Are they taking the piss?

[FlippertyFlopperty]

I offered to support some colleagues with one of their responsibilities whilst a colleague was off a few years ago. This was an offer of temporary help and the responsibility is one that's time consuming and can be very stressful.

Every time I've raised that I'm still doing this extra responsibility to management I'm just basically told that I need to do it, despite my protests.

It's got the point now where me doing this extra thing is really affecting the output of my own responsibilities and I'm finding that I'm depressed, stressed and anxious on the days when I do this work. The job I used to love, I now dread.

Aibu to think they should now allow me to stop doing this extra responsibility? I'm sure that every time I mention or complain that I'm still doing this, one of the managers thinks I should just be quiet and get on with it and that I'm not a team player.

Does your job description have the line “any other duties as and when required”?

It’s all part of your job now, it’s no longer separate to what you view as ‘your job’. Whether you were asked to do it or offered to has no relevance/importance, management are happy for you to do it therefore they are in essence assigning you that task by not assigning it to someone else! You are missing the point. You need to ask them to take SOME work off you but it might not necessarily be THIS particular task which you see as separate from your job/don't want to do.

Yes.

Thank you for your reply. It's awful isn't it? The rest of my work is very much tied up into a project. It's just this bit that sticks out like the sore thumb and is so time consuming.

The rest of my work very much ties up into the work I do though. It's just this that really isn't part of my role. Except now it is.

Exactly now it is. I’d accept that and ask for support with your workload issues. If you really hate what you’re doing you can leave!

I'm scared i might be let go if I rock the boat too much.

To be honest, as long as you keep saying "But I love my job" every time someone suggests looking for another job then nothing's ever going to change.

You've complained, they ignore it, you stay.

You've asked for a pay rise to reflect the additional duties, they ignore it, you stay.

If they said they were cutting your pay from tomorrow, what would you do? Probably stay..

They would have to follow a process to do that.

Much of my role has also changed but the changes and those changes have brought lots of extra work, but they all fit neatly within the work I deliver. This other thing really doesn't. Maybe I'm going to be wasting my time raising it but I hope they'll take me seriously. It's really getting me down.

I had the same hassle. I had to take on a task for nearly 2 years because of a huge staff walk out as they had enough. Then the responsibilities of this task was meant for another team who avoided doing it for 18 months due to staffing issues. I kept raising it and finally got rid of it recently by creating a handover meeting with the other team and my manager.

It is a horrible feeling as I was always behind in my work but had to do the task as it would have got in a mess had it been left.

You need to emphasise the work overload is affecting your physical and mental health. If they don’t resolve it get signed off with stress and find a job elsewhere. It is not worth the hassle. I wish I had left sooner and not continued to do the work as it does impact your well-being.

Yes, this - and realistically, I'd be prepared that it probably won't be this task (which clearly no one wants) that's taken off you if they do review your workload.

I'm sorry you've had this experience too. It's a horrible feeling and I feel like crying.

All the rest of my work is actually my work though. This extra thing didn't begin with me. It's not mine.

I would just go off sick. You sound unhappy and it is not worth it. It will be someone else’s problem then. Decent employers don’t ignore staff concerns.

You left it too long and I doubt you are ever going to do anything about it. “I love my job”. They have you over a barrel.

But it IS your work now. You may bitterly regret offering to do it temporarily, but that's now irrelevant. You've asked to stop and they've said to do it - so you've been told to do it by management. To you it may be obvious that this is the bit that you should stop doing of your overall workload, but they have made it completely clear that this isn't their view.

I think you're completely reasonable to raise that you have too much work overall, and perfectly reasonable to say that this particular bit is the most logical to remove. But you have no reasonable way to insist if they say this is among the bit they want you to keep.

I am really unhappy. I'm at breaking point. The extra thing I'm doing is stressful and time consuming. It's really affecting me.

It's so sad. I've put in so much work. I give everything to my role. I feel like no one cares.

I won't ever offer to do anything again.

How have you addressed your workload issues with them? First step would be informal chat, then more formal email, then raise a grievance if still unresolved. Good luck. But please drop ‘it isn’t my task’ IT IS.

This is your job now. The old job you love doesn’t exist anymore.

It sounds like it’s time to start looking for something new.

This exact thing happened to me many years ago. It made me ill. I got signed off work with stress for months. I remember emailing my boss to discuss adjustments for me returning to work. Boss basically said nothing would be changed. I handed in my notice and literally moved to a different country.

This is so true. They just think you can leave and someone else new to the organisation will do the work as they won’t realise they should not be doing it.

I would make it really clear that if they want you to continue doing y then you need to stop doing x&z etc in order to be able to accommodate all your work. Is the person that used to do this in the same role or on the same pay as you?