Boss is refusing to let me take my foot off the gas

[tiredofthisshit21]

I'm retiring at the end of this year, corporate role, mid senior. I gave more than my contracted notice out of courtesy, did everything right. I've only got just over two months to go and I had thought that there might be a bit of easing back of the pressure to ease me gently into retirement. But my manager just keeps piling on the workload and pressure, regardless. I'm trying to care less, I really am, but there's no acceptance whatsoever that I have no incentive to go the extra mile any more. Currently facing into another working week with dread.

If you've been in this situation, how did you handle it?

If you get the feeling that they are trying to get three months work out of you they probably are and you would not be unreasonable to push back. How much leave do you have left, you could sprinkle the days around or book them all at the end, my friend finishes in Dec but won't be onsite from mid Nov.

Either suck it up for the next couple of months, or decide you just don't care and stop working anything past your contracted hours. You're leaving anyway, what are they going to do?

You are being paid to work for the needs of the business. Why do you think it’s acceptable to do as little as possible through your notice period?

Leave now if you don’t like it

This. Just do less.

Just say no. There is nothing need to go above and beyond. Working normal hours, avoiding overtime etc is good enough.

@tiredofthisshit21 work to rule. Arrive and leave at your allotted times, take your full breaks. Work methodically and carefully. Anything not done when you leave is their problem. After all, what can they do, they can't fire you!!! If your boss says anything, say it might be better to give the task to your successor so they know how to handle it. Enjoy your retirement 🙂

I agree with PPs that you ought to do your job to the best of your ability.

But I'd also point out that some time each week could usefully be dedicated to putting together detailed notes for your successor, to help with handover. That shouldn't add onto your hours, so a little bit of leeway from your boss would be in the long term interest of the company.

There's always the option of a Glassdoor review once you're out of there 😏

I think youre being a bit unreasonable here. After all, your boss is still paying you the same salary right up until the last day - so he is entitled to expect the same rate of work. If you want less work then accept less money. Your boss is not obligated to help ease you into retirement. You and your work are a commodity, and he is entitled to get value for it. If you are too tired or overwhelmed to give that value, then dont accept a handout, step away now.

How can she “step away now”? She’s on three months’ notice.

She can’t “leave now”. Who could ever do that in any job? You’d be in breach of contract if you don’t work your notice.

Just dont do it. Work to rule. Ensure you have completed all outstanding work given beforehand. Do anything urgent within your paid hours, if it goes outside of that time, tell them what you can and can’t feasibly achieve in your paid working hours and use the rest of the time to ensure you leave everything tidy for an easy handover.
Make sure you take all your leave and as someone else suggested, if they keep pushing back at you to do more than you’re fairly paid for, go sick!

Then tell them to make your transition work you will be fulfilling your contracted hours, but won’t be able to go beyond that, especially if in a couple of weeks you are training up your replacement.

As they will be a senior too, they won’t need hand holding and will want to do things their way. So really, I think you only have a couple of weeks of this to manage.

Do what you can, they know what they are doing and will be reasonably expecting you to not go along with it either!

Good luck and enjoy retirement!

Don’t be daft. You boss still has to keep the work ticking over. Deadlines to meet. Your salary isn’t reducing gradually is it ?
So do the work.
That your boss has organised a new person to take over is a good sign. They may well tone down your workload a bit then. Who knows ?

But you are picking up the money. So pick up the job that goes with it. As asked. If they ask you to slow down, fine. If not, they don’t.

It's just two months though, and you're FREE. I offloaded as much as I could unto others while I was in my notice period and argued some tasks would require so much follow up I couldn't do them to my boss. I also had a countdown timer bookmarked and checked it every day hehe. Congrats on being a gnat's hair away from retirement!

You understand nobody can actually make you work longer hours right?

Email manager stating that XYZ projects will not all be completed in the time you have available before leaving. You can manage one of them (or two/whatever)

Then stick to it. Don’t do extra hours. Don’t work extra hard. Just tick along and let it fail. What are they going to do about it? Nothing.

I bet the manager is expecting continued long hours and high pressure last minute tasks, and it is totally fine to say I’m looking at task x, I’ve realised I’m not going to get to task y this week, so it might have to slip to the next committee meeting if the paper can’t be late for this one. See you tomorrow.

✅

I’ve never worked anywhere bonuses are paid to anyone in their notice period. We additionally have a staggered model where I get paid this years bonus over the next few years, so if you leave a year later, you don’t get the part that’s held back.

Absolutely does apply to teachers.

My last teaching job had ludicrous expectations for paperwork. Utterly pointless and made no difference to what was delivered.

After I resigned I carried on doing all my teaching, marking, assessing, data dropping etc but i stopped writing out pages of planning with endless "anticipation of potential misconceptions".

Kids still got taught. I had 2 blissful months of ignoring nonsense.

Your boss can't actually make you do anything. It wouldn't be unexpected for anyone retiring to check out, boss should expect that.

That said, if you like your boss/company, your only job right now is to ensure a smooth transition.

Is it possible that you see this as retirement but given your age in subsequent post of late 50s and the fact that state pension does not kick in until age 66/67 , your employer is regarding you as and treating you as someone who has decided to resign. I would be very careful not to spoil the relationship with your employer. A good friend of mine 'retired' at 58 but a few years later a dramatic change of circumstances meant she needed to find work again. Her last reference was ok but not as glowing as it could have been if she had not slacked off her last few months.

You just need to do the job you’re contracted to do, at a reasonable pace and to an acceptable standard. You don’t need to stay late, or work weekends.

Your boss’s bonus will depend on targets achieved/ deadlines met/ projects completed. You have no such incentive. Your boss knows that you are probably more productive than the incoming employee, and that it will take time to train the new hire. Historically, you have responded to management pressures.

Your boss will continue to apply strategies which have previously worked. You don’t have to respond in the same way.

Suggest to your boss that you start to focus on handover preparations, so that the new post holder has a minimal transition period. For every task and project you’ve been given, ask how the management of this fits into your manager’s succession planning.

Edited to correct autocorrect

If you're in your late 50s, it's not really retirement is it, it's just stopping work. That might be informing your bosses attitude as surely all of these 'easing you into retirement' schemes are for people in their late 60s.

Bosses are so weird. I retired in May after they tried to increase my workload and make me move into a windowless cupboard with another colleague. I had to check they actually knew I was leaving as they didn't seem to acknowledge it in any way.
This period , two months to go seemed to crawl by for me. I would agree though with everyone else dont stay late dont go the extra mile. Your organisation sound like mine.
After I left they couldnt even fill my post for two months and its a role that has to be filled actually by law. It really changed my opinion about some of the management I thought I knew pretty well.
The good news is that retirement is bloody wonderful. If you are in London make sure you get your travel card when you turn 60. Honestly its fantastic it makes me feel like the Government does care about little old me. 😃