Anyone else’s colleagues do this when you’re going on annual leave?!?

[Netball01]

I’m going on a 2 week holiday next week - it’s been booked for ages & my team have known about it for months.

I’m basically admin support for my team but there’s no one to cover me when I’m not here & the work I do is pretty essential to our client delivery. I’ve given them all plenty of notice / reminders / set deadlines etc to make sure I got everything done before holiday.

So of course, they’ve all ignored all my deadlines & left everything to the last minute & now I’m being inundated with emails about submitting their work to me Friday lunchtime so I can get it done before my holiday (!!!!)

I’ve also had emails about the urgent work I can pick up on my first day back from holiday but needs to be turned round asap.

Everytime I go on holiday this happens & it just ends up being so stressful trying to get it all done as it’s pretty much impossible for me to get it done that quickly.

I also really hate them lining work up for me on my first day back before I’ve even gone away as it just hangs like a cloud over my last few days when I’m meant to be relaxing.

AIBU to think this really poor from my team?? Honestly just want to tell them all to F off !

BTW I’ve already started pushing back but it’s falling on deaf ears so far.

I was a legal secretary in a job where it’s hard to get temps (not getting temps just training them up in time) so apart from this evil ex colleague who sometimes came in had no cover.

I then worked out that if the phones were being answered, reception covered and admin work being done then my colleague could do the typing side.

I was actually congratulated and praised by my boss and the other legal secretary as we got a brilliant Aussie temp (I’d met and trained her for a day before I went on holiday) who did everything we asked her and more. My other legal sec colleague loved that she answered phones etc but let her get on with the typing so any extra she had to do to cover for me she could do easily as phones were being answered or chasing people by phone the temp could also do plus lots of admin jobs. She also sorted out a filing system for us and we used her for extra admin support when I was back too for a short time.

We used the same agency to get a similar temp from then on but it really worked for us.

Speak to your boss OP about a decent temp. You won’t regret it.

Don’t let your holiday dates become their deadline give them an actual deadline and copy your boss in

Formal warnings. If they're not working efficiently with regard to others in their team, then they should face a disciplinary about it.

and underestimate how much time, effort and expertise it actually takes -

I had this in my current role. The people we work for seem to think that e.g. requesting a cheque to be written (yes, Local Government so still plenty of cheques especially in my area) means just that, write a cheque & it's done in 5 mins. They don't seem to know (or care in some cases) that we need to do a number of checks before we even look at the details including evidence & whether the amount is within the remaining budget (this can include checking back through on line documentation up to 7 years old in rare cases), is the spend within the relevant limits for that purpose etc., then put the details into logs, file all relevant documents, emails etc, upload some of these onto the client system THEN write the cheque. Then update the records with the cheque details then find someone with authority to countersign it, email the person who requested it & put it in their post shelf with all the relevant details attached. Then see it sitting there for up to 2 weeks as they can't be bothered to come in the office to collect it.

A few times recently some urgent work has come in and the requester is actually in the office that day, then they see just how long it takes to do that task. Those people have a complete change of attitude - one lovely lady actually stayed in the office long after she was ready to go home just to keep me company yesterday, when the final details of an urgent train ticket she needed me to do (for someone else) for Sunday only came in at 4:30pm yesterday 💖

I'd be looking for another job to be honest @Netball01 . I used to have a job like this. I'd book a week off (or a couple of weeks off,) and sometimes would go on several day trips and a weekend away, OR go away for a whole week during that time (on holiday obvs.)

I would constantly get emails and texts and phone calls from work... asking me this, asking me that, and even asking me a couple of times, if I could pop in, and saying I need to attend a meeting. On my BOOKED time off! I ended up just getting a separate phone - and using the phone I already had as a 'work phone,' and the new phone for private use.

And then when I had given my friends and family and other important contacts my new number, I would just 100% switch off the first phone when I was not in work. And I put an 'out of office response' on my email, and didn't even actually log into it for the week that I was off.

I got so, so sick of it. I thought, 'for God's sake, am I not allowed any time off without being hounded?' It's the same with DH at the moment as they are short staffed where he is. He books a week off (and is off for 9 days with the 2 weekends,) and he ends up getting hounded when he's off. 'Can you come in?' 'Can you do some overtime?' Does he think he's booking time off and just sitting in the house watching telly? For fuck's sake.

No body is indispensable. If you died tomorrow yhey would replace you in a heart beat. Do what you can get done before your holiday, enjoy your hols. DO NOT answer emails or phone calls while you're away

Just prioritise your work in whatever manner is appropriate (urgency, FIFO etc) and keep people, including your manager informed of the backlog. You’ve been on holiday and they have no cover so understandable things will take longer until you catch up.

If anyone is not happy direct them to your manager who can make decisions to re prioritise if appropriate or tell them they need to wait.

I don’t think OP expects not to do a day’s work on her return - it’s that they’re lining up work which, by the time she gets back, will need to be done urgently. That’s what’s unreasonable, and if this happens every time she has a holiday it’s no wonder she dreads the first day back. I agree with other posters here - she gave them enough notice so if they haven’t planned for her absences, then let them face the consequences.

I think that’s the problem. OP is giving them deadlines well before she is due to go on holiday and they’re ignoring them and leaving it all until her last day.

Your poor planning isn’t my emergency.

I hope you have a lovely holiday!

