AIBU to be stressed and exhausted covering for furloughed colleagues?

[turintimes]

I work in a small company which has luckily kept trading all through the lockdown.
About 1/4 of the staff have been working FT while the rest have been furloughed.

However the 1/4 that are in are now getting burnt out and just generally exhausted trying to do the work of all the furloughed staff.

Is it fair to ask the boss if we can swap with the furloughed staff, so we get a break and they can keep in touch with the business?
We could take it in turns (1 week on, 1 week off) we all do the same work and our boss would be there to oversee everything.

At the moment the people who were originally furloughed (and have been for 8 weeks) mostly chose to be furloughed.
I chose to come in, I believed the company would go under and we would all lose our jobs if I didn't.

The people who are furloughed jobs are safe because me and the few others who are in are keeping the company profitable, and they will be coming back when they want to (eg when the gov ends furlough).
I don't think that's right, but that's how the scheme has been designed.

Now I am starting to regret my decision, work is extremely stressful, and the workload is ridiculous.
My boss doesn't care about my health or wellbeing, but I do.

The company is in good shape and doing very well during lockdown, hopefully we can ride out the recession too when that hits.
I'm neglecting my health, my family and my home and the sacrifice I feel is not appreciated.
Shall I ask my boss to timetable us so we all get a chance to work & rest?

The people who are furloughed won't be happy with this because they believe they get to choose, not my boss.
I can easily afford to live on 80% of my salary if I was furloughed, especially short term, as my commute is expensive and my partner has been working too in a secure job.

Why did you start this 2nd thread with an identical OP?

I reported the first post to move it as I thought it would get more views/posts in AIBU, as I can't sleep because I am so stressed at having to go back in on Monday to face another week.

You can't be furloughed and working, it's either one or the other so your boss won't be able to do what you are asking.
The only thing you could do is explain your situation and asked to be furloughed.

YANBU, it's what my workplace have done it seems the fairest way

This is how they’re doing it in my team. People in the same role are taking it in turns to be furloughed. A month at work, then a month at home. Seems much fairer given our workload is still high.

Thanks glummy I've heard of other workers rotating furlough too, both in real life and on the news.
The job is cleaning if anyone is wondering why I am so run down. It's not a nice office job, it's hard physical work.

Furlough is a minimum of 3 weeks at a time so you couldn't do week about but I think suggesting they rotate is sensible

People are now being encouraged to go back to work if they can't WFH, unless it's impossible to work safely, with social distancing. That's if the business is one that hasn't been shut down such as retail or hospitality, of course. So as the business has continued throughout lockdown and you are busy, does that mean at least some people could now return to work? Unless there is an issue with working safety.

It's perfectly reasonable to be feeling burnt out if you're work load is consistently very high.

Have a calm conversation with your boss. Explain why you wanted to keep working originally and that you're very proud with the work you've been doing.

But now you don't think current levels are sustainable for you. Then put several solutions on the table: swap with someone currently furloughed, increase staff levels by bringing someone back from furlough, look for a rotation system.

Then state your preference, and leave it up to your boss.

Sounds like you've done really well. There's nothing unreasonable in the conversation you want to have, so keep it calm and professional and hopefully your boss will understand and help you out.

Surely if there is too much work for the non-furloughed staff then the answer is that there are too many furloughed and they need to be brought back to work. Seems like a misuse of the scheme to me. If there is work for the staff they should be working and having the company way their wage not the government. I do think there is merit in asking for a 3 week rotation of furloughed staff but the starting point she be having the right amount of staff working.

A 3 week rota might work, or they could just bring 1/2 people back to ease a little pressure.

If there is that much work to do, they should just bring back some of the furloughed employees.

I also think furlough is a bit of a red herring, there's actually too much work for the people still working so your boss is actually scamming the government getting wages paid when they shouldn't be.

I think your approach needs to be about staffing levels & bringing some staff back. Once that's happened could you take some holiday to have a rest?

It sounds like your boss is taking the piss a bit and getting some of their staff paid for by the government. Staff should be furloughed only if there is a downturn in work but the fact those of you still working are working much harder means that isn't the case. If those of you still working just work to your normal level, would that create a backlog and perhaps force your employer to bring some of those furloughed staff in?
Failing that, as other pp have said, furlough has to be for a minimum of 3 weeks at a time but it can be done in rotation.

Agree with others, it sounds like your employer is abusing the system, in order to reduce wages and make the company more profitable. If there is still the same work to do and the same income, and it is safe to work (which assume it is, as some of you are doing it), then I can’t see why any staff should be furloughed. It sounds like they should be bringing more people back, rather than just rotating.

I would be speaking your boss ad explaining you are struggling to cope. Push it and say you are close to breaking point and cannot continue. If he does nothing, go off on sick. Its not fair on other colleagues but presumably they will at that point have to bring someone in to cover your work.

I agree with the others o think you're boss is profiting fromnaysff being furloughed.

Staff*

If there’s loads of work and the company is profitable- why is anyone furloughed at all? Your boss should be bringing people back off furlough now.

I totally understand why you are so burnt out and fed up. Definitely worth raising with your boss and suggesting furlough rotates every 3 weeks.

You raise some very interesting points (and I wondered for a horrible moment if you were one of my employees!).
So, firstly it does sound like your boss has furloughed too many people. This is understandable. When we first started lockdown, in my business we furloughed as many as possible, not to take advantage, but to try to save as much money as possible so that people have a job to come back to. Our 1/4 staff have taken on the work of the furloughed staff, although in our case the remaining staff are only working about 3-5 hours per day.

I think you should talk to your boss and tell him how busy you are. We keep checking in with ours but our orders are still 80% down in any event.

No doubt there will be some businesses that take advantage of the system but also there will be loads of businesses like mine who are trying to squirrel as much money away as possible to keep us going through lean months ahead.
We also notice the staff who have worked throughout (in fact ours have received a bonus equal to 25% extra pay for each month they have worked) and notice the ones who couldn’t leave quickly enough. Keep that in mind!

I have a friend who is a vet nurse and they are rotating Furlough to be fair. They are keeping surgery open with 1 vet and 1 nurse so with about 4 nurses they are working a month each. I think you are being treated outrageously.

I wish you were my boss Ozgirl, you sound sympathetic to the situation.
I think my boss is only thinking of the profit.

Yeah it's a minimum 3 weeks , you could ask your boss to swap .
Anyway this is what is wrong about the furloughed system . Employers shouldn't be furloughed staff if there is work and that the non furloughed staff are doing twice as much work .
Are the staff on the 80% wage it's not topped up ?
You could ask if you could swap but it'll be minimum 3 weeks so you need to think about that you'd be happy to do that on less pay.

I have heard of so many abuses of the furlough scheme,and now its been extended !
HMRC seem committed to investigating once this is all over,but we will see