ones and not new ones (zero difference in terms of performance for what we do)

Oh and had quite a few people push back on working from home because 'my partners at home furloughed i dont want to be shut away in a room working all day'
They were quickly shut up by some of the people who are working with toddlers at home pointing out that they were all lucky to still have a job....

fikel What the hell?? It’s not up to them! I own a food business too and have furloughed staff but if I thought for one second I could use them they would be back! It’s not up to them! Why have you furloughed them but are working 7 days a week? That’s NOT what the furlough system is meant for. It’s NOT up to your staff if they are furloughed, it’s YOUR choice!

It’s just a job. I can guarantee that somewhere I worked two years ago will not remember me today. Maybe it’s different working in a small business, I’ve only ever worked in huge corporations where nobody really cares what you do.

Yes it will be remembered. Our staff basically guilted us into furloughing them as soon as they realised they could get 80% doing nothing, so now me and my husband are working 7 days a week to keep a roof over our heads and make sure they have jobs to come back to. Changes your opinion of people that's for sure.

Luckybe40 you are right it should be the owners choice, but in a small business where the staff are crying telling you that ay everyone has told them they shouldn't be working as it's not an 'essential' job it's pretty hard to demand they work. It's pretty essential to our family though!

OP yes I am remembering. We have a core group of people that are coming in every day that are keeping us ticking over and I honestly can’t thank them enough. They really are the back bone of our business.

Speak to your manager though. Tell him how tired you are and that you need help. I think they are cutting costs and hedging their bets.

Fikil you need to ring them and tell them to get in if they are needed. They don’t decide if they get to stay at home for 80% of their wages - you do.

Coffee you can ask them to come back. How long are you going to allow them to keep this up till June? If they are refusing to come in when you are allowed to stay open I’d be telling them their roles are being replaced by some one else.

I wonder if it depends if you are working for a small organisation or a bigger one. I work for quite a big one so there is little discretion in how you are treated. Certainly no one off bonuses or extra holiday for individual staff members for going above & beyond.
I have had a revelation during this about how my work view me. No one has asked how I am, commented on the times I am sending emails (working very early, finishing late & over weekends as have primary DC at home) or shown any interest in me other than to check I received an email and am responding to it.
Every year in my appraisal, my boss tells me I am wonderful, effectively gives me a pat on the head but explains that he can't give me a pay rise for now because of some reason or another. It's always done in a way which suggests that if I just did a little bit extra the following year, that pay rise will be there. So I do a little lot extra and find out that, again, it's not quite enough. He knows I'm not going anywhere as, normally, the job fits in well with primary aged children I just need them to be at school so I'm not sure what to do about it.

"I have had a revelation during this about how my work view me."

I would like to think that this is because your line managers are also frantically adapting and getting through this chaotic period - both at work and in their personal lives - but will be quietly noticing and in a position to reward you for it afterwards, once the business has survived and their families, friends and colleagues have survived it all too.

If not, especially in view of what you say about annual pay rises, I'd be looking for something else when all of this is over - unfortunately some places only realise how good someone was, and how stupid they were to take them for granted, when they're in the office handing their notice in.

I have. Small businesses owner. My staff have been wonderful, but all the decisions we’ve made, we’ve made together. No one has demanded furlough (and agree with other posters that’s not how furlough works; an employee can’t just take furlough cos they fancy some time off). As a team we’ve worked out how to navigate this frankly awful time, where we have seen huge loss of business, and where i honestly don’t know if long term we will survive. A few of my staff have been especially brilliant, others have taken the time to thank us for the way we are handling it, and others have gone the extra mile. I won’t forget them, and if we do survive and I ever get money back into the business, it’s going straight to them.

I do wonder about some of the comments on here that show attitudes to employers. It’s bloody hard work, the responsibility is crippling at times and I’ve spent 6 weeks for example working and working to keep my staff in a job. Not all employers are heartless. In fact I know an awful lot of business owners like me, who do give a shit. It’d be nice to see some recognition of that. Very few of us sit at home eating cake, counting our piles of cash while our overworked staff work their fingers to the bone. It’s such a naive view of how business actually works.

I think it depends on the company. If you work for a small company where the owner personally knows you and works with you, maybe. If you work for a big company where your boss is just another puppet in the chain, forget it.

Yes, the attitude of some staff has completely changed my opinion of them and I will long remember it. This has been one of the hardest times, being unable to trade but expected to finds thousands every month for mortgage etc.
In the case of a minority it has just reinforced the opinion and we will be glad to see the back of them when the time comes.
Dependent on the industry, this is a far harder situation for some employers than others. Tourism & hospitality have big problems due to seasonal nature and a small number of staff have no appreciation for this.

I don't think furlough applies if you just want to self isolate. You need to be in the relevant category for shielding or there's not enough work or you would have been laid off.
That said I do think how an employee helps does make a difference and it does get remembered. I'm an employer and even not including this weird time we have had a few difficult periods where we have needed staff to help. Two did, one wouldn't give an inch, that employees was off sick when all this started and did not see the procedures we put in place for social distancing, extra cleaning etc (we are an essential service but can't work from home) but they rang me a started demanding alsorts with out even trying to work wit what we'd implemented.
Once they'd come back they realised our measures were reasonable and they worked OK.
I'll never forget how they went on. I nearly furloughed them even though they didn't fit the criteria because they were so awkward to deal with it would have been easier. I didn't in the end as if we'd been audited by hmrc we would have risked being bollocked by them.
If they ever want their back scratched they're not getting it from us. As long as statutory stuff is adhered to were doing nowt else for them now, the other two, one us genuinely sheildng and wants to come back as soon as they can, the other has been an absolute star. I'll jump through hoops for them both because I know if we're stuck they'll jump through hoops for us.
As a small business owner, those who go above and beyond can make a huge difference, those who don't can be a drain. Unfortunately our drain didn't show their true colours until they had been with us for 3 yrs. Especially during this period and what we have been through leading up to this i really wish they just weren't with us but due to their employment rights I have to lap it up. It really does take its toll. We now have outside help with HR stuff as a result and we feel we need are arsed covered.

I'm not an employer but in every job I've ever worked I can categorically state that you are only as good as the last task you have performed for that company, regardless of the million times you have gone over and above in the past.

I hate to say it but there are always nice people like you who work themselves into the ground but they won't be recognised or rewarded for their hard work as they let people take advantage of them and are seen as martyrs and mugs.

Make sure you keep notes and get paid for every single hour you are working at the moment.

Also, you need to get stronger and set some boundaries. Find your "no". If you never say no to anything, what is your "yes" actually worth?

@working5to9 you’re doing loads of extra work (presumably unpaid if outside business hours) and surprised that your boss won’t give you a pay rise.

He doesn’t have to! You’re doing the work for a carrot dangled in a stick in front of you. You’re doing it for free already.

Don’t work any harder than anyone else. Do what they do. Join a union. Clock out at 5pm or whatever after having done the same hours as them.
You would have had a reward by now if your boss wanted to. He clearly can’t or doesn’t want to. So stop. Just now you can blame it on childcare issues.

I would if they'd been in the slightest bit helpful.