My work just keeps pissing me off more and more.

[gina8177]

Just found out this morning that this busy season we HAVE to work a minimum of 10 hours a day everyday no matter what. With commute and taking no breaks that means best case scenario I leave the house at 6:50 and get back at 7:15. More realistically I won't be home until after 8pm.

In past years "the expectation" was 10 hour days but you had to work a minimum of 8 now they are forcing 2 hours every day on us.

I'm not a slacker but I beleive in shorter days when you aren't as busy and long days when they are needed and have no issue with that.

This is ridiculous. I am going to have to talk to HR as there is no way I am going to be able to pull those hours for 4 months straight while pregnant.

If I didn't need 5 more months of work I would leave now but I need those months so I officially qualify as a CA before mat leave. But I guarantee I will take my mat leave and not come back.

All this does is make me want to do a really sh*tty job for the next 6 months until mat leave. Unfortunately I know that I won't be able to do that cause I'll feel bad.

 

[holywoodmum]

hope you get somesense ouyt of hr when you talkj to tem sorry dd helping me type!

 

[mrsbeanbump]

Good luck Gina! I sometimes have to work long hours but never 4 months in a row!! Good luck with HR hopefully you can negotiate some shorter hours!

 

[Mrs A]

You really shouldnt need to negotiate! by law they cant make you work more than 8 hours a day (without overtime) and you dont HAVE to work any overtime so theyre talking pants xxx

 

[nada87]

what kind of job do you work that has a 4 mo busy season? and hr should definatly do something becuz it's not healthy for you to be stressing about your job. i think about quitting all the time too, it's what gets me thru every shift. i didn't work when pg with ds and i hated it then but now i can't remember why i hated it. in fact i would cherish it now.
holywoodmum- my 3 yr old dd "helps" me type all the time

 

[gina8177]

You really shouldnt need to negotiate! by law they cant make you work more than 8 hours a day (without overtime) and you dont HAVE to work any overtime so theyre talking pants xxx

Unfortunately they can. CA's and CA students are exempt from the charter of rights so they can make us work long hours and not give us overtime.

Add that to the list of things I didn't know going into this, lol!

 

[gina8177]

what kind of job do you work that has a 4 mo busy season? and hr should definatly do something becuz it's not healthy for you to be stressing about your job. i think about quitting all the time too, it's what gets me thru every shift. i didn't work when pg with ds and i hated it then but now i can't remember why i hated it. in fact i would cherish it now.
holywoodmum- my 3 yr old dd "helps" me type all the time

I love when kids "help" type!

I'm an accountant and our busy season is generally Jan - April. I've emailed a couple of people at work who have been pregnant in the past year or so to see if they can chat with me to give me an idea of how flexible work was to their needs.

I googled (I know, bad idea) what research shows the effects of excessive work hours are on pregnancy and after reading that I will be definitely telling HR that I will not work longer days when not justified. When justified, I have no issue.

 

[1babygirl1987]

what is a CA? sorry to be silly? i dont think i could do what you are doing, i get tired as it is and only attend university lectures a couple of times a week.....take my hat off to you and hope your boss listens to you, i would put my foot down, or they will walk all over you x

 

[gina8177]

CA = chartered accountant. I'm at the end of my stint of working like a mad man though... I keep reminding myself it's only 6 more months and I have no plan on going back. I'm hoping to work a little from home and be a stay at home mom, maybe teach part time. It'll be a pay cut but worth it. To be honest my quality of work has suffered a lot since I got pregnant, I slightly feel bad but what can you do.

 

[Jasa1911]

Do they know you are pregnant? If hey do, they should do a risk assesment and that should include hours if you feel that you are putting yours or baby's health at risk?

Say that you dont mind doing it the days that you really need to, but can they offer some leway?
Maybe? Hope you get it sorted hun xxx

 

[kelly2903]

good luck with hr hun xxx

 

[Bexbex999]

They cant legally make you work more that 48 hours a week unless you have opted out of the working time regulations. It may be worth looking into.

 

[Bexbex999]

That info may be totally useless if you arent in the uk. Sorry, I have a bad habit of presuming everyone is from Britain-sorry!

 

[gina8177]

Do they know you are pregnant? If hey do, they should do a risk assesment and that should include hours if you feel that you are putting yours or baby's health at risk?

Say that you dont mind doing it the days that you really need to, but can they offer some leway?
Maybe? Hope you get it sorted hun xxx

Some of my direct managers know I'm pregnant and gossip goes round my work like mad, but I haven't officially told HR.

After talking to my co-worker I think I'll do my official HR announcement and talk to them about it. I think that they can't discriminate against me if I can't work extra hours because I'm pregnant and thus can't fire me... I'm hoping all will go well if I talk to them, but we'll have to see. They've been pretty jerky this year.

