Hi all, need some advice.
I have a colleague who returned to work after taking maternity leave, and she came back with new working hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm. This is fine but she didn't stick to it for very long. The first month or so, she was always in the office at 8:30am but from the 2nd month onwards (she's been back at work for a year now) she doesn't get into the office until at least 9:30am or sometimes even 10am, but ALWAYS leaves on time at 4:30pm. This means 1-1.5hours less work each day!
We're both at the same position at work, same job title, and work on the same projects, so it feels really unfair that she's doing less work than I am, and she's never making up for the lost hours.
Question is, should you keep quiet or should you say something? If you say something, what's the best way to do so without sounding too harsh?
I would suggest you raise it with your manager - but really if someone has a flexibale working arrangement then thats between them and the organisation......
If she was still getting all her work done and not impacting on the overall project (i.e. your own workload) then I dont think there is much you can do other than have a conversation with your LM.
Hi Amy,
Thanks so much for your reply.
I think there has been a certain degree of impact. As we're both the same level, same job title, and work on the same projects, I've had to pick things up in the morning for the 1 hour before she gets in, and once she drops everything and just leaves at 4:30pm I've had to finish things off for her too for at least an extra 30 minutes.
The point here is, she's not sticking to her agreed hours, and she's working 1.5 hours less than me each day. 1.5 hours times 5 is 7.5 hours a week. That means working 1 day less each week; i.e. only working 4 days a week!!
I really don't think this is fair, and it's really been bothering me a lot. Especially as we've been asked to do overtime and weekend work (me and another team member have had to do that, and sometimes work 12 hour day or even more) but she's not done a single second of overtime. Once, the project manager came up to my line manager and asked (in her absence) why she has refused to do any overtime/weekend work. Of course my line manager got really defensive and said something along the lines of, yeah she will do them... but of course she hasn't done any in the year she's been back from maternity. Well that's not the most important point really, she's not even doing the 7.5 hours a day, don't even bother talking about overtime!!!
If your manager is too weak to tackle it then let them know that you will raise it formally if they do not do so.
Hi Chuichi,
Well it certainly doesnt sound like it is a nice working environment for you at the moment! I do sympathise as it is really tough watching someone do less than you (and seemingly getting away with it).
With all things considered I would strongly recommend having a frank discussion with your LM - if you can, avoid "pointing the finger" at work colleague - obviously explain some of your concerns with them and more importantly is to express how the additional work is making you feel (stressed? Demotivated? etc). And see what happens. Overtime is voluntary and so if you havent had a good rest and dont feel you can do it then say so! In some ways the more you guys do extra hours to compensate for her lacking the easier it is for your LM to seemingly keep to deadlines of the team. If the resolution offered by your LM is not adequate then you can then make a formal complaint (grievance) with HR.
Unfortunately as far as I am aware (and it has been a while since I have done "general hr") there isnt any law that must make your employer do something about your work colleague.
Hi Peter and Amy, thanks so much for both your replies.
I'm not sure how I can have a conversation with my LM without sounding like I'm pointing the finger though, it will be really obvious. I think I may just keep quiet for now, not really easy to bring something like this up. But I will take into consideration all you've mentioned and will see if there's an appropriate time in the future to speak up about this.
Thanks!
It is not your place to raise the issue. Your Line Manager should have have picked up on this, and addressed it with the employee concerned.
Seems to me that the real issue here is not one of the employee taking a possible liberty.......rather, that you have an incompetent Line Manager.
Frank.
www.line-managemt-solutions.com
Hi Frank,
Thanks for your reply. To be honest, I don't think my line manager has noticed, and the reason is he starts late and finishes late. So by the time he gets into the office, the rest of the team are already here, so he wouldn't have known...
Hello Chuichi,
Even though he comes late, it is the responsibility of the Line Manager to check the work and working hours of his respective team members ......
You are completing the work assigned to her....Isn't it? If yes, once talk with your line manager or project manager about this otherwise it is better to keep quiet!!
Hi Ruby,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, in fact I have already had a chat with my LM and informed him of what I know. He also said he's noticed that whenever she works from home (she has the flexibility of working from home 2 days a week) she's not very responsive, so he plans to have a review with HR. I don't know if he's really going to do that, and when... and if so, what will the outcome be? Perhaps the outcome is that she's not allowed to work from home anymore, but that she will carry on continuing on her short hours each day? I don't know... but it really bothers me... There's 3 of us on the team at the same level, and she's the one taking all the advantage, doing the least work, and working the least hours, while the other team member and I pick up the majority of work... it's really unfair!
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