I'm going to have to resign from this job aren't I?

[JustFeckIt]

Really pissed off about it but don't think I can do anything about it!

Started a part time job last year, seemed perfect - remote so fitted in with my caring responsibilities, great hours, interesting content and lovely team..,., except my full time counterpart.

She put me on edge from the start. Quite a challenging personality - very straight talking, quite brash, slapdash, type of person. On my first day, she told me her best friend had applied for my job and she didn't know why she didn't get it. I just said 'Oh'. It didn't bode well.

Anyway she'd started in her role a few months before me and had worked in the same sector with same systems for some years prior but seemed to find it hard to pick up the training. I picked it up very quickly and was trained on a lot of tasks before her. So the most complex and time consuming bits of work became my job although we were both supposed to be doing them.

I noticed that she didn't seem to do a lot and the work load was increasing, I was finding it hard to keep up but she always had excuses as to why she wasn't helping on the complex stuff and if I asked her to do any she was constantly calling me to go though it with her, spending ages on the phone so I was getting more behind.

I have literally been doing a full time job in 24 hours a week.

She then said she wanted to go part time so would I swop with her. I said No as I don't want to work full time. I found out recently she's asked her manager if I could work more hours so she could drop a day. Manager said to discuss with me. I was bloody furious and said No again. Feel like she's trying to pressure me. She took it as a full time job not me!

The workload has massively increased over the last few months by around 50%. There is a specific reason for this but can't say why as outing. There have been comments from above that work is not completed to timescale despite knowing this.

Colleague took a whole day the other day to do something that should have taken no more than a few hours. Considering she's full time and I'm part time she should be doing the bulk of the work but loads of stuff is not getting done!

I raised the issue with management two months ago and they said they'd discuss but no one came back to me. They acknowledged that I am doing more than I should though.

Colleague has health issues and suffered a very traumatic loss some years ago (which she told me all the details of early on) so I have been loathe to call her out to her face on what seems like deliberately taking the piss. Management are similarly sympathetic so I don't think they'll do anything.

It is massively stressful and draining so I dread logging in now. i am literally stuck in my chair for hours unable to take a break as so busy and trying to keep up. It's not great pay so definitely not worth it but I could overlook that for being full remote. I was working over my hours but have stopped that now.

I am loathe to walk as I need to be remote due to children with disabilities. and it is very flexible. I can't find any other fully remote jobs and have been looking for a while.

This was my first job after being a SAHM for many years and I can't believe the shit luck of having her to work with! We have other teams set up the same as ours in other areas and they all work together well.

She obviously resents the fact her friend didn’t get the job but you did. Therefore she is punishing you for it by making you work more, and her less.

Leave if you wish. I would go back to the management or contact HR if management won’t do it

Sorry it sounds like you have a management problem. They should never have sent her to you to ask about going full time

Otherwise my suggestion would be to go to management. Detail what your workload is in a week. Are you able to show how much of complex work you do as a percentage? (So saying but not explicitly that you're doing the far bigger share even though you're part time)

But the problem when you have a management issue is it probably won't get resolved. I would look for more work. The bonus being it's generally easier to find work once you're already in work so try to stay positive!

Take a week off with stress related illness. It will a. Give you a break.
b. Highlight how little she is doing while you aren't there.
c. Make management realise there's a problem.

That sucks. But you don’t need to resign.

You need to be really clear when management, meticulous in documenting what you do and firm with her and the bosses about what you can and cannot pick up. It’s hard but better than resigning!

If you keep picking up work for her then management won’t bother sorting her out. You need to be focused on making her their problem rather than your problem.

Id take a leaf out of her book and just do less.

Wrong thread, sorry

What happens if the work isn't done?

Take your breaks. Do only your hours. The company / business would crack on if you ended up in hospital tomorrow, but if you keep picking up her slack in this job, nothing will change.

Don’t resign. Speak to management again. Agree you have a management issue. Ask them what they are going to do as they workload has increased by 50%, ask what the long term plan is as you’re feeling stressed. They should be doing a stress impact assessment then

Seems to me she is trying to make you resign, then she can go running to the boss suggesting her friend takes your place.

Don't leave. Raise it with work again, and keep a file of all the things she has done.

This. Agree with your boss the amount of work that's reasonable to achieve in part time hours and stick with that.

Beware that your colleague might poison the well and say it's impossible to get the work done with a ft and a pt person so your company could choose to make you redundant in order to hire a ft person. You have very few rights in your first two years of employment.

Keep looking for a new job.

I suggest that you suggest to management that you and your counterpart both independently write a list of the activities you each do. You can say it’s with the goal of seeing whether your counterpart can drop to part-time.

This will likely show the imbalance between your workloads. You can then point out that your colleague can drop to part-time hours, as clearly she does less than you (who is part-time). This does not mean that you have to go full-time. It means they will save money by paying her less, but likely they will see how little she does.

You should then ask for a payrise out of the cash saved (whilst still working part-time).

Agree with others. Only work your hours and take a bit of time off (ideally around a critical deadline) so they see how much you're actually doing

Yes work your hours and document/make the system/your manager aware of how much you are working on your deliverables vs this colleague's work as proof of this uneven spread of effort and deliverables (emails/issue trackers/logs). You need this proof.

Discuss with manager about whether you should be prioritising getting your work done and how much time you should assist this colleague as it's impacting your deliverables. Put the onus back on your manager to sort out. The manager needs to recognise this person needs further "training" , or an additional person on the team. Alternatively, ask to join the other teams instead.
If your manager is not proactively supportive and managing this situation, then you may be better off going somewhere else.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Sucks when you work part time and commit to getting stuff done because time is short and someone else takes the mick.

