Any job sharers out there?

[Oakeydokey55]

I jobshare. My contract states holiday and sickness cover.
My line Manager told me that I must cover all holidays and sickness. I politely explained that I'm pt for a reason. I travel a lot on my days off and sometimes visit friends many miles away, plus have elderly parents who depend on me quite a bit. Logistically I can't just sit at home and always be available should an illness occur. I try my best to cover holidays and sickness wherever possible, but if there is the odd occasion I'm not free on my allocated days off, it's being frowned upon. How do other job sharers navigate? It's impossible to job share yet have no freedom to make plans on days off just incase someone decides they want annual leave or throws up in the night.
95% of the time I make it work - but occasionally it's impossible if I'm away or have a commitment such as a hospital appt etc.
I want to be a team player and understand part of this job share is covering, but also find it unreasonable on some levels.
Thoughts appreciated.

How does that work if you both want the same day off?

I'm not forced to cover holidays or sickness but we job share in a role that can get by without us for a day or two, the work just piles up for us on return! It's not like our not being there stops the world turning for work.

If one of us is going away for a longer period we try to plan out the impact together and put in place contingency plans etc in case the other is off sick at the same time. But we do this for ourselves and by ourselves

Oh and my jobsharenightmare is no longer a nightmare!

Does your employer (company) have a job share policy? Things like this should be addressed in it. Are you part time hours, or is there someone doing your role while you are not working? If it's a scenario where two people share a role, then it's unreasonable that that role would including covering all holiday and sick leave cover fir a team, on top if own responsibilities.
If you are reduced hours, do you get time in lieu if you are expected to switch days? I'm sure there must be a legal requirement to give employees their roster/hours in advance, not be always "on call".

I jobshare and there is no expectation to cover sickness or leave and we don't. I work part time for a reason and that's what I'm paid for so that's what I do. Very occasionally I might move my hours around to cover something while my jobshare partner is off IF it suits my home life and makes work easier but completely down to me.

What happens for full time staff? If they want leave or something? They shouldn't be expecting anything additional from you.

That's. Not a job share. What does your contract actually say?

I have done previous job shares and in all those roles we were expected to cover the others annual leave and sickness where possible, so it's not new to me, but this employer has made it abundantly clear I cover all sick and annual leave if my job sharer is absent (we share a role)
It's pretty unworkable as I feel unable to plan anything nice on my days off for fear I'll have to cancel should my job share decide she wants a holiday or feels unwell. If I've travelled away, am I expected to return? If I'm on my way to hospital with Mum, am I expected to drop everything. It's unrealistic.

If there were one of you in the role, then holidays and sick days would just have to be managed, without a sub person standing by to jump in. So this is a totally unrealistic expectation. Holiday cover ok maybe once booked well in advance so planned for, and time in lieu arranged. Random sick days - no way.

i had that question in an interview.
i hesitated as i would need child care
i didnt get the job
i think it is an unreasonable ask

I didn’t have that cover for illness and vacation in the one job share role I ever did. I left before my colleague and they couldn’t replace me for a while as no suitable candidates so she had to do FT.

I job share and we take leave at different times. We are not expected to cover annual leave and sickness but do if we are able to, or if it is a particularly busy time for instance. We always leave each other a handover and it works well for us.
Could you explain that you will cover if you can but it is not always possible?

95% is more than most would offer!

That’s pretty daft as many people are PT for childcare so it wouldnt be possible anyway. I used to job share and there was never an expectation to cover her AL or sickness and i never did. I’d pick up anything she was working on if urgent, or ask one of her staff to step up for a few days, but it always worked fine. I went full time 5yrs ago and she doesn't have a job share now, but other colleagues will step in for anything that cant work.

Never been any question of covering my other half's sickness or leave. I pick up stuff during my days if I have time but that's it. There's also been a few times when I haven't even been aware she was away!

My contract states holiday and sickness cover.

What does this actually say?

It’s a totally unreasonable expectation. If one person covers a job, there isn’t someone else able to guarantee they’ll cover any absences with no notice.

Ive job shared, with zero expectation of covering leave/illnesses. We did try to avoid both being off in the same week if possible, but it wasn’t a rule, we were allowed a whole week or two off just as a single worker would be!

I have had a phone call a few times asking if I’m available to cover at short notice. If I can, I do and I’m paid for it. If not, well I don’t and that’s that. No bad feeling or animosity. No expectation to cover on my days off. I once covered for 2 weeks, but that was planned ages in advance and it was completely voluntary and I was paid for it.

I’ve job shared for 15 years in few different roles and I’ve never been expected to cover sickness. I have swapped a day or moved hours to cover sickness but that is me offering no if it works for me and there was no expectation (or it wasn’t voiced!) I have been asked well in advance if I can come n a specific day for training or departmental etc but that with notice.

What you describe is essentially being on call on your days off without being paid for it.

my job sharer left which made things difficult
they wanted me to cover extra days and were annoyed when i couldnt

Are you being paid to be "on call"? Because if not, I would call ACAS for advice here, with a copy of your contract.

I think I will call them. Realistically I can't guarantee I'll always be available on my days off. I'm pt for a reason and occasionally may be unavailable on my days off. It's making me feel uneasy making appointments or plans as in the back of my mind I feel the need to be always available.