Huge Workload very stressed and emotional

[curlysmum]

I work for a very large American city co. & started 2 years ago there was no-one doing the job I do there before me so I have had to create everything from scratch which is not a problem as I do tend to work well under pressure and prefer to be busy , however the business has grown hugely and and every area has expanded in staff etc...apart from me still doing the same with triple the clients than when I started. I have a very un supportive boss who dismisses that help is needed. It has been recognised by Head Office that my job has become un manageable for one person but this was months ago and now despite them promising to have a meeting to discuss getting me help its just keeps being put to one side.
Day to day this has really got me I feel panicky about all the things that have'nt been done , I have to keep shuffling things around , going to meeting with no updates which is just not me . There was supposed to be a meeting about 10 days ago and despite asking Human Resources twice now today the lady just said 'Oh sorry its been put on hold so and so is not in this week . I am so hopping mad , no one thought to let me know or gave any feedback. I am beginning to feel more and more depressed really and stressing out of work about minor things , crying etc. any advice.
I have written all the reasons why resources are needed prepared a document about a month ago , nothing has been done.
I am not keen to leave as the salary is decent benefits are good , and I'm just not in the right frame of mind to go job searching at the mo, any advice...

sorry no real advice but can empathise with you and really didn't want to leave you unanswered.

my sis is in a very similar boat at the moment and working really stupid hours to even achieve clearing an inbox of 700+ emails in a day, all because she needs more staff and her peer doesn't pull her wait (mainly because she doesn't actually know what she is doing). last week she was sitting in an office with no security presence at 2am all alone. 4 weeks ago she phoned me at midnight having fallen asleep on the train, waking up way pass her station - i went out to her and drove 125miles to get her home again as there were no taxis.

poor you - hope it gets sorted out soon - interestingly a recent employment tribunal found that Employers have a duty to look at reducing workload when an employee says it's too much otherwise they are liable for any resulting mental illness/absence (sorry can't find the exact article at the mo)
I would put it in writing to HR that you have had enough, mention the recent case and state that if something isn't done you will resign and claim constructive dismissal - you would undoubtedly win
if nothing else should put the wind up them that you know what you're talking about and should produce some results
if it's getting too much then get signed off on the sick - your long term mental health is far more important than any deadline they have (and certainly any LOs you have are more important)
good luck

moomin - if you can put a hand on that article or a link would greatly appreciate it. sis is about to offer the ultimatium but this may help in a being abit more constructive.

I would start by making a long list of everything that needs doing and working out how many hours each task will take to do, by task. Estimate. Don't spend hours on it but make sure you can explain each one if asked to. So if each email takes you 1 minute to read and answer and you get 100 emails per day do 1 minute x 100 = 100minutes/60mins = 1 hour 40 minute work. Do this for each task/large set of tasks.

Then add up all the hours needed to complete all the tasks. It will be 100 person hours or something I expect. When you've done this ask your manager for a meeting. Ask him/her to tell you which 35 hours (or 37.5 hrs or whatever your hours are) of the work you should prioritise. Make it clear that you can do those tasks and NOT THE OTHERS. If the others are to be done the company need to resource them properly. If they do not resource it, the work will not be done, it's very simple.

Your health should not need to suffer because the company is underresourcing projects/workload.

Tell your manager that the pressure is unacceptable. Tell him/her what you want done, i.e. you want your priorities set by him/her and you want meetings to discuss ALL other tasks, i.e. the ones you're NOT doing cancelled. Tell them that you need help and support and that they need to resolve this. Make sure you agree what they are going to do, agree dates.

And really, your health is worth more than the job so take some time off (holiday?) asap to calm yourself and get some distance and perspective before you tackle this (if you think it will help). Good luck.

The recent cases are

Sutherland v Hatton 2002
Hiles v South Gloucestershire NHS Primary Care Trust 2006 (employee awarded £64k)
Intel Corporation (UK)Ltd v Daw 2007 (employee awarded £134k)

The first thing to do in all these cases as www states, is to write it all down, particularly write down the date and times and names of anyone you had a conversation with about the situation. Even just handwritten notes is fine ? carries a lot of weight in tribunal cases.

The next step is to write a letter to your line manager raising a Grievance about the lack of action taken on your excessive workload. The law dictates that they must arrange to meet with you to resolve the grievance within a set timescale. If you don?t raise it through the grievance procedure you will really weaken any subsequent case you take out against the company.

