Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before you go

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I have a specific number of items of administration that I need to have done every month. I am taking 2 weeks annual leave next month and have been advised that I have to have the work done before I go. So, for example I have 400 admin pieces to do each month, average 100 per week. In the weeks before I go on my annual leave I will need to find somewhere to fit in the 200 items I would be doing if I was there.
This will involve me working over time at a massive rate the week or so before I go. if I don't get it done in time it will be there when I return and will involve over time then so I am stuck either way.
Surely if I were able to do 300 items in one week it would show my employer that I should be able to do more each week normally? How on Earth do they expect it to be done?
I thought paid annual leave was supposed to be just that...leave. Not, work overtime and get ahead of yourself and then take a week off.

They could have someone take on my work while I am gone but they won't. Any advice as to how to deal with this. Should I just work all the hours God sends and get ahead and then enjoy my time off in peace?
Is there any way of approaching an employer with the unfairness of it? I know there are 2 out of the 3 others in the same position as me who think it unfair also. Not sure about the other person as i don't see her.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

How big is the organisation you work for?

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

What happens if you are out sick? This sounds crazy.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

About 6 small offices. Total of about 50 employees. 5 in this office. We're always short staffed in relation to the work we have to do.
If I am out sick my work sits on my desk until I return.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

ailbhe said:

About 6 small offices. Total of about 50 employees. 5 in this office. We're always short staffed in relation to the work we have to do.
If I am out sick my work sits on my desk until I return.

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That's the way it works in most small private sector companies. Tough but that's real life for most people in private sector SME land.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

Maybe it is but my point is that it isn't really paid annual leave as such, it is more like time in lieu.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

ailbhe said:

Maybe it is but my point is that it isn't really paid annual leave as such, it is more like time in lieu.

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You are probably correct but that's the way it is for most people. I do think that your day to day work should be covered but anything that can wait for your return will generally be left for you. I know that I always return to a mountain of work and I get calls and emails while I am on holidays.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

The thing is that by law (regulation) my work has to be done by a certain date so there is nothing that can be left without falling behind and then basically breaking the law.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

They can't force you to work overtime. In reality most people end up working a few extra hours before and after annual leave to make sure things are covered but being expected to do the full amount of work before you go is ridiculous.

I would sit down with your manager and explain that you will do your best to fit as much as you can into your normal working day but that you will not be working overtime to compensate for your annual leave and will complete the rest of the work on your return. Have you asked if you can do a handover to someone else before you go on leave?

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

No handover.There is nobody to hand over to. Literally my desk will be untouched for the time I am away. When I sent notice of my annual leave I recieved an email from HR saying "thats fine. Just make sure that your work is up to date before you leave".
I have spoken to my manager about this but alas we are all in the same boat as when someone else in the office is out we are not given cover and post/customer queries etc are all left on the long finger due to how busy it is. They won't have time to do my work.
If I don't work over time and don't get it done then it will be there when I get back and I will get a big lecture about being behind schedule.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

ailbhe said:

I recieved an email from HR saying "thats fine. Just make sure that your work is up to date before you leave".

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That's a tough situation to be in. If the email actually said "up to date" then that is not the same as "make sure your work is 2 weeks ahead before you leave".
I work in a small office and day to day stuff is done while I'm gone but big or difficult stuff is left for me.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

will you be paid for the overtime you`re going to have to put in to get this workload completed before you take your holidays?

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

shootingstar said:

will you be paid for the overtime you`re going to have to put in to get this workload completed before you take your holidays?

