Company not dealing with workplace stress

[Jaguar99]

This year I have seen a huge increase in my workload. All my work goes through a ticketing system so I can clearly see the difference year on year (an 80% increase in tickets)

I raised this by email with my boss in March and June and then verbally a couple of weeks ago. I have made it clear to him that I am struggling and that this can’t continue. After each of the emails we had a meeting where he said he would help manage expectations and timeframes with people in the company to help reduce the pressure. He did nothing. After verbally raising with him a couple of weeks ago he just walked away

Anyway, this week is the culmination and rollout of a huge project so the workload has increased yet again. With this the pressure and the stress reached a new peak but I was just about coping.

Then yesterday without warning I get asked into the boss’s office where him and HR were waiting for me. I got told off about my attitude and that I needed to try harder. I reiterated what I had already said to the boss about workload and stress and was just told again about my attitude. They said that I am “a nice guy” and “very capable” but that my attitude has changed for the worse in recent months.

While I know my outlook and mood has changed this year as the stress has increased, I did try and explain which way this was going more than once but no action was taken to alleviate this. With this meeting I felt very ambushed. They were clearly prepared but I wasn’t. They said it was an “informal conversation”. They made some suggestion that things may change or I may get help (as in an assistant) but as they didn’t follow through from previous discussions this year I have no faith they will now.

They didn’t help by choosing to have this “conversation” during the busiest week of the year so far

I am not sure which way to go with this now. At first I was stunned that I was being told off for being affected by the stress I had told them about. 24 hours later and I am just angry. My choices as I see them:

- Talk to HR without the boss present and make sure they fully understand my position and the warnings I tried to give them
- Get legal advice as all just this feels wrong to me and/or raise a grievance
- Do what my gut is currently telling me and just walk now

[bennno]

Get signed off my doctor for stress. Give note to work, take time off and repeat until you feel better.

Then take legal advice.

That’s assuming you are >2 years continuous employment with this company.

[craigjm]

Don’t go off with stress that is not going to help you. You need to raise a formal grievance against your line manager for not acting upon your previous action. It is not necessary in employment law for your grievance to be written. The conversation you had previous is enough and there is case law to back this up such as Shergold vs Fieldway medical centre 2006. The employer has failed in their duty of care to provide a reasonable working environment after you raised it so your now written grievance should suggest that the first stage of the procedure has already not been handled correctly

[bennno]

craigjm said:

Don’t go off with stress that is not going to help you. You need to raise a formal grievance against your line manager for not acting upon your previous action. It is not necessary in employment law for your grievance to be written. The conversation you had previous is enough and there is case law to back this up such as Shergold vs Fieldway medical centre 2006. The employer has failed in their duty of care to provide a reasonable working environment after you raised it so your now written grievance should suggest that the first stage of the procedure has already not been handled correctly

You are encouraging him to raise a grievance for stress being caused by workload and the company not acting upon his previous action. But then suggesting to get signed off with demonstrable stress would not help?

If he has genuine stress then absolutely getting signed off first and then (if advised) submitting a grievance will either force the company to take it seriously or will help with any resultant settlement.

[DanL]

Find another job would be my advice. It’s quite reasonable to say “why should I have to?”, but the company have demonstrated that they aren’t going to do anything to change. It’s going to be easier to find another job - the alternative is that the stress continues, and you’re (probably) put on some sort of performance improvement plan.

[vaud]

Look for another job. IT is red hot as a market at the moment and there are decent employers out there.

[Mack11]

Are you expected to complete the 80% increase in the same time frame, or are you just complaining that there is now more tickets. I only ask this as I have managed people who get extremely stressed when the amount of work they are assigned is higher than they are used to, even when I explain that they are not expected to do more than they can reasonably do in the working hours.

I would follow up in writing to your line manager, offer some ideas which you feel would help your contentment in the workplace and ask if there is anything "the company" can offer to alleviate your stress, also add if he feels you are not doing anything that you should be doing.

The more reasonable you are, the better your case if the worst happens, also it helps build a picture that the only thing that has changed is an unreasonable workload.

Either way, good luck.

[craigjm]

bennno said:

You are encouraging him to raise a grievance for stress being caused by workload and the company not acting upon his previous action. But then suggesting to get signed off with demonstrable stress would not help?

If he has genuine stress then absolutely getting signed off first and then (if advised) submitting a grievance will either force the company to take it seriously or will help with any resultant settlement.

He says he is just about coping. You should only go and get signed off if you are not coping. The situation is not a game, you don’t get points for being signed off. It will not change any potential resultant settlement. To get the best settlement, if indeed that is the goal here, you have to show that you have followed company procedure. Getting signed off with stress when he is “just about coping” is gaming the situation. He is in a far stronger position, whatever the outcome is that he wants here, if he starts the formal process without going off sick first. I am not saying he should never go off sick, I didn’t say that.

[essayer]

vaud said:

Look for another job. IT is red hot as a market at the moment and there are decent employers out there.

this

[AndyAudi]

Best of luck, follow up with HR on the assistant, that sounds positive as it should reduce your workload & it demonstrates they see the role as being too much for one.

Use the fact they have spoken to you to your advantage to come back & ask stuff.