If you are not in a Union then suggest you go and meet with an Employment Law Solicitor ? first session usually free and they will be able to give you some good pointers.

Good luck to you all!

and here's the link to the article
here

Thanks v. much for this , its very helpful I have been silly in not keeping a record of all the conversation's I have had about this with HR, my line manager and then my dotted line manager in the US , the U.S. have been very supportive and have also written to the HR lady and my boss outlining all the reasons that extra staffing is required . Its just so depressing that its constantly put back over here they have not even met to discuss it, which I'm sure would be a 15 minute conversation as the funding has been agreed with the US already now I am feeling like a nag, and feel my confidence is slowly draining. My dd father who is not living with us tells me to just go to the doctors and get myself signed off he says that they are just taking advantage, but I do like to do my job properly and feel very awkward at doing that but I think will give it 1 more week and will try and list all the dates I have tried to discuss this with them.

make a note now to the best of your recollection of when you spoke to whom. If there are emails or meeting requests print them off and order them in a fie. note everything in future.

in my experience unfortuantly things tend not to get better. You need to look after and out for yourself. If you are so worked up it is affecting your health then got to see doctor - they may sign you off until you feel better.

raise grievance about lack of action.

At the end of the day they will suck the life out of yoy if you let them - that is the way the city works - you have to stand up for yourself as I am afraid no one else will.

good luck.

thanks again , more than anything its the lack of consideration thats more upsetting . I was told two weeks ago there would be a meeting the folowing morning to discuss it, I was not to be present it was with HR, MY Boss and the President of the company in the UK . Then not a dicky bird since I've had to go to the HR woman three times to ask her if it happened, outcome and she just said 'oh I'm really busy can I come back to you' then last night when I saw her in the corridor she was so cool just said 'oh no it did'nt take place , there was other important things came up, I'll get back to you'

The thing is without me they would be up *creek without a paddle as i do a vital role here now that no-one else plays any part in what I do, or knows how to do, so to me its just very upseting.

No helpful advice to offer, but would just like to let you know you're not alone. Both myself and DH (especially DH) are struggling with an ever-increasing workload and no prospect of diminishing it by employing more staff (well, why should they, when we are working all hours and getting it done ourselves). Just wanted to empathise. I know how you feel when people keep asking "Have you done so-and-so" and you have to say "No, not yet". I have a very good reputation in my business, and feel like the most dreadfully incompetent person since I started working here, despite the job being far below my levels of expertise. You have to get tough and know your own worth - put your foot down!

good thought - yes many (particularly larger) firms have this or a helpline where you are supposed to be able to discuss all issues such as debt, work, relationship problems - you coud try one of these. It may be something that was referred to in a "welcome pack" at work and you have seen nothing of since.

I hear what you are saying about your real worth at work but I am afraid emoployers don't often see this... to them you are just one member of staff. Many staff are not valued until they are not there when the employer realises that the replacement they have got is not as good. By then of course it is too late.

anyway I hope it gets better but as I said I fear these things tend not to - it is the rare HR department that actually does much to improve a situation. For your own sake I would start looking round for other positions - no rush - but see if there is something comparable in role/salary..if you like the sound of it apply. I suspect that you would n't feel so bad if you felt you had other options....and then if nothing improves you could go for one of them. I personally think it would be a mistake to wait and hope that everything gets sorted out to your satisfaction.. it can't hurt to have a back up plan.

Hi yes have had a look on the home page of our intranet at work they do have this sort of advice line but seems to be only US based nothing for the UK.I will maybe call them when everyone has left for the evening and see what they say .

moomin - thanks for the articles and the link - can't access as don't have subscription but am 99%sure that sis will be able to as has a PM sub being in HR herself!

www - thanks for that too. even a weeks holiday has been refused. sis has just about managed to get this weekend off for dd1 birthday. you can count the days off shes had on one hand since january. even when she was confined to bed the emails rolled in and phone continued to ring

You need to list your current workload with timescales and present it to your boss. Tell him that you can't possibly manage it all in the time there so which items would he like you to focus on and prioritise. Ball is then is his court.

In addition, put in a formal grievance but go in with a clear resolution. Make sure you follow the correct procedure.

Keep notes of EVERYTHING, however minor or trivial it seems - conversations, comments, e-mails, requests for help etc. you never know when you might need it.

In the meantime see your GP again to have it logged so to speak as the employer has a duty of care under health and safety at work act to prevent you from risk off injury/illness.