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Nope. We are on salary so hours worked are irrelevant.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

I work in the public sector, you know the place where we supposedly do little for huge wages, if you were to read some posts on AAM, and basically I am the only person in my area who looks after what I know as a fact would be looked after by at least two others if it were in industry.My job is done in the private sector and I have colleagues there. Needless, to say having done this for years, I have got good at prioritising and accept that unless I work day and night certain things are not done as I would ideally like.
However , for years , I have worked late, brought paperwork home and try to maximise work before taking holidays. I still dread going back to work and it usually takes me at least a week to catch up.
However, at one stage I was so overwhelmed that I just couldn't study , work and look after home ; the course, I was doing being necessary to my job. and paid for by my employer. Incidentally, on said course I was entitled to travel and subsistence, but I never claimed same as the paperwork involved in getting the money back would have endangered my mental health!!
I decided to ask for unpaid leave of absence for three months to complete the course......nuts I know but the possibility of failing was humiliating.Anyway to cut a long story short, I got the leave but was informed that certain parts of my job that would occur during my leave had to be done prior to my departure.I ended up working late every night for four weeks and working at high speed . Yes , I left the place in great order and spend two weeks recovering on my unpaid leave.However once I was back, I had a hard look at what had happened,now I have a more even work life balance and if sometime work demanded is too much, I inform my superiors in writing that whilst I will endeavour to do the requisite tasks, the possibility of not completing them exists. Once they know its their problem.
Moral of the story is that if you are too efficient, no matter where you are, your workload can become too much and the truth is if you were dead tomorrow, they'd manage!!!!

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

By the way , I am at home writing this as access to internet at work is not allowed save for a few designated areas, and ability to make personal calls in monitored.But the pension is great!!!1

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

ailbhe said:

The thing is that by law (regulation) my work has to be done by a certain date so there is nothing that can be left without falling behind and then basically breaking the law.

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That isn't your problem. If your employer isn't getting the work done, then they're breaking the law, not you.

Incidentally this type of problem is, in my experience, widespread (not just in the private sector, nor in SMEs) and is mainly due to over-zealous State regulations and lack of flexibility in relation to deadlines.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

I work in a small office and usually am left a nice pile of paperwork when I take annual leave. In Jan, I went off for six weeks to Australia(fair play to them for letting me go) but was dreading coming back to a load of paperwork. Moaned about what I would come back to for a fair bit before I went. Anyway, January is a quiet enough time for us, so was delighted to come back to practically nothing. One of the Directors and one of the admin. staff did what they could out of my folder when they were quiet. There was a few things left that they could not do, fair enough, and a few things they did that I wish they did not(still sorting them out) but for the main part was delighted.

I often find coming back to that type of thing takes the good out of going on hols. I kind of just expect it now as part of the downside of working in a small company, but the rest of the perks here balance it out.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

In my last job I had to have certain items done for the 5th day of the month and certain items done for the 10th to email up to head office. (Couldn't be done in advance as figures etc oinly came available a day or two beforehand) Used be more flexibility but in my last couple of years there the dates were set in stone. I was the only one could do the work as they wouldn't employ anyone else to be back up. Meant planning holidays etc around these dates. There was absolutely no leeway. When I missed one in February due to a family bereavement it was brought up quite strongly in October in a review from Head Office that I hadn't got the info to them in time one month. When I said I had a family funeral they said I should have got someone else to do it. I said to stop a reoccurence could we employ someone who not only could act as backup for me but also for my colleagues who were under similar deadlines. I was told no - there was a recruitment freeze on!!! I left soon after largely due to this attitude.

I spoke last week with the guy who took over from me and he was under pressure to meet the deadlines - something I'd forgotten all about. He had a very bad stomach flu but had dragged himself into work as the deadline had to be met.

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

What's stomach flu?

Re: Can you be made to do the work you would be doing while on annual leave before yo

I can look at this from 2 sides of the fence

As a manager, the employer here is being incompetent, simple as that. It is dangerous to have a single point of failure, as in this case. It's in the employers best interest to actually train people up to cover for absences. After all, what happens if the OP gets hit by a bus on the way home, who'll do the job the next day. Accept it is not always possible to have someone trained 100% but some degree of cover should be in place. Certainly if I was the OPs bosses boss, I'd not be impressed by her manager

However, should someone clear their desk before the go on leave, most definatley and if that includes, as far as possible, clearing diarised tasks scheduled to occour whilst the leave is on, I'd expect most of it done and a controlled handover to whoever is covering