 

[gina8177]

I feel much better right now. I just had "coffee" with a work collegue who is pregnant for the first time and who's first pregnancy had the same due date as me, so she was at the same stage during busy season as I'll be.

What I got from her is that I should meet with all my managers and tell them up front that I am pregnant and will not be able to pull consistent long days during busy season. She said I'll get a lot of lip service saying they'll support me but the trick is to simply stand up to them during busy season as they'll try to pressure me anyways. She was able to pull it off. It affected her year end rating but we both were like who cares.

So as long as I'm strong I should be able to work a more balanced schedule. I'm going to schedule meetings with all my managers next week after talking about it with my coach tomorrow. And darn it if I am not going to be a total biatch about the whole thing.

It was great talking to someone who knows how I feel. Pregnancy and kids (for females) at my firm is a rarity.

 

[Kacie]

CA = chartered accountant. I'm at the end of my stint of working like a mad man though... I keep reminding myself it's only 6 more months and I have no plan on going back. I'm hoping to work a little from home and be a stay at home mom, maybe teach part time. It'll be a pay cut but worth it. To be honest my quality of work has suffered a lot since I got pregnant, I slightly feel bad but what can you do.

I don't know how you do it when pregnant... my numerical skills have all but disappeared now I'm pregnant and I can barely count!

Can you get anything from your doctor to back up your claim for less hours? it will be even worse for your work if you have to take weeks of sick leave because they have worked you to exhaustion. Or maybe you could work a couple of days a week at home to save the commute?

I hope they can be flexible for you. At least you can count down to the days when you can finally leave. I can't wait for that day to come.

xxx

 

[katy1310]

I feel much better right now. I just had "coffee" with a work collegue who is pregnant for the first time and who's first pregnancy had the same due date as me, so she was at the same stage during busy season as I'll be.

What I got from her is that I should meet with all my managers and tell them up front that I am pregnant and will not be able to pull consistent long days during busy season. She said I'll get a lot of lip service saying they'll support me but the trick is to simply stand up to them during busy season as they'll try to pressure me anyways. She was able to pull it off. It affected her year end rating but we both were like who cares.

So as long as I'm strong I should be able to work a more balanced schedule. I'm going to schedule meetings with all my managers next week after talking about it with my coach tomorrow. And darn it if I am not going to be a total biatch about the whole thing.

It was great talking to someone who knows how I feel. Pregnancy and kids (for females) at my firm is a rarity.

I'm glad you feel a bit happier. I work as a receptionist for a firm of accountants and everyone always dreads January. We are always told nobody is allowed any time off in January but so far they've not said that we HAVE to put in x amount of hours. Everyone worked late last year right through January, think it was just expected but unsaid....so I'm hoping this year that I can get away without it! As I said, I'm on reception, but I do all the admin work as well and I remember January being really really busy even for me!! Hope you manage to get things working out the way you need.

xx

 

[gina8177]

CA = chartered accountant. I'm at the end of my stint of working like a mad man though... I keep reminding myself it's only 6 more months and I have no plan on going back. I'm hoping to work a little from home and be a stay at home mom, maybe teach part time. It'll be a pay cut but worth it. To be honest my quality of work has suffered a lot since I got pregnant, I slightly feel bad but what can you do.

I don't know how you do it when pregnant... my numerical skills have all but disappeared now I'm pregnant and I can barely count!

Can you get anything from your doctor to back up your claim for less hours? it will be even worse for your work if you have to take weeks of sick leave because they have worked you to exhaustion. Or maybe you could work a couple of days a week at home to save the commute?

I hope they can be flexible for you. At least you can count down to the days when you can finally leave. I can't wait for that day to come.

xxx

I've totally gone stupid!!! You cannot even imagine the mistakes I make and the things I miss. It's a good thing that there is a couple level of reviews above me. Yesterday I couldn't spell Melissa or surprise for the life of me, I had to ask my junior who is working with me right now. My productivity has dropped a lot, which has gotten worse the more pissed off I get.

I sent an email to my coach last night informing her of my plan to approach my managers, letting them know I'm pregnant and how it will affect my work load. She sent me back a reply saying she didn't understand what I meant by workload... cause I won't be able to work less hours. That totally pissed me off again, like I'm going to work myself to the bone and jepordize mine and my baby's health for a company who really couldn't care less. It totally messed up my sleep, I was up at 4:30 and now I'm super cranky and emotional.

I'm going to meet with a pregnant manager at work (right now we have 2 pregnant audit staff, which is breaking a record, well 3 if you include me). I'm starting to feel silly stressing cause I know its no good and then I stress about stressing, lol.