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….😊

This, a million times over. I made this point on MN in respect of my similar situation and was told that women don’t need flexible working, only mothers.

Focus on you and the impact the workload has on you with your line manager. Keep your colleague out of it. You are making a lot of assumptions about her and probably have little insight into her life and what really goes on. You can’t change anyone else and it’s not your place to hold them to account in this situation.

Yes and I think @TiddleyWink doesn't understand the attitude I'm responding to either.

Good managers in modern companies generally assess output. Of course that also includes hours worked, but it means people meeting deadlines, completing work and taking on more if they can.

I've seen some very archaic attitudes by posters on mumsnet when it comes to WFH and work in general. "I'm not paying my staff to work in their pyjamas" was one post, by a woman who expected everyone to dress, apply make up and present themselves as they would in the office, despite being alone in their bedrooms.

I regularly work into the night and some weeks I have to spend almost every night working in excess of my hours. That's the nature of my role. But I don't feel I'm picking up the slack of others, nor do I resent colleagues working on other projects who don't have as many inflexible deadlines.

Totally agree, especially with your last sentence.

I’m confused how you all have you own work load/diary’s and yet you pick up her work?

Is it possible the manager let her get away with being flexible with her hours because when she works she is productive and she is good at her job?
or do you think the manager just doesn’t care/want to deal with it.

I feel you OP.

We have a CF in our office that just calls in sick when there’s a difficult task to do. Others will judge me for thinking this but you can set your watch by it. I predicted yesterday she wouldn’t be in and there was the email, not in for the rest of the week. I’m in the public service and there’s not much that can be done about sick leave.

I get where you are coming from. It's fine for others to portray people as martyrs but it sounds like you are in an occupation with service users where people need help or support. I too work in this kind of work environment and like you have colleagues that do very little whilst I do extra, not because I'm a martyr but because at the end of the day if no-one helps these vulnerable service users they are the ones who suffer and I don't like to see that . I honestly don't know how some of my colleagues in my last team slept at night for how little they did for their wages and it used to make me angry that they were being paid from charitable donations and doing fuck all most of the day. I would rather do extra work than see people not get the help they need. I constantly addressed it with my last manager who for whatever reason chose to ignore the slackers, so I left.

Are you 100% sure she's getting less work done? I ask because I actually do less hours in my job than other people because humans can only focus for four hours a day - and studies have shown that working longer hours actually leads to LESS output than short, concentrated hours.

If she's working like this and is producing the same work with shorter hours - YABU, take a leaf from her book and work more efficiently.

If she's doing shorter hours AND less work, and you know this for sure, YANBU - you should bring it up with your manager

This is very much a line manager issue - if the team are picking the slack up & not being clear around all the work to be fair.

We at work have our contracts saying you have to have child care in place. It allows for emergencies etc

Our work is quite flexible within reason - we have had issues recently as we’ve been reminded that the work core day is 9-5 (or within reason can be flexible around those times I work for example 8-4:30) It was due to some people only available for meetings 10-12 & 1-2 - which means quite stressful backtoback meetings on everyone.

Not one of my team has ever commented that I finish at 4:30 - most don’t log on till 9 so unaware that I start at 8 - but my manager ensures that I’m not taking all the early mornings crap or no one else at the end of the day - she ensures everyone takes on work fairly.

Don’t get in a fix around the car etc, focus on you. Discuss your workload with the manager without pointing blame, it’s irrelevant.

FFS! Many people raise children and work, that doesn’t give parents who work a license to shirk off work and expect colleagues to pick up their slack. Thank goodness you chose to stay at home and save your colleague the stress having to pick up the parts of your job you clearly couldn’t “juggle”. That’s entitled behaviour and it was your choice to have children - not your colleagues!

I agree with others this is a management issue, escalate to your line manager OP. It’s completely unfair if the rest of the team are having to pick up work that your colleague should be doing.

‘Leave the poor woman alone’ when she starts at 10 when she’s paid from 8.30, has the dc behind her in work calls and is leaving her colleagues with 50% more work because they abide by the rules?? No way! Speak to your line manager, OP, this is not sustainable and you should not be doing her work.

This gets said quite a lot on here about lock down dogs, but I can’t see why having a dog affects someone’s ability to work. Childcare I get, but not looking after a dog. I wfh, and have a dog. I feed it and walk it in the morning before I work, and then it basically potters around during the day (I let it out in the garden during lunch), and then just walk it again after work. What do you think people do with their dogs, which would impact on their work? Am I missing something?

