My coworker does unpaid overtime but I don’t want to

[Evangelineee]

Started the job a year and a half ago. It’s a team of 4, plus the manager. Two of my coworkers did the same job, whereas me and the other did something slightly different. The other two people, plus the manager would always be working in the evening. We only get paid until 6pm (it’s flexitime though so if you start earlier you can finish earlier but can’t start later than 10) but my coworker would be logged on at home at like 8pm. I never did that in my previous role, and it was never expected of me anyway because my job was slightly different to theirs.

One of these people left and I have taken on their role. There is a lot to do and there are time constraints and deadlines. My coworker who I am now working with never ever finishes when she should. She is off on Thursdays and even logs on then. My manager at first told her to stop doing this but she never listened so he doesn’t bother telling her anymore because she just does it anyway. However, she is now expecting me to do it, because the person who had this job before me also stayed later and they would work together. Now I log off and she does overtime on her own, but it isn’t paid. She keeps asking me if I can log back on later that evening. For a few days this week I have worked 30 minutes over to finish things off, which is fine. But I don’t really want to regularly be working at 8/9pm. I asked my manager whether this is expected of me, and he said absolutely not and mentioned in a meeting that no one should be working past their 7.5 hours. But now she’s making digs about team players and about how she is doing more work than “other people” meaning me!

Please could I have some suggestions on how to handle this?

What would happen if she had left adding the people to the next day?

Would there have been another 30 needing to be added and the "backlog" building up so that it couldn't be caught up?

Is there a time sensitivity that they needed to be added that day?

If either of those things, then either the systems/processes need to be changed so it is quicker to add people, or they need to engage additional resource - more staff or agreed short term overtime - so that the workload can be completed.

If there are quieter times to catch up on adding any backlog then Manager needs to get her to stop doing the overtime and being snippy with you about not doing it and manage their workload across a longer period.

This is very fact specific. I can’t tell whether the coworker hasn’t yet got to grips with the idea of not starting the day off its a zero to do list, whether she is slow/inefficient during regular working hours or whether there is genuinely more work than the team can do within the allocated time and she legitimately feels she is pulling more than her weight.

If the last one, it can be very galling if you work efficiently, are committed but there simply is too much to do and yet your manager is saying don’t work OT. But this should be a conversation for coworker with manager saying look, I am working diligently and efficiently in my working day but we have SLAs and to meet them it is the equivalent of everyone doing a 9 hour day but nobody else is so I’m doing 12 hour days so how can we look at managing the expectations on this.

The issue here might be that there genuinely is too much work to do in the core working hours but luckily for the manager she doesn’t have to deal with this because the coworker is bridging the gap.

Make sure you document any conversations.
The work load has increased and cannot be completed in your contracted hours.
That you are feeling under pressure to work longer hours for free to complete work.
Ask for clarification.
Start keeping an eye out for something else.

Don’t understand why you went for this job at all, the red flags were clearly there! Sounds like you thought you’d just be more efficient and their workload wasn’t that bad, which is probably what your manager thinks and you now no differently. Your colleague is rightly afraid of loosing her job because they sacked her coworker! Keep flagging to your manager but I’d be looking for a new job personally

Yes more things would have been added the next day. Some of them are very important for example, if someone is starting in two days then you really do need to add them and get all of their paperwork sorted ASAP. But there’s also more and more things being asked of us each day, not just our usual daily tasks but extra side projects as well. So it is very overwhelming and I do understand her point of view.

Yes well I said no to it first. But my manager told me to think about it and gave me two weeks to think. This did mean though that my colleague was doing two peoples job for the time being and she got very stressed. I told him my reasons for not wanting to do it and both my manager and my coworker assured me that it wasn’t the job that’s the problem, it was the worker. So they convinced me basically that he just wasn’t pulling his weight. Now I am having doubts

There’s no way I’d let someone’s poor boundaries be reframed as them working harder/being a team player etc. I’d reply to her each and every time - ‘I am helping you out in the evening. By modelling appropriate boundaries that are respectful of my need for a private life at the end of the working day, I hope you will see that you are deserving of this too.’

Next time she asks ... my hours of work are x to x, that's what I am paid for. I've checked with my manager abd I am not expected to work additional hours.
You have asked me about this many times, the answer is no. I do not expect you to ask me again.

Again not coworkers fault, your work load shows ex coworker wants slacking, but the team is toxic and decided he was lazy and fired him. You don’t even do overtime like he did so I’d be job searching if I was you. Toxic jobs like this don’t often change quickly

This.
If the work cannot be completed in regular work hours then there's an issue and that's something for management to fix.