You'll embarrass yourself if you walk around quoting internet cliches like that.

I would make a list of everything asked thrn take it to your boss and ask them to prioritise it with you. Explain you told them all in good time. Say you will have time to do x tasks before you go and ask to prioritise them with you. Then ask to help prioritise the work for when you get back.

That was exactly the way my job was (legal PA for City firm). I got sick and tired of being expected to stay late before my holiday to make sure everything was done because other people hadn't managed their time properly, and dreading logging on on my first day back as I would have a raft of emails from one of my bosses with varying degrees of heading - "Do This FIRST" or "OPEN THIS - SO URGENT IT HURTS". I got sick and tired of the relentless pressure - one year we were away and I was so dreading going back that I actually had tears on the plane going home. People will say why didn't I look for another job, but I was the main breadwinner as DH had been made redundant so I couldn't just up and go.

I did try and push back but the attitude was increasingly "if you can't stand the heat...." I got to a point where both DH and I decided that enough was enough, and I retired. Even then I had to work late every night for the two weeks before I gave up work to make sure everything was straight and dealing with all the additional tasks that my team gave me to do.

What I'm trying to say is that they will keep on doing it unless strong boundaries are put in place. I tried, but it wasn't enough in the end, but hopefully OP your team will take note!

One point of humour though. I was late in the office once the night before our holiday and I had a pile of files next to my desk that were waiting to be sent to Archiving. Our team leader came along and made a remark about she hoped I'd deal with them before I went on holiday. I told her to throw a lace tablecloth over them, put a fruit bowl on the top and call it a side table and that I'd deal with them when I got back. I wasn't entirely joking....

What is admin support? And why can't they do their own Admin?

Too many people assume that because admin roles tend to be paid less they are not extremely valuable, and underestimate how much time, effort and expertise it actually takes - not to mention the consequences if it's not done correctly (or at all). Or to put it another way: be nice to your support staff because they know where the bodies are buried!

This 💯 and if something goes wrong guess who will be blamed.

@NeedWineNow That is a great response

The phrase you need (though possibly a bit more tactfully said) is, “poor preparation on your behalf does not constitute an emergency on mine.”

You need the backing of your line manager for this though.

They need to pay temp staff

Can I ask are those who do this mostly male OP?

Don’t even tell them you’re going on leave. Just book in advance give the required notice then don’t mention it again.

thos way they won’t back you up before you go.
when I’m on leave I auto forward my email to whoever is supposed to be filling in (ha!) or put on an auto reply- this email will be dealt with on my return, in sequence of emails received. Take a ticket and get in the fucking queue 😂)

So the work will be pilling up for two weeks? How will you catch up as well as doing your usual work?

I had this when I was off sick and it was awful.

I also work in Admin/Support and have this same problem. The case workers are well aware of all the deadlines but constantly go over meaning that admin stay late to meet deadlines. In my experience people just don’t care and as support staff we are not seen as important and treated pretty badly. Unfortunately my manager does not side with us and just says that’s the way it is. I live in a deprived area with few jobs so they know that we can’t easily vote with our feet!

i would suggest to your boss that he (is it a he?) needs to nominate people to take over parts of your job that can't be left, for when you aren't there. Parcel it out, and either have one back up for each part each time, or they get allocated a different part each time. this is non-negotiable for them.

alternative: your boss is the backup. When you have holiday you set your deadlines (one week before your last day, for preference) and anything that comes in after that isn't priority, or gets passed to boss on your 2nd to last day for him to decide about.

You set your out of office message to start 1 hour before you will leave on your last day and your return is 1 or 2 hours after your start time on your first day, which gives you time to skim your inbox for important things. You do not work overtime on anything that is urgent because of someone's bad time management.

Our system forces you to arrange a back up person who agrees in the system before it is finally approved. If you can't find someone after asking several people our boss either takes it on or delegates. (and then we endure a lecture on teamwork and how important vacation is)

I also really hate them lining work up for me on my first day back before I’ve even gone away as it just hangs like a cloud over my last few days when I’m meant to be relaxing

Some of this is because they don't know how, or don't care to manage their time, or even use some basic software tricks it seems. Or maybe they're too lazy to even use it.

There is something called a 'delay email' function on most email services these days, and it certainly exists on Outlook. Why aren't they using that so their email is sent a day or two after you come back?? It's really not on sending you this type of urgent work request right before you go away. I would wager some of it is deliberate to try and stress you out into completing some of it whilst you are actually on annual leave.

I think you're being treated as a skivvy by a company or organisation that is too cheap to staff adequately. They're making their problem, your problem, and they're likely doing that because they feel on some level that you are a good worker who cares about getting thing done. This is how companies lose great employees who get very stressed as a result, and then leave.

Remember, IT IS THE LAW THAT YOU GET PAID ANNUAL LEAVE.

If you are having to to work any overtime for the fact that you are on annual leave, or you're not getting that time back somehow, then in effect, the company isn't actually paying you for your leave at all. In fact, they making you pay for it by making you work overtime to compensate. And they will likely know this and will carry on doing it until someone sues them.

Why no mention of your manager in all of this? I’m a manager of team of 7 spanning 3 areas. It’s my responsibility to ensure my direct reports aren’t over-worked, and that there’s cross-training in the event of sickness etc or simply so that people can relax on holiday knowing things are ticking over ok whilst they’re gone.