I raised the issue with management two months ago and they said they'd discuss but no one came back to me. They acknowledged that I am doing more than I should though.

Go back to them and ask if there has been any outcome to their discussion.

Say you are really enjoying the job and being back working after being a SAHM. Say you have no difficulties with the work per se, but since you last spoke with them you have done this many hours / signed off this many pieces of work (whatever facts and figures you have that demonstrate your point) but there doesn’t seem to be the capacity in the team / department to get through it all.

You absolutely should not be driven out by unreasonable expectations and weak management!

Please don't resign from a role that is otherwise perfect for you, OP.

She is taking the piss massively. People suffer traumatic losses and don't take the piss. There is only so long that her loss can be used as an excuse for her performing below par.

Arrange a meeting with management and tell them factually and without emotion that she isn't doing the tasks she's supposed to, that the endless phonecalls are impacting on you significantly and anything else too that's making you unhappy. You sound like a hardworking and conscientious employee and one that any management should listen to and action anything that is making you unhappy. Good luck, OP.

@SuperCamp I agree with you.

OP don’t let some slacker person run you down off a job. Go back to management. Someone suggested a list, that’s a great idea. Do only Your work in Your hours. If the co-worker calls to “go over something” or for any reason than absolutely needed communication, tell her that you are too busy doing your work to shoot the breeze and get her off the phone.

from what you have said the management may be crap so look forward a new job as a safety net, I have known people to search “google jobs remote jobs U.K. “ and find opportunities. If you leave let it be because management is pants rather than the co-worker. Sending good vibes

The simple answer here, and I speak from experience, is to SLOW DOWN

The managers aren't going to do anything because you're breaking your back to get the work done. The work is getting done, that's all they care about

If you want change, slow right down so that it becomes a problem. Give them a problem

You're part time but doing more work than your full time counterpart

Don't leave because of her

This is what I would do, for precisely the reasons that MrsMoastyToasty said!

Thanks for a responses.

My 12 year old was rushed to hospital recently and diagnosed with a serious, chronic, life changing condition and I took 2 days off while he was in hospital, then worked on the 3rd day as manager kept contacting me when I would be back (stupidly as DS was at home and needed watching). I then requested a weeks emergency leave as I couldn't concentrate and workload was so heavy. When I got back, the amount of work left was a joke but her excuse was that it had been manic so tried that one and of course I had to work like mad to catch up.

We work in two sectors, one is quite simple and work can be done quickly, the other is more complicated, takes much more time as we need to deal with lots of paperwork and follow up with different agencies. Colleague has struggled with this so it has somehow led to me doing it as it's time sensitive but really as the full time person she should be doing it!

The increase in workload is ridiculous, say there was an average of 2 pieces of complex work (loads of other work too but that's the work that takes several hours each to complete) to deal with a week. It's now gone up to 8 a week, so more like 200% actually! Managements hands are tied as work comes from an outside source and everyone in the service is struggling (think a massive influx of people needing support being placed in the South East),

They know colleague is not capable but don't seem to be doing much about it. We have different managers, one from each sector. I raised with mine, she raised with hers. Not sure what was said but colleague did make a thing about doing some of the complicated work but she fucked it up and I had to redo it!

They can easily check the systems to see what work has been logged.

There was an issue soon after I started where they were discussing potentially going into the office one day a week. Office was moving 30 min drive away. Colleague kicked up a fuss saying she'd have to get a bus and they were unreliable and asked if I'd take her. I didn't want to actually as I have school run and finish earlier than her so didn't want to have to wait around for her and I don't like her anyway! I'd said that I didn't think I could commit and my manager actually brought it up in a team meeting that I wouldn't mind taking her would I? They changed it to going into office monthly from this month and I feel like I have to take her. Not my problem she can't drive!

I feel I have no option but to resign really. I can't work with her and I certainly don't want to be giving her lifts.

As someone who is currently dealing with a similar situation (one person on team refuses to pull their weight despite multiple warnings)

Your only option here is to go above her. She's the problem, not you.
My person leaves in a few months and I cant wait

Please don’t be bullied out of a job, that’s essentially what’s happening.

Keep a log of things she says and does/doesn’t do.

Start keeping a timesheet of everything you complete in a day.

You mentioned the more technical tasks have been allocated to you. Is there a way to further split the roles so they are more separate and less like a job share, so you only have responsibility for your own tasks. It will then be more obvious when she doesn’t finish things.

You are not doing yourself any favours by rushing and denying yourself breaks to get through all the work. You are masking the problem and it's meaning your manager doesn't have to do anything about it.

Do your hours, don't worry about how much gets done. That's your managers problem, not yours. If 600 bits of work have come in, you've done 200 in your PT hours, she's done 100 in FT hours - that tells them 1) she's crap and 2) they clearly need more staff on these tasks. But they can't be arsed to look at the numbers at the moment cos you're beavering away sorting everything out. Stop doing that - you're making it more difficult for them to recognise and solve the problem.

As for giving her lifts, just say no. That doesn't work for you. Where is your backbone?

Just stop doing all the extra work

and just say no re driving

theyre taking the piss but you’re letting them

if you’re going to quit then the worst they can do is fire you!!

I would raise a formal grievance and make them go through a formal process. Not much to lose if you're thinking of leaving anyway to be honest.

There should be a grievance policy somewhere, is there an HR department?