Colleague taking the piss….

[Laughingteacakes]

I work in a team alongside a colleague, we do the same job, we are on a small team in a public services workplace - don’t want to be too outing. We are able to work from home but also have an office base and we do work in the community, around the area of our office base.
This colleague has small children, she doesn’t have childcare in place consistently, she seems to be working her job around her childcare needs rather than pay for the right amount of childcare (money isn’t an issue, think expensive car, large house etc). She also travels from home to work in her work time so that she can be at home at the times she needs for her childcare, without making up the 1.5ish hours this takes her each day. The rest of the team are working really hard, extra hours, lots of stress about getting through the workload, she is breezing along with a much lighter workload and therefore managing to continue to be at home whenever she needs to for her children. It is driving me crazy, I am so pissed off that the rest of the team including myself are working so hard and she is taking the absolute piss. I know different people have different work ethics but I feel this is really out of order. It’s also causing lots of negativity in the team with people feeling so cross.
This has been going on about a year, but is getting worse. I need advice, how would you deal with this, our manager doesn’t seem to be interested as the teams work is getting done.
YABU - you should just get on with it and not get involved.
YANBU - this is a piss take and you should do something to try and get the workload more even. Thanks for any views…I’m that worked up about it I can’t think straight….😊

[Softplayhooray]

@ExtraOnion

The only person who needs to address this is your line manager, talk to them, and let them get on with it

Do this and if you get nowhere speak to HR.

[Rainbowqueeen]

The only thing you can do is speak to your manager about your own work load and how stressed it is making you. As part of that conversation you could say that you would appreciate it if they could look at everyone’s workload and see if there is any possibility of reallocating some tasks. Don’t mention any one in particular.

Also focus on self care. Don’t pick up the slack.

[Frances658]

Why does she have less work to do than the rest of your team? Who decides who does what? If she's not fulfilling her duties and you're picking up the slack, stop doing so and take it up with your line manager. If she has a lighter workload that has been agreed with your line manager, then she must have some kind of flexible working arrangement.

[OnTheBrinkOfChange]

If the whole group agrees, why can't you all have a meeting with your manager, even if she is on a remote site, where are you discuss this all together? I think your boss would be quite surprised by your strength of feeling and would be forced to do something about it.

[Calmdown14]

Christ everyone on here is quick to defend a slack colleague. Of course it pisses you off.

If she wants to do reduced hours she should take the pay cut that comes with it.

I'm part time to accommodate this stuff so it annoys me when full timers do it (other than with the unexpected like illness) as I take a 30 per cent hit on my pay and pens up on for it (rightly so).

They also do the nine day fortnight but I see little evidence of where they actually make up the hours as eating breakfast in the office doesn't really count!

[Laughingteacakes]

@wibblywobblybits

What she does / doesn't do, and when she works / doesn't work, isn't really any of your business.

If the rest of you are working extra (unpaid) hours to cover her shortfall, then stop doing them and you won't feel so bitter about it. The only reason you're annoyed is because she's getting away with it, it doesn't actually directly impact you. Just take on less work, like she does, and everyone will be happy. If the work doesn't get done, your line manager can deal with it then.

But it is my business because when she’s being paid to work but not working, it prohibits her from taking on her fair share of the workload, this is impacting on me as my workload is higher. I honestly couldnt care what she does in her own home, time, childcare-wise, it is absolutely none of my business. But when my workload is like 50% higher because she’s not able to get through her fair share then it becomes my business. My child would love for me to be at home before and after she goes to school each day but I’m paid to do a job.

thanks to the people saying hand this over to your line manager, I think I needed to hear that doing this was the right thing to do, I’ve never had to do that before and it doesn’t sit comfortably.

To the people who have described me as vile and obsessed with my colleague you have the wrong picture. I have worked in many different teams in many different public sector areas over the last 20 years and can honestly say I have never not got along with a colleague before this. But thanks for the quick judgment….😉

[NumberTheory]

You’ve raised it with your manager and they aren’t prepared to do anything about it. I appreciate it can be a nightmare to tackle difficult workers in some organizations. HR can be more concerned with not getting sued than with helping make your team effective. So there may be reasons they aren’t or don’t seem to be doing anything. But that doesn’t help you.

You could try telling your manager that you think it’s unreasonable that you’re being put in this position and ask them if they are going to make changes. If some of your other colleagues raise it too it might have more impact. But if you’ve raised it a few times already that seems unlikely. So your only real recourse is to find another job and tell them this is why in your exit interview.

I don’t think it matters why your colleague isn’t pulling her weight. If it means you are having to do more than is reasonable and management aren’t dealing with that either through performance management or adding more resources if there is a fair reason for her lack of work, then you are reasonable to not want it to continue. So I wouldn’t mention that she’s going off to collect her kids or whatever. I would just say she starts late, she finishes early and she gets little done so it ends up falling to you and you’d rather not be picking up someone else’s slack on a long term basis.

[lancsgirl85]

But when my workload is like 50% higher because she’s not able to get through her fair share then it becomes my business.

How have you so conclusively made this link, though? Does your manager allocate extra work to you and say "this is now yours because (slacker colleague name) can't take it on". How are you so confident that your colleague working 1.5 hours below her hours each day has directly resulted in you having a 50% workload increase? 🤔

[Laughingteacakes]

@lancsgirl85

It could be, but not everyone 'public sector' works with vulnerable people. It could be civil service, planning office, tax inspectors, food hygiene, road repairs... Anything!

Exactly. For some reason my first thought was probation service!

Its not my line of work but don’t you think people working in a probation service are working with vulnerable people?!!

