exploited by employer and by another mum

[Snowybird]

I am so fed up, need to vent.
Six months ago I was hired as a consultant to share a job with a long-term staff member who came back from maternity leave to work three days a week. Since then she has been off sick nearly all the time while I am paid for only three days, covering unpaid from home an hour or so a day on the days she is supposed to be working, and all the time she is being paid salary, pension, holidays, private health care etc while I get nothing but an hourly rate. Meanwhile the company congratulates itself for recruiting and retaining women.
My job share partner may be genuinely ill but she hasn't even bothered to get in touch.
Why am I allowing myself to be so exploited?

i've no idea - why are you? the situation, if it is really as you describe it, sounds totally unreasonable. have you raised it officially? do you have an approximate record of how many extra days you've worked unpaid? on what basis have you been asked to fill in her for her on the days she's off sick - as a goodwill gesture? if so, obviously your goodwill has run out, and rightly so.
i would raise this officially with whoever recruited you, without further delay.

And you are not being exploited by the other Mum - she is ill. It is the responsibility of your employer to cover her work.

Why are you working unpaid? If you are a self-employment consultant then invoice for the work you do, surely?

Is this only a short-term situation? Just wondering why you are a consultant rather than an employee.

How do you know your job share partner hasn't got in touch? Her contract is with her employer and there's presumably no reason to think she isn't in touch with them. If her work isn't being covered then your dispute is with the employer not her.

Start by discussing how much extra you are needing to do, and (assuming you are happy to do it), confirm that although you are happy to do it you will of course be invoicing for it in the normal way. If you don't want to do any extra at all, say that and ask for an indication of either when your job share partner will be back or what their plans are longer term for covering the role.

I can understand you feeling annoyed when you compare your (lack of) benefits with the other employee, but you are a consultant and she is an employee. You knew this when you agreed to take on the role and presumably as a consultant you are used to having to sort out your own benefits and having your compensation reflect this fact. If you feel you are underpaid for what you do, this is something for you to sort out direct with the company.

I agree with the others who asked why you are working unpaid hours on your day off? Does the company realise you are doing this work? Are they prepared to pay for it? If you have not already raised it, I would email HR and explain that you are doing, on average, X hours of extra work per week/month. As a self-employed consultant you need to use your days "off" to work for other clients/other projects. Therefore, if they wish to continue utilising those hours, you will have to invoice for them.

Invoice them. If you dont they wont pay.

You need to charge a rate that also reflects the fact you do not have employee benefits and that the firm can terminate your contract at any time.

Negotiate hard if you are that indispensible.

If you are a consuiltant I assume you are being paid far more hourly in comparison with teh FT worker, to take into account the fact you have no worker benefits. If not, you are selling yourself cheap.

Invoice them for every hour you do. If they don't pay, don't do the extra work.

I don't understand why you would assume the other worker should contact you. She is ill. She owes you nothing. Her relationship is solely with the employer.