[grumbledoak]

vaud said:

Look for another job. IT is red hot as a market at the moment and there are decent employers out there.

^^^ That. You are not in a position to change the company. Find another one.

[craigjm]

grumbledoak said:

vaud said:

Look for another job. IT is red hot as a market at the moment and there are decent employers out there.

^^^ That. You are not in a position to change the company. Find another one.

There is some merit to that of course but if everyone in a poor situation just left then all that really happens is that the crap is left for the next guy and the next. If you end up in a “poor employer” most of the reason is that stuff is never tackled. Companies don’t set out to be bad employers they become them because of poor communication created by people just leaving the problem. Lots of companies don’t measure their attrition rate or do exit interviews or anything else so the culture persists .

[dontlookdown]

+1 for getting another job. The stress of doing that is going to be as nothing compared to the stress of trying to get your current employer to change their approach to your issue.

Put simply, they will not change. They have probably already started to manage you out by involving HR. Find an employer who has a better attitude to people, they do exist.

Good luck.

[Jaguar99]

Mack11 said:

Are you expected to complete the 80% increase in the same time frame, or are you just complaining that there is now more tickets. I only ask this as I have managed people who get extremely stressed when the amount of work they are assigned is higher than they are used to, even when I explain that they are not expected to do more than they can reasonably do in the working hours..

That’s a very good point.

My boss hasn’t suggested as such that I should get the tickets done in the same timeframe but the expectation of those raising the tickets is that they will be. When I push back to these people or their ticket goes outside their expected timeframe they escalate to my boss who tells me it is unacceptable for someone to have a problem that is stopping them from working or that is hindering business functions when the only reason their problem is outstanding is because I haven’t been able to get to it yet

I wrote an SLA to help manage expectation and my boss said he would publish and support this but he hasn’t

[vaud]

craigjm said:

There is some merit to that of course but if everyone in a poor situation just left then all that really happens is that the crap is left for the next guy and the next. If you end up in a “poor employer” most of the reason is that stuff is never tackled. Companies don’t set out to be bad employers they become them because of poor communication created by people just leaving the problem. Lots of companies don’t measure their attrition rate or do exit interviews or anything else so the culture persists .

Ideally the employer would change.

Practically and for the sake of mental health another job is probably better, followed by a review on glassdoor if they are on there.

[anonymous-user]

essayer said:

vaud said:

Look for another job. IT is red hot as a market at the moment and there are decent employers out there.

this

Definitely. Poor leadership to blame you instead of addressing the problem. Your boss is a spineless worm and doesn’t want to make a fuss. Keep your trap shut to appease your boss, do your best but don’t kill yourself trying so hard. This isn’t your fault. In the background, look for another job. Good luck.

[Teddy Lop]

craigjm said:

There is some merit to that of course but if everyone in a poor situation just left then all that really happens is that the crap is left for the next guy and the next. If you end up in a “poor employer” most of the reason is that stuff is never tackled. Companies don’t set out to be bad employers they become them because of poor communication created by people just leaving the problem. Lots of companies don’t measure their attrition rate or do exit interviews or anything else so the culture persists .

That's a highly optimistic view of how things work out in the corporate world.

OP +1 for the walk

[Jaguar99]

dontlookdown said:

+1 for getting another job. The stress of doing that is going to be as nothing compared to the stress of trying to get your current employer to change their approach to your issue.

Put simply, they will not change. They have probably already started to manage you out by involving HR. Find an employer who has a better attitude to people, they do exist.

Good luck.

Interesting that the replies and suggestions are quite polarised on the best next step as that at least means that being torn between the options is not a ridiculous place to be

I have considered going off sick (either self cert or via my GP) but it didn’t feel like I was quite there - well not until I got ambushed this week - and I am concerned that a grievance would just be more stress

Has anyone had any experience of these employment lawyers who say they give 30 mins free advice or whether this is just the marketing ploy it looks like?

Increasingly, I am thinking that finding somewhere better to work is the way to go. It’s a shame after nearly ten years at the company but it’s really a change of management in the last 2-3 years that has changed things

As others have said, the market is pretty good…

[Marcellus]

Isn't part of the issue your own good performance and that you're contradicting yourself?

On one hand you're saying "this is too much for one person" whilst managing to complete what you're given thus proving it's not too much for one person!

Perhaps you should prove it's too much for one person.

Also might be worth thinking about other than "reduce my workload" what you can do to reduce your stress whilst at work and help you distress when out of work.

[Mack11]

Jaguar99 said:

That’s a very good point.

My boss hasn’t suggested as such that I should get the tickets done in the same timeframe but the expectation of those raising the tickets is that they will be. When I push back to these people or their ticket goes outside their expected timeframe they escalate to my boss who tells me it is unacceptable for someone to have a problem that is stopping them from working or that is hindering business functions when the only reason their problem is outstanding is because I haven’t been able to get to it yet

I wrote an SLA to help manage expectation and my boss said he would publish and support this but he hasn’t

Aaah.. we are all guilty on that one "why is my Laptop not working, I am important". I think it is a combination of your manager not being very good/pandering to senior people at your expense and you overthinking every complaint/managing your excessive workload.

If you are unhappy, look for a new job as the current line manager is unlikely to change.