[lancsgirl85]

What seems more likely if everyone is working over capacity, is that there is a culture in your workplace of taking on more than you can manage, and your "slacker colleague" has become the scapegoat for this. You and your other colleagues need to speak up and tell your manager when you're at capacity and can't take anymore. irrespective of what another person is or isn't doing, this is the way to fix the problem.

[whatwasIgoingtosay]

This is a terrible management fail - there is nothing more demoralising for staff than seeing lazy CFs 'getting away' with doing sweet FA. It's one of the biggest causes of resentment in the workplace and management need to address it. I don't blame the OP for being thoroughly pissed off.

[lancsgirl85]

@Laughingteacakes

Erm, I don't think I said that?

I actually work in a very similar field to probation myself so I'm aware of the vulnerabilities of the forensic population.

[whynotwhatknot]

youre going to have to stop working extra hours your lm doesnt care because its getting done

can you go above them?

[NeedAHoliday2021]

I’d raise it with your manager.

When I went full time I did so on the basis I’d have full flexibility to attend school assemblies etc (very close by) and would arrive 10 minutes late due to school run (made up at home) and I’d collect dc from school two days a week then work from home. They went to a cm but I had to leave work promptly at 5pm to collect by 5.30pm.

i guess anyone seeing this could think I’m 10 minutes late every day and bunk off early for school stuff. Every single thing was agreed with manager and I often did overtime. Now dc can all walk to and from school and my commitment to work is much more flexible. It’s hard when dc are small but I did pay for childcare.

She may have an arrangement or be taking the piss. You’ll only know if you check with your manager.

[Blowthemandown]

@Laughingteacakes you always get people with different work ethics. We have a hybrid/flexible arrangement to work xx hours. We try to fit round parents’ need to cover childcare drop-off etc. But people who want to flex their hours are expected to contribute full hours - just possibly at different times (this can work well - especially as we have offices world wide and late starters in Uk can align hours to the US for example). But anyone caught short changing the company in the way you describe would face discipline. There are ways to do it … your line manager is maybe just sticking their head in the sand. But they need to know in order to tackle the issue … so you’d need to be certain that your colleague isn’t picking up work later at home for example.

[DecorateTheTree]

Wish I could travel on my work time fancy leaving home at 8am and getting home at my finish work time -and getting paid for that time - heavenly

[RustySwitchblade]

🙄

well that’s a leap…

why does the OP have to turn a blind eye in the improbable case the CF has some hard luck story?

must be a lot of skivvers on this thread. Why wouldn’t the OP be annoyed that someone isn’t pulling their weight? It’s a shitty way to treat colleagues.

im a single parent- wouldn’t dream of letting colleagues pick up the slack while I just fucked off to pick up my kids.

OP - you sound like an honest, hard working team player.

[Charlize43]

Sounds like she's done that 'quiet quitting' trend that everyone is talking about. In the old days we used to call it 'shirking'...

[Quveas]

Public sector manager here. Your manager needs to deal with this. Everything you have described would be a disciplinary offence for us. But it is for managers to deal with. If you and your colleagues are concerned, then the line manager is the first stop, and if they do nothing, it's a grievance...

[Snoozer11]

@thefirstmrsrochester

@Snoozer11 dogs, especially young dogs as the lockdown puppies will now be, should not be left all day. My point being is that hybrid working facilitates those who choose to abuse it the flexibility to do the school runs, after school care and dog walking, thus saving money on childcare, dog daycare/walking service and on fuel/travel costs. Nothing to do with a puppy snoring under a desk during a teams call.

Long before covid, many companies were moving to a more flexible approach to work.

Why is it a bad thing that someone be able to pick up their kids from school? Or book an appointment to see their dentist or GP when they can, instead of waiting weeks or months until they can get annual leave?

People who take the piss do so wherever they work. Before they would have sat at their desk on Facebook, called in sick, spent all their time on their phone or mattered away and pissed off to meeting that had nothing to do with them.

A young dog isn't left all day if you're in the house and can let them in the garden or give them a cuddle for a minute or two throughout the day.

I have a colleague who arrived late to the office the other day because she was taking her kids to school. I thought nothing of it. Another colleague had to deal with a gardener the other week, and someone once interrupted a quick meeting we were having so they could answer the door.

I hate this attitude that to work you must be chained to your desk for 8 hours a day. No distractions, no excuses, no exceptions. It's so archaic and cultivates a bad atmosphere.

If someone has a poor work ethic, their manager will know. I once worked with a woman who worked part time but would spend her office time shopping online for her groceries. It's different if you have to pick up the slack, but sometimes you have to focus on your own workload.

[lancsgirl85]

I hate this attitude that to work you must be chained to your desk for 8 hours a day. No distractions, no excuses, no exceptions. It's so archaic and cultivates a bad atmosphere.

Agreed.

[Seriou]

You do you.

Either carry on as the martyr, or leave things undone for LM to pick up - those are your only 2 options.

People with a work/life balance and priorities in the right order have nothing to apologise for.

[MyNameIsNotMichele]

Wow you are unhealthily concerned with someone else’s life. A lot of assumptions in there about what she’s doing. You could be so, so wrong. Which is exactly why it is not your business. You need to focus on your own workload and trying to be a better person. In here you come across as very judgmental and interfering.

[tiredbutstayingup]

Come on! Being a working mum is hard, why make things harder for her? She's trying to raise children and work.
I had the misfortune of trying to juggle it all while working with someone like you and in the end I decided to be a stay home mum with no stress. The pay wasn't worth it and they grow up so fast, leave the poor woman alone I'm sure she's doing her best. I bet she picks up on this too and still turns up to work.

[EgonSpengler2020]

You and your colleagues work to rule, then it becomes your managers problem when the workload that your team is responsible for isn't getting completed.