Sulking because I'm not getting the day off

[NoMoreShit]

My love life has recently gone down the pan so emotions are raw & I'm feeling a bit 'woe is me'. As such, I'm perfectly prepared to be told I'm being U & it's just a case of me feeling like the world is against me at the moment. I know things will get better regarding the ex, time heals, just need to keep moving forwards & ride it out.

Current problem is work related.

I'm in a really demanding, professional job. However, life has always been really demanding: lone mum for 12 years, carer for my dad, no support, no child maintenance, always worked & spent 7 of the last 10 years back at uni on top of everything else. Over the last 3 years I finished the post grad, kids have got older & independent, needy parent died, mortgage ended & suddenly I have a life again. I cope really well with the demands of my job because, relatively speaking, it's a walk in the park compared to the juggling, chaos & slog of the previous 10 years. I get everything done within targets, my work is good quality, I help struggling colleagues & have an excellent reputation.

My problem is that work are moving to a 9 day fortnight because 'most' people work unpaid overtime to get through their workload. I won't be able to have the day off because I get my work done within my paid hours so I feel like I'm being punished for being efficient & good at organising my time. My workload is higher & more complex than most because I can manage it, so it not that others have more work to do. I'm also paid exactly the same as my colleagues so no recognition for my efforts there.

I just know that muggings here will be expected to pick up any slack & provide cover while my colleagues have their days off. It happens already with sickness & holidays. I'm already feeling resentful & the new working pattern hasn't even started yet.

Am I just being a miserable, self pitying twat? Or am I right to feel miffed.

I don't understand, why would you not be allowed the day off?

I just know that muggings here will be expected to pick up any slack & provide cover while my colleagues have their days off.

Why would this be the case? Don't be a martyr. Stand up for yourself.

I dont quite follow. How are you being punished?

I have no idea what you are saying. If they are moving to a 9 day fortnight then why wouldn't you get a day off as well?

Stop picking up their slack. I'm not sure how they've justified treating you differently to be honest though so feel I might be missing something.

Because the day off is to compensate the 'overtime' worked. I don't work any overtime because I get my work done in my paid hours.

I also think it's nonsensical. How will reducing days in work from 10 per fortnight to 9 clear the backlog of work? It'll make the problem bigger. IMO, they'd be better spending money on time management training/tools.

I had this in one of my jobs - you worked the same hours but over 9 days not 10.

So simply add in the day over the nine days and take the 10th off

That’s madness. They are moving everyone to a 9 day fortnight on same pay but keeping you on 10 day fortnight who does the same job? Can’t be legal surely it’s discriminatory

I don't understand any of this. Why are your colleagues doing less hours if they can't manage their workloads? Why wouldn't you get the day off?

Unless they are doing same hours over 9 days as you are in 10 days. So you could do the extended hours over 9 days too?

are you misunderstanding a 9 day fortnight?

whatever you normally do over 10 days, you do in 9 and you get your day off. Everyone else will do the same so relatively you will still do more work? It doesn’t actually help anyone who does unpaid OT to do their job as they’ll have to work even longer each day.

Your job paid for you to work 5×2= 10 days every 2 calander weeks.
They did not pay overtime.
They now propose to pay you the same money to work (5×2)-1 = 9 days every 2 calander weeks.

How are you loosing out?

Surely they should be introducing an 11 day fortnight.

Speak to your union rep.

So basically employees are now able to bank overtime and get it back as time in lieu every other week? But you don’t work over time so you won’t have any hours built up to take the day off?

Its a pretty naive view that you must work harder as you get your work done by 5 and therefore never work extra. Unless you know the detailed ins and outs of other roles you just can’t know that.
Other employees could have last minute tasks or deadlines dropped on them and so are working more when they stay late, not simply take longer to do the original work.

So are you not getting the 9 day fortnight?

And is 9 days compressed (so 10 days of hours in 9) or reduced hours (just 9 normal days)?

Your posts aren't clear

So your colleagues are still doing the same No of hours as you over the fortnight but doing nine longer days instead of ten standard days?

That’s perfectly fair - you’re all doing the same
amount of hours. The situation at the moment is unfair on your colleagues as they are working more hours than you for the same pay.

Surely you can follow the same working pattern as everyone else if you choose to and work nine longer days?

I think there is a misunderstanding- a 9 day fortnight like this means they still do the same number of hours overall (i.e. the contracted number of hours), but over 9 days instead of 10.

You should say tell your work that you'd like to do this too, if you would.

Start working more slowly.

I actually got told to do this in one job because, apparently, I was showing everybody else up.

Is it 9 days and the same hours as 10 days would be? Or fewer hours than 10 days? Either way it doesn't make any sense as surely they will still have to do extra unpaid hours to get their work done?

If I'm understanding it correctly the op works say 40 hours a week but the rest work 50(made up numbers) because they aren't as effective so to keeps hours on a par they will now only be working 9 days over a fortnight as they are owed a day off as toil. The issue is they are working 50 hours because they aren't as effective

“So basically employees are now able to bank overtime and get it back as time in lieu every other week? But you don’t work over time so you won’t have any hours built up to take the day off?”

If you’re right @luxxlisbon I applaud you, because I didn’t understand a word of what was going on before.

Is it a kind of flexible time? So rather than claim over time they work enough hours to get a day off in lieu instead? I would raise it as on the surface it does feel like you are being punished for never claiming overtime, but you could just work longer hours on the 9 days and get a day off in a similar way.

It works out the same.

A 9 day fortnight doesn't mean they drop a day's worth of hours. It means they condense 10 days hours into 9 days.

So basically, your colleagues will continue working longer days than you, but will only work for 9 days in 10. You'll continue to work your standard hours, but across 10 days as you always have done. If you'd prefer to do the same as your colleagues and work 9 longer days, then ask to do that.

You seem to think the current situation is punishing you, but it's actually punishing your colleagues who are working 10 full days, plus their unpaid overtime. Whether this is because they're just less efficient than you is a different argument, but presuming none of them are on performance improvement plans, they're obviously working to a level the business expects of them and shouldn't be punished just because you happen to be super efficient.

My output is higher in less hours. In order to bank enough hours for the day off I'd have to drop my productivity.