How to endure my worst job ever until I can leave?

[rosemarycait96]

I've been back from mat leave (DC2) for 2 weeks, and I'm this close to rage-quitting and never coming back.

My industry is known as being quite high-pressure. Before I left, upper management had form for micro-managing, prioritising profit far above employee wellbeing, expecting you to work beyond capacity etc. They also have an incredibly toxic culture, very hierarchical.

I have utterly hated it for a long time, but stayed to get maternity pay and because we are moving house soon and I don't want to derail the mortgage application, etc. I am also contractually obliged to stay here for another few months as I received an enhanced maternity package.

In the past 2 weeks, I have:

• Been rammed with work almost instantly, stuff that colleagues have put off or not had time to do, was saved for my return
• Been admonished for not doing my timesheets correctly, despite doing them exactly the same as before I left
• On the 2nd day, I was hounded by HR for not having all my logins for some really minor stuff - I was waiting for IT to sort it at the time
• Been told that, because we're a smaller team, our work is being heavily scrutinised by upper management and that we're in a 'vulnerable' position. Our team is small because 11 out of 15 of us have left in the past 3 years
• This morning I was told I need to have a call with my LM every single morning to allocate every hour of my day. I have self-managed my time for the past 7 years without issue, and am v confused about this one.

I have been at this company for 7 years. I'm experienced and good at my job, and I am exhausted from being micromanaged and rewarded with more scrutiny every day. This isn't just about mat leave either - it was just as bad before I left.

The earliest I can hand in my notice is mid-November as I need to work until mid-Feb and I have a 3 month notice period. Thankfully I am WFH so no office stuff to deal with.

How on Earth do I get through the next few weeks without going mad? Do I lay low and get on with it? Do I coast? Or do I work mega hard to keep them off my backs? Or... can I just hand in my notice with a ridiculously long notice period?!

Sounds just like my old place of work. I had to allocate time for toilet breaks on my timesheet as well as any conversation time with colleagues even if we were talking work. It's terrible and so unnecessary in the workplace. Anyway....I quit but this is how I got through it.

Focusing only on the day not looking ahead.

Small breaks e.g. to get a drink and something nice to look forward to at the end of the working day.

Used teams/ social chat (not necessarily using work laptop of course) frequently but briefly to keep in contact with colleagues when working from home which meant I had support when I was having a tough day.

Shared my frustrations with trusted colleagues / friends / family so they were supportive and I had a different perspective on things. It sometimes came up with some gems.

Laid low and got on with it and made sure I didn't get additional attention that way from management.

Just keep your head down and get on with it. Just do as much work as you can, time will soon go by. At least you WFH so you don’t have to physically see these people!

Are you in a union? If not, join one now as it sounds as though they are trying to manage you out - i.e. either trying to find a reason to let you go or to make you quit. Either way you need expert advice. If you’re in a union you will have legal cover etc to help you; if not you’re going to need support. Good luck.

Keep your head down, do a fair day's work, smile and nod, agree to everything but just do what you can manage.

It's a crap organisation if senior management have time to micro manage whilst the actual workers don't have time to actually do the work.

That's wild! Although I'm not far off having to do that.

I've also now been told to CC in two different senior colleagues to every email I send to a particular client. I wouldn't really even ask a junior of mine to do that, it's insane.

I promise I am not just horrendous at my job. It really is getting worse every week for this level of scrutiny.

Thanks for the tips. I've been squirrelling away today, trying to ignore the bombardment.

I really don't get the impression you are bad at your job at all! It's all culture stuff.

Yep, I get it, your a contractor and experienced and being treated like a junior who can't be trusted. It's their trust issue, not yours though. If you've been asked to cc senior colleagues then just do it - it could save aggro later on.

Hope your week gets better. Hope the tips help.

@orangewasp Yeah, I spent 45 minutes being lectured by my LM this morning (who to be fair is a lovely person, she is just as much of a victim here) when I really could just have been getting on with things. The funny bit is, we're technically not allowed to have internal calls about anything except client work, either.