To go off sick

[buma]

I work in civil service. I've been in my new role for around 5 months. I really enjoy it but the workload is too much.

I have 2 sides to my job. One is PA for someone pretty high up and the other is a facilities type role.

I have told them several times that I can't cope with the workload. Line manager seems to care, but slightly higher up doesn't. I've told her it's too much, then we have a meeting and I come out with a load more jobs and I'm thinking is anyone actually listening to me?!

I work 4 days a week and found out yesterday that the person before me did 5 days a week and only did the facilities type role and nothing else. So how are they expecting me to do both!!

I have actually written on here a fair few times about whether to go off sick. I've managed to carry on and not take time off, but I feel like they're not going to pay attention unless I actually take some sort of action.

If they could leave me alone for 2 weeks, I could probably catch up on all my work but as it is, the team love a meeting. The lady high up loves the sound of her own voice and she makes meetings overrun (unnecessarily) by up to an hour, leaving less time to complete work.

It's just driving me insane. I can't possibly do that amount of work. But then I worry it's because I'm a bit slow (I have epilepsy and I can struggle to concentrate and get confused easily). As I'm still learning, things do tend to take me a bit longer than they should). I'm worried that any other person would cope and I'll look ridiculous.

Help.

A few things.

Firstly, it doesn’t sound like you are inefficient as your predecessor had less on their plate over more days. I’d make this clear to them.

You are leaving meetings with additional tasks which are beyond your capacity. I’d be asking which of your current tasks should be dropped or de-prioritised in order to make room for these new tasks. It is for your managers to decide which are the priorities.
However it’s unlikely that they can keep track of exactly what your current workload is without you reminding them.

How much of your day is free to execute tasks? Can you block out your calendar with ‘time to complete x task’ then when you are called to a meeting say that is your allocated time to complete the task from the last meeting.

Addressing the question from your post - no yanbu to take time off to recuperate. However, a bit of time off is not going to solve the problem unless you and manager can work out a way of you having a more sustainable and manageable workload.

I agree with PP a bit of time off, whilst helping in the short term by allowing you to mentally reset, is not going to solve your problem.
You need to take a very pro-active approach. Set up a meeting with your manager to agree percentage of your week to be spent on each area of work. Then draw up lists of all your job tasks over the week in each area of work. If they don't all fit into the allocated time, ask your manager to prioritise which tasks you should drop from the other area of work to accommodate the overspill. Agree who will take on these tasks.

Or if this all continues to fall on deaf ears then time to prioritise your health and well-being look for another job

Thanks both.

I know deep down that I shouldn't take the time off as it won't help long term. I've never taken time off sick for stress, but it feels like no one is getting the hint and perhaps it would push them into action.

My line manager is very good, and has sent me a log to note down all the work etc. He is supportive and says things need to change, but it seems like it's taking a while for anything to change.

I get emails asking where the minutes are from a meeting, and I'm thinking how on earth am I meant to even do them?!

The person I'm a PA for has mentioned several times that her staff have asked how I manage to do all jobs, and will always praise me and say how great I am blah blah. Then I will say well, I can't actually do both roles and it's completely dismissed as if I'm doing fine.

I go from that and come home to 2 kids who think I'm superwoman and it's all just a joke.

The thing is I don't even want to look for a new role. I love both sides of the job but they need to just pick one for me

There's no point thinking about what your predecessor did, as effectively the JD has changed from 5 days doing X to 4 days doing X and Y. (Unless your agreement is for 5 days hours over 4 days?)

Going off sick, as others have said, will only make things worse. You've already let them know, (this is going to sound harsh- but bear with me) that you can't cope with the job you're employed to do. Going off sick will only reinforce your inability to do the job, unless you are actually briefly unwell.

You need an official meeting with both your immediate line manager, and anybody else (their line manager? Someone from HR?) about your problems and if there is a way to resolve them. You need some kind of time/work management plan. And you need to go in with a very clear idea of why you aren't managing to get through the workload. Because if you can't document that, it makes it very easy for them to say not that there's too much work, but that the person employed to do the work isn't doing it efficiently. You have to be able to show them that's not the case. (Or, if you do think you're taking too long, or not working well, then be honest about that as well)

I find posts like this vaguely depressing. I don't have those sorts of choices because in the private sector it doesn't matter if it's too much work, it always is. I just realised I didn't have time for something and so I'll be doing it on Sunday. I get paid a lot but sometimes it sure feels like a mugs game.

@buma it does sound tough but at least your line manager is on board. I
agree with @ASighMadeOfStone and @GrandShow that a pro-active approach could be best. Maybe schedule in a weekly 30 mins at the start of the week to prioritise tasks and set your calendar.

@Switcher I think you’re possibly being a bit naive to think people in the public sector don’t work overtime (I mean this kindly as maybe you really haven’t seen it). I’ve routinely worked beyond my paid hours and into weekends when work can’t be covered during the week. That’s not to say people should or can do this (and I found it easier before kids!)

Reading your latest posts - you should have been told when minutes for a meeting have to be submitted by. (Presume also you are the one tasked with taking the minutes during the meeting- so it shouldn't take long to tidy them up) And if that's the same day as the meeting, or no later than 24 hours later, then that goes to the top of your priorities list.
If they haven't made it clear anywhere, then that's a point for you to make.
"Part of my JD is to take the minutes during a meeting and write them up- could I have a timeframe for that so I make sure it's done on time"

I've been in a similar situation a couple of times in PA / office manager roles.

What I did was draft out what I could, and couldn't do. I kept in the core of my role, and made clear that I could no longer do all the odds and ends that had been added in over the months. I would have left if they hadn't resolved it, as it wasn't sustainable.

What do your terms of reference say? What was in the job description ? If you are covering an additional role that wasn’t specified you will find it easier to get your LM to agree what are priorities and what can be allowed to drop? If you are CS you should go to the wellbeing portal and see what assistance is available for you. You could contact occupational health as well. You have a protected characteristic so should be supported anyway if you ask for help. Dont hold back and pace yourself or you will burn out and the organisation will continue to roll over other staff like yourself. Good luck. 🤞

It sounds like you want to 'go off sick' for a reaction, not because you're actually too ill to work.

Just bring up the unreasonable workload and the solutions to the specific problems (multiple people adding jobs to your to do list daily etc.)

Learn not to be worried about leaving work incomplete or not done at all. It does take some rewiring your brain if you have moved from a role where you had a reasonable level of work. When you get to the point where you accept that not completing your work is managements fault and not your own it is very liberating.

The more you burn yourself out to keep up with your work the less the big bosses will to do suitably resource the team.