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!

And what plans have you made to actually take those ten weeks off?

If they're so understaffed that you get shouted at for not coming in early when someone is off for a long weekend, how are they going to facilitate you taking ten whole weeks off?

On this point, I'd go back to management, using this morning as reason why you cannot take the time off that you have effectively worked up by providing cover and you want to review the situation again. Using the issues that happened this morning as your example, you can show that when no coverage is in place, things go to pot! You have a considerable amount of time to take off so how are they going to facilitate that? You'd like to revisit the option of being paid (at least for some of the leave that you are now allowed to take for the time you worked up) and then you can review when you're planning on taking the leave so that there is cover in place.

This. It’s not your problem, don’t be the office martyr. It’s not up to you to solve all the problems.

It is not a moral dilemma. Why is it better for you to be inconvenienced than your colleagues? Stop trying to manage everyone’s feelings, they are adults.

Lazy managers expect their managees to sort this stuff out between them. It’s their actual job, to manage resources, and they try and palm it off. Well done for standing your ground OP.

No she’s probably worked (like I have) with someone like the op and it’s hit a nerve! Oh I’ll stay oh look if you didn’t have me it would be bad here I am inconveniencing myself again but if I don’t d in it no one will. No one cares like I do.

Nightshift cannot leave until their relief comes in. The office can't be left unmanned for safety reasons.

Personally, I've been advocating for just leaving it unmanned and throwing it to the managers to deal with. I can't make that decision by myself though, all my colleagues need to be on board with it too.

At the moment I facilitate it myself by picking quieter weeks, and delegating some of the urgent tasks to various managers and colleagues. It takes about a lot of planning sometimes just to allow me a week off!

This thread has empowered me to say I no longer care how it's facilitated. I'm entitled to those 10 weeks off so I'm going to take them, whether it causes hassle or not.

My manager certainly never has any issues taking leave!

Unless you have been asked to cover and have agreed to do so, it's not your problem and should not even cross your mind. What your nightshift colleagues do is a matter for them. Let's hope they have the sense to leave on time.

Yes OP 🙌🏼
Stop making it work. Your manager has no issue taking time off, follow their example, they're taking you for a mug.

I quite admire it, really. Something will happen and we'll be like "Oh we need to speak to [manager]" and he'll just be gone Out of office. Nobody any the wiser.

Then just saunters back in after his break with no worry or concern for anything that might have occurred during his absence.

I know what you mean about having a sneaking admiration for people who can walk off into the sunset letting others pick up the slack.

The fact your manager is male may have something to do with it...

Well done @MistletoeMoments for standing up for yourself
If this morning's encounter in the car park has shown you anything it is how little they respect or appreciate you. The assumption that you would just be there is breathtakingly arrogant.
You should raise the issue of the onslaught in the car park formally with management. Start a new chapter with them.

Just ask the manger if there's cover or if he'd like you to come in early, if you GENUINELY are happy to do so

Or rock up your normal time, and say well I assumed they'd arranged cover, obviously it's not my business to do so. Perfectly acceptable

Do you work in a care home by any chance? It’s the only role I can think of which would be so slap dash about staffing and time off. Regardless, well done for standing your ground, there’s a distinct lack of respect for you and if you don’t make a stand this won’t change.
On a final note, if you are not a member of a Union I would strongly suggest that you address that, you might need one. If you have issues in future, regardless of what they are, ensure you keep a diary of dates, times, names, who said what etc, because in my experience when co workers don’t get their own way they pull rank.

Well done OP for stopping enabling poor planning.
Managers are paid to manage . This hasn’t happened. Hopefully now by sticking to your guns they will now plan absences properly.

You definitely need to take those weeks off! I would take them in nice blocks of a month at a time.
I'm not sure how much you earn but by doing a lot of extra hours and them not paying you, could put you under NMW which is of course illegal.

YABU - speak to your manager and get him/her to sort it out.
You're not doing yourself any favours doing unpaid overtime covering other colleagues, let the management sort it out, that's what they're paid for.

Holy mackerel, lady.

You are being TOTALLY unreasonable in describing your idea of working your contracted hours as "deliberately inconveniencing" your colleague. Is it your job to arrange cover? Is it reasonable for you to anticipate being taken for granted? No. Neither applies. If nobody has had the basic courtesy to ask you if you would be so kind as to cover yet again for pi55-taker then don't you DARE blame yourself for declining to solve their problem unasked.

I find it hard to believe any business can facilitate that amount of leave. It's ludicrous. They need to pay you.

You do know you REALLY need a break, don't you?

If you haven't been asked to cover for this occasion, then turn up at your usual time

Well I'm glad you didn't go in early. Now they have learned that they can't just treat you like a dogsbody. And your assumption about them defaulting to you without the respect to ask was accurate. I'm not entirely convinced you are getting those 10 weeks though. They might say there's a maximum toil entitlement or you should have used it by x date. I would take it quickly. They need to learn they can't take the pee with you as they learned so far that they can

Mistletoe, I'm so glad you stuck to your schedule, and showed management the gap. Please arrange for your 1st of 10 weeks immediately/ I would plan one a month.

In that case they will have it covered. The cover you did was I assume part of a rota but it's not now. Xx