Those querying the lighter workload thing and how does the OP know, in my workplace there’s a ‘waiting list’ of cases to be allocated and as we clear one case we’re allocated another. On our work plans it’s very clear and obvious to all if someone is clearing far fewer cases than other team members. Not getting through your workload means the pressure is on the rest of the team to take them on and work harder. We also have shared diaries where we have to detail all of our time, again it’s easy to see what work is actually being done.

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.

Those examples are a bit different to someone being an hour and a half late every day. Surely you can see that?

These comments are taking the absolute piss. Her gain is your and the team's loss making up for and covering her shortfall. How greedy and unfair she is. Definitely escalate this.

If there’s no agreement in place re. Flexible working then she’s taking the piss. She should be paid pro rata according to the hours she actually works or pay for child care so she can perform to the same level as her colleagues.
talk to your manager and ensure the manager is aware of the hours she is dropping due to her commitments. It’s unfair on the wider team, and causes unrest amongst colleagues. If there is no formal agreement for her to do this then it should not be tolerated, as essentially the wider team are paying for her childcare with the extra unpaid hours they are working to pick up the slack.

I can't actually believe some of the responses here!! Workload should be equitable, no matter what your personal circumstances are! I'm all for flexibility for working mums/people - I worked full-time paying for childcare and engaging in further education for 18 years.

I am in a situation where I was 'inherited' by a manager (promoted way above their level of competence, but there you go!) and life is made difficult for me and another team member who is a number of years older. The fact that I am also massively more highly educated than she is, or indeed any of the rest of the team, seems to be resented rather than harnessed. I definitely think there is an element of ageism with a manager who gets angry if questioned on anything.

I am constantly checked up on and literally harassed about where I am and what I am doing - micromanaged within an inch of my life! - and I've been pushed into the 'quiet quitting' scenario, because I just can't deal with that level of scrutiny! I just want to be left alone to get on with it - and I totally feel that we should be managed by output, but that's never going to happen.

However, like you OP, I also have a colleague who I can clearly see isn't pulling her weight. She was one of my manager's recruits, who apparently can do no wrong. She has very young twins, and it's my understanding (although I don't personally know) that she plans work meetings around the children. I would get such a bollocking if my personal life impinged on my working life in any way!

I've heard complaints from union reps and managers about my colleagues, but all I can do is my best for my own cases.

However, the inequitable treatment does stick in my craw, I have to say.

So, I am with you OP. It's not fair on other team members that a colleague is contributing much less because they have children, and won't pay for appropriate childcare!

Agree. It’s disgusting.
My manager has pulled 3 employees with preschool age kids back into the office full time and revoked their wfh rights that we all have certain days a week for 12 months as she found out they were doing childcare in work hours. Not at all fair on the rest of the team. Especially as it’s a well paid job which also offers nursery vouchers as a company perk.

Are you a health visitor?

Is it like social services? She’s totally taking the piss. Tell your manager and tell your manager how frustrated the team are. That you all intend to work your colleagues hours from now on.

It sounds as though this person might be really struggling, if it's not your responsibility to address this person's behavior, then don't. If you are happy working as hard as you are then what is the issue? If you would like to do less, then do less.

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.

So she's getting paid to commute. Nice work if you can take get it!

I think you should leave this up to your manager.
I do nursery pick up around my job 2 days a week I make up the time later in the evenings or start online by 6.30 those days. It's what works for my family not having late pick up all week. My line manager doesn't care as long as I'm getting my work done and it's common in my team.

Our manager doesn’t seem to be interested as the teams work is getting done

And that's your problem right there, especially as you said you're choosing to finish the work on your own time

The obvious answer is for the rest of the staff to stop picking up the pieces, tell the manager it can't be covered and leave them to work out why and do something about it

It's the only way they'll ever care, and this is after all their job

YANBU

Can't believe everyone leaping to defend her lazy ass!
i used to work in the nhs- no shortage of lazy colleagues and useless managers to (mis)manage them- of course you're not imagining it and it's beyond infuriating
i think it's public sector life- can people really not conceive of this happening?
don't have an answer, i'm afraid, but solidarity- even reading your post has brought back some of the rage!