To deliberately inconvenience my colleagues?

[MistletoeMoments]

I spent a big chunk of last year covering a colleagues sick leave. I was going to be the least inconvenienced by it, so agreed to do it. It was supposed to only be for a couple of weeks, but he ended up being off for 7 months!

I was exhausted by the end of it, as I was juggling my own work, and it also involved a change in hours (earlier start).

Anyway, he came back and things went back to normal.

He's now scheduled to be off for a long weekend tomorrow, and I'm 99% certain nobody has arranged cover for it. I suspect it's just assumed I'll be doing it.

WIBU to just go in at my normal time tomorrow ready for my working day? It means my nightshift colleague will need to stay behind for 1hr until I come in. He'll get paid for it, but I feel a bit bad because I used to work nights too and I know how tired he will be!

Is your manager able to do the job, are they coming in early?

You do not have a moral duty to inconvenience yourself, so as to prevent inconvenience to others. There is being helpful as a one-off… and then there is being a doormat.

This attitude of feeling consistently obliged to make others’ lives easier at your own expense is how you have landed in a situation where it is taken for granted that you will just do the cover. You are allowing yourself to be taken for granted. Time to stop! You must respect yourself and your time, or nobody else will.

If you go in early anyway, the problem won’t get addressed in future. If you go in normal time and other colleagues had to stay an hour late, they can discuss it with the manager / person on leave and put a process in place (or reminder about processes) to stop it happening again.
uouve already done 7 months cover. They can cover 1 hour if needed.

I see where you are coming from but nothing will change. They will keep assuming you/others will step up.

You might be surprised and find they have actually got something in place.

The colleagues who are going to be inconvenienced aren't being inconvenienced because of you though.

It sounds like you need to come in on time and when the boss or your colleague complains about it, you do this:💅

Management won't step up if you catch them before they fall.

That's quite the leap I know what the department is like because I used to work there. I've since climbed the ladder and it's my colleague who has worked there 30+ years, not me.

I'm not claiming the place will fall apart without me. I'm questioning if I should be more empathetic towards my nightshift colleagues who will doubtless be very tired.

This is not a healthy relationship with your job OP. You're actively looking for excuses to take on extra hours on the basis that you'll be saving your useless colleagues in doing so. Don't.

Thank you. This is exactly what I needed to hear

You are not deliberately inconveniencing your colleagues. You are doing the job you are paid to do.
Your managers are inconveniencing your colleagues IF they have not organised cover

For some reason you sound determined to go in so only you can decide, no one has asked you to go in, maybe the night worker is happy to stay an extra hour, maybe it's been covered, ring the night worker and ask if you're really that bothered.

I understand where you are coming from. You are worried about inconveniencing your colleague on night shift.

Also the business should have arranged extra cover for their staff member in sick leave. No doubt they have a tonne of annual leave to use now. Your leadership is rubbish at managing minimum staffing requirements.

If you don't stick to your normal hours, what will change. Are you all responsible for arranging cover when you are on annual leave?

Gently OP, you're making this about you and it isn't. Stop trying to insert yourself into this story in a pivotal role.

There is no moral dilemna here - your involvement in this situation exists only in your head. You've been told by multiple people above you that covering for this person is not your responsibility and no one has asked you to come in early this week. Just show up for your shift and do your job.

Not really, but it absolutely sends the wrong message that you want to cover your colleague.
It might be even a bit annoying for your manager because she/he can’t claim that an extra person is needed as you are voluntarily covering all the times. The need doesn’t exist so the solution is not found.

None of this is your responsibility nor should there be any come back on you. Either it’s managements responsibility to ensure there’s cover or it’s your colleagues.

You’ve been told that’s it’s not down to you to provide cover so i’d do your normal hours and not think twice. It’s not your fault other colleagues are affected, they need to take that up with management.

You're not inconveniencing anyone. At no time has anyone approached you. At no time have you agreed. You're simply turning up to work as planned.

If anyone asks why you didn't come in to cover for them bluntly and honestly say no one even broached you covering that day so you assumed it was already covered. If anyone gets more shirty tell them you did 7 months of cover surely it's someone else's turn to cover a single shift.

Harsh. The OP is clearly a nice person who is worrying about the wellbeing of another colleague and worrying about not doing something, that she doesn’t have to do, all because she doesn’t want to inconvenience somebody else.

OP, if it really bothers you, message a manager this evening and say that you’d noticed Phillip was off tomorrow and that you hadn’t been asked to cover and are not able to, so just wanted to check something else was in place so that Simon wasn’t working an extra hour.

What's wrong with just saying "Who's covering for X tomorrow, by the way"? And then if nobody else puts their hand up, resist the temptation to jump in and sacrifice yourself; just say either 'sorry but you can't do it tomorrow', or if you prefer, point out that you did all the extra cover before so maybe someone else can do it this time. Then you head off happily, knowing everyone else has had a chance to sort it (or not) and you've helped them by pointing out the possible gap without taking on extra work...

Don't get me started on the staffing levels. We have been screaming at management for years about being too short-staffed. I'm far from the only one who is drained and exhausted from working extra hours.

My managers made all the right noises about how it's not my job to cover, but no suggestion as to an alternative arrangement.

Yes, we're all responsible for our own cover.

This is harsh but fair. It's hugely overstating the situation to say YOU would be 'deliberately inconveniencing' your colleagues by turning up to work at your contracted hours.

An possibly unpopular opinion - could you get a 24 vomiting bug that will leave you fine for the weekend and you too could be off? This is what happens when manager fail to plan.

My story is that I have the skills to provide cover for a colleague. I had been doing that job for a number of years and said I've been there, done that and while I don't mind be a safety net for a new person coming in (we had been told we'd be getting up to 4 new starters in our team over the past 12 months, none have materialised) I no longer want to be seen as the defacto cover for this colleague when they are out sick/on leave/absent for whatever reason.

This came to a head towards the end of last year as this colleague was planning on being off for a week, so I had some time to take and I matched their leave. Others had to step up and provide cover. It got covered. I don't really care if people don't like that I did that because I've been saying for months and months that I can't go back to doing that job as I really found it soul destroying in the last years of me doing it and it wasn't doing my mental health any good knowing that I had to be the one to provide the cover.

Now I know that they can manage without me it actually is such a relief because I had been told previously that I couldn't book my leave at the same time as this other colleague. That was a pile of shite as it turns out!

I would phone in sick and then make a miraculous recovery for Monday!

For all you know your colleague has been asked to stay the extra hour!

You're over thinking

Why on earth do you feel its your responsibility to manage everything OP? do you get paid extra? Do you think the company will realise how valuable you are and never let you go?? I'm sorry but you are making yourself exhausted and overthinkijf things that don't concern you for no reason.

I know exactly where you're coming from with this. It's so difficult to peel yourself away from previous roles and skill-sets especially when it's been promised its only temporary, and as you said - it never is!

Unfortunately I have to be in the office tomorrow for my own work commitments, otherwise a sudden illness is a great shout!

You're not inconveniencing your colleagues, are you?

Just do your job and let the managers do theirs.