would you raise this or does this sound petty

[Cheshireicecream]

I work as part of a 2 person team. colleague and I do identical work. over the last year, she did less and less. I am a workhorse and just cracked on with stuff that needed sorting and felt I do much more but wasn't too bothered. Anyhow, last week I decided to pull the figures from the system and I do about 4 times as much as she does (it's easily quantified, no idea why I didn't raise it before and why manager never raised it. I guess since the work gets done, nobody is checking). colleague is senior to me and earning much more which irks ms hugely given the backseat she has been taken all year
. Would you raise this and if you are a manager, what would you make of it. I worry I look anal an petty.

I don't understand why you feel the need for all these snide remarks 🙄

Why arent you taking leave? That’s odd. Take 2 weeks leave, see how she gets in and then ask for pay review. If they say no, stop picking up the slack and look for new job. Take the easier cases and let her do some complex ones. You’re being a bit of a martyr.

Where did I say I don't take leave??? I do take leave but usually short spurts, mainly a day here or there (I have caring responsibilities for a family member who currently isn't well). I cannot take 2 weeks of AL if I haven't got that left. What has this got to do with a colleague who is not doing her job anyways. Mumsnet has gotten weird.

I am in a similar situation OP. I am in a team of 6 where I work the fewest hours and actually do more caseload than people who are full-time. The proportions are massive. I can do 40 cases a day where I have 3 colleagues who barely scrape 5 cases a day.

I took it up with my manager and was told - in no uncertain terms - that it was none of my business and that one of the people doing low numbers was 'a grafter'. I was also told that I didn't know the full story and that some people take longer as they're perfectionists and less skilled at the job.

The fact is that two of them work with young children at home and the other is always self-promoting.

The long and the short of it is that your manager will know the dynamic of who's doing what and frankly doesn't care as long as the work gets done.

The only way around it is to suck it up; leave, or reduce your speed to that of your colleague. I took the last option and have had my hours increased, so I have at least benefitted in that way.

It's crap though, and you have my full sympathy.

Ignore those getting snippy about minutae and deliberately being obtuse.

Definitely mention this to you team leader for their information and response. You at least know where you stand and can make decisions from there.

The consensus is to do that BTW.

Jeez @truegum81 what is your problem, are you saying OP is making the whole thing up? You’ve posted an awful lot, time to back off and let the poor person ask for advice. OP has explained things consistently and clearly. Quit the Poirot impression.

OP - I think it would be quite hard to just ‘slow down’. Some people prefer to work when they are at work, some people are quicker too! I think it should be raised. Or, you could refer all enquiries / escalations about her cases back to her, and let the pressure pile up there.

WIth respect, OP, 8% more isn't actually "much more" than what you're being paid.

It sounds to me that they downsized your team, kept the same amount of work and you're the one that's been taking on the biggest burden, is that right?

What incentive did you have to work much harder? What happens if your work doesn't get done? Has total amount of work in reduced since last year when the team was reduced? How hard were you working before - were you completely flat out or did you have a lot of time to fill? It sounds like you work in admin, which is often quite overlooked, especially in big companies - instead of just accepting the increased workload, you really ought to flag it before it becomes an issue and you end up in the situation you're in where you feel as though you're taking on more of the work.

Are you absolutely sure that your senior colleague isn't doing other tasks? It's very possible that she is.

I had this in social work in a hospital setting. I was working part time but had double the caseload of my full time colleague, basically because he was such a drip and people referred stuff to me cos they knew I would get on and fo the job properly. I was on top of the work so not too bothered but it was slightly irksome. If I had felt stressed I would have spoken up.

They surely must notice how much gets done when you are on holiday

I explained that already.

If someone came to me to raise an issue that they haven't tried to resolve first with very very basic soft skills, my main concern would be finding out why they felt unable to make a first attempt.

I disagree. It is not my report's job to sort the uneven workload. It's their job to bring it to my attention, I will deal with it. And what can OP even do? She can't tell the colleague to do more, she's already tried and colleague says she's busy.

Lol, at the idea that some people are employed to do jobs that don’t affect anyone in the company 😂😂 I’d have thought that people like that had been removed during some ‘streamlining’ operation. A long time ago.

Im sorry @Cheshireicecream You’re getting very weird comments

You are getting some weird comments, @Cheshireicecream ,but essentially the best advice has been don't slow down (because it will make you look bad), instead speak to your manager and tell them you are overloaded, the workload seems unbalanced (based on your evidence) and could they please help.

People did advise not to just moan about your lazy colleague to your boss, but to explain the impact which is stress on you.

Hey OP. I've only read your comments but I did have the exact same problem with a team of 4. My boss didn't like me because it was her first time being a boss and she didn't like how I called out bad processes and pushed for improvement. She was on my side with the workload but did no more than remind people we should be doing a fair workload. We had cases on salesforce and our metrics were calls, emails, cases closed which may be similar to you. Inbound calls of the period I had answered over 600 and the next down was under 100 with the worst being less than 10.

So, the company you work for sounds awful. One review a year? Nothing in the middle? How are you meant to progress? The fact your manager hasn't noticed this means either she doesn't care or she's too busy herself because she has a similar problem. It's not a good environment and you could be paid and respected at your worth elsewhere. Why would you stay?

I left and used my figures as evidence for my exit interview but it doesn't sound like you work for a company that would have anything as basic as an exit interview.

If I were you I would look for another job which I imagine you will get quickly, once you get one hand in your notice and tell them you've been forced to leave because...

Or just match her level and live an easy life.

I would absolutely raise this. Request a meeting and show the data you have pulled. Then ask for more monitoring and a fairer distribution of tasks system.

I’ve read all your posts, but don’t think you have explained this, actually.
If your inbox is to be cleared each day, when you take a day off, does she clear it all?

It could be that your super-efficiency is just leaving less work for her to do. She is plodding along at her steady pace, and you are racing.
If you eased up to a steadier pace, perhaps she’d pick up the excess automatically (like when you’re on leave)?

@Cheshireicecream I personally would not take a back seat, and go at her pace, I personally would carry on what you ate doing. Nothing wrong with working hard and having a work ethic. Yiu said the company are not doing well, if they need to get rid of staff, who do yiu think they will get rid off the expensive one doing quarter of the work or the employee who has a hard working work ethic. Yes it is frustrating when you work with slackers like that and yiu have every right to bring up with yiur manager. But you are not the only one noticing that she is not doing her work, it is not a good idea to ignore chasing emails.

So stop doing it! They’ll check and the difference in work will be uncovered.

I wouldn’t position it as she’s doing more work than you but rather how can you ensure that the workload is split fairly.

Are you working at a faster pace than her? Are you over worked?

If you are doing so much more then it seems that the need for two people is not required and it might make them rethink about the necessity of having her role if you can manage it all.

I would go to your manager with a solution rather than raise it as an issue. How does her lack of effort impact you? Does it mean you do not have capacity and burnt out? Or is it that there isn’t much work anyway and she’s taken on as little as she can get away with.