She's being controlling and has absolutely no right to brow beat you into her way or the highway. Take it up the chain. She's crazy.

When she makes digs you need to remind her she has been explicitly told NOT to log in after working hours or in days off by her manager. Her doing extra work when she has been told not to is on her own head. Of course she does more, she is spending all her free time doing it! I would also say you’d be concerned about her work/life balance and ask if there is a reason she is throwing everything into her work, and to approach HR if she needs any help personally.

I love my job, it was two days a week and I had side projects running my own business on the other three. I also logged in and did work for my paid job, just to keep on top of, or ahead really of things. I was then asked to do an extra day, as I seemed so efficient (noone noticed I was working on my days off). So I did, cut back my personal job a bit but carried in doing extra. Then one night whilst stressed and unable to sleep I worked out 7 hours a week unpaid over time is a week's worth a month, *12 months is three extra months a year roughly for free. I stopped in September and they have just offered me an extra day a week having noticed they need more hours.

If your colleague just stopped they could measure the actual work requirement. My old boss once told us all to stop doing extra as it was stopping her from getting the signoff for new staff. Three months later we had four new staff members join us. She is not doing anyone any favours in the long run.

But there’s also more and more things being asked of us each day, not just our usual daily tasks but extra side projects as well.

And there's the problem. Ask your manager to put in writing exactly which your priorities are, and do as much of that as you can during standard working hours. If the extra work is coming from him, then you need to make it clear to him you don't have capacity. If these extra side projects are coming from above, he needs to learn to push back and tell them you are at maximum capacity without these and they must give him more staff if they want these done. If he gets kick back from above he could invite them to come & watch & see where they can see any efficiencies that can be made to increase capacity for this extra work. You'll probably need to do this with your boss first so he can see the problem clearly before he escalates the issue.

And even look at getting HR involved especially if it does turn out you're breaking the rules on hourly wage with the unpaid overtime included. If that is the case, maybe talk to your Union if you are a member.

I'm afraid this is becoming more common these days, with more and more work being piled on staff until they break or quit. "Just pick up this in your spare (hah!) time", or "it's only a couple of hours more work a week" (but that was the 5th "just a couple more hours" you're being asked to do).

Joint meeting with her and manager - explain your concerns in front of the manager and that you will not be online after your paid hours. And that you can have a discussion about how to manage the workload during working hours with the manager.

She knows that we are not supposed to do it but says she has to because there is jusg so much work to do that it’s impossible to finish it without working over

It's really quite simple: tell her to take this up with the manager if more people/resources are required

She may or may not enjoy being a martyr and they may or may not have told the truth about why the previous guy left, but there's no reason why this has to impact on you

The only thing I'd add is to keep very careful records of what's said - email it for preference - because when she realises it's a "no" she may well start claiming you're incapable too

with the people being added thing, is there any kind of rule on how much notice you must be given and/or whether urgent requests must be justified?

We do ask for a few weeks to get people on and paperwork sorted. However we work with emergency services and sometimes if people pull out of shifts last minute, we need to urgently get someone else in, but they can’t start work until everything has been done and checked.

Depends what job it is. I work in the sort of industry (well paid) where overtime is expected. If you said you wanted to be paid for it, you would get short shrift!

You're in a good position as your manager had already confirmed that you are not expected to.
Now she is starting to harass you. She is not your manager so should not be making any requests of your time or workload. If she says it again politely but firmly say "this is an inappropriate conversation. I only discuss my working hours with my manager"

If it continues raise it again and say you feel harassed.
You could make your own digs at the meetings but that might undermine the manager

so you can run 2 streams? a routine adds one and a fast access one.

Next time she mentions it, just tell her that you have already made it clear to her that you won't be doing additional hours. It's management responsibility to resolve issues around lack of resources, not hers or yours, and that if she continues to ask you, you'll be considering it harassment and will have no option but to escalate it through the appropriate HR channels.

YANBU at all. You'll need to keep firm boundaries with this lot!

This. And every time she verbalises a request again, reply to this email cc'ing your manager, setting out your position again. Treat it like a diary documenting her repeated harassment of you. Then take it to HR as required. If your manager isn't dealing with it, the company needs to.

OP I would say that if you work past your hours then you’re tired, and there’s a danger you’ll make mistakes. I’m a GP and we all work many uncontracted hours, but sometimes I’ll find myself filing test results at midnight and realise I’m struggling to make sensible decisions. So you should say that you stick to your set hours, for your own protection, because otherwise you might make mistakes and get into trouble.

Exactly this. I’d tell her she needs to look at her time management.

In any case, tasks always expand to fit the time available