Can't take any more!

[motorollin]

The company I work for was recently taken over. Prior to the takeover, a few members of the team I work in resigned. My new employers will not recruit replacements, so our team has shrunk from 8 to 4 people.

Effectively, our workload has doubled. We just can't keep up with the work coming in, and we're getting it in the neck from all directions. Our customers are unhappy because stuff is broken and we don't have time to fix it. Our managers are unhappy because we are failing to meet our targets. And somehow, this is our fault :roll:

Yesterday I was so stressed due to all of this that I was physically sick twice.

Their "solution" is to get temporary contractors in to "help" us. But they are more of a hinderance since they don't know anything about our bespoke apps, infrastructure, or even where the customers are in the building. By the time we have explained to them how to fix a problem we could have done it ourselves.

Add to this the fact that our pay review recently was pathetic. It barely outstripped inflation and no way reflected our increased workload.

Sorry to moan. But my employers are a bunch of c***s. It seems clear to me that they are trying to get rid of us by getting us to resign. But surely they can't treat us like this?

--
moto

[Agafaster]

what you wanna do is go see your doctor. get yerself signed off sick for stress.
either that, or meet with the managers and explain in no uncertain terms your feelings. you have to stand up for yourself sometimes !

[meega]

That first part of Agafaster's reply seems especially relevant, to me. Do you have a good GP? Three or four weeks of "enforced rest" will allow you to recharge, and give your employer cause for thought.

[motorollin]

Problem is that if I get signed off for stress then it fks things up for everyone else, who will then have to pick up my workload. I know I need to think about myself if it's making me (physically) ill, but the people I work with are my friends. I couldn't in good conscience do that to them :-(

--
moto

[meega]

You have to think of yourself first, moto.

[motorollin]

Maybe you're right. I'll think about seeing my doctor, and in the mean time I'll pray for redundancy.

--
moto

[meega]

 :-)

[odin]

Isn't this what unions are for? And what would your company have to gain by getting you four fired? Wouldn't they have to invent the entire department from scratch?

[motorollin]

We do not have a union. I suspect the company which took us over already has staff who can do our job so we are now surplus to requirements. And it is better for them to "encourage" us to resign than to pay redundancy to get rid of us.

--
moto

[PMC]

Moto - I can relate to this, my old employer did nothing to support me but kept piling on the workload, expecting me to work a 60 hour week and NOT mess up under any circumstances.  When the inevitible happened I was hauled over the coals.

The reason your team is shrinking is to save someone money, pure and simple.  If your manager can turn round to the MD and say "I've reduced costs and maintained the output" then he/she will follow that up with a "how about a juicy bonus for me?" request.  

As regards the company taking over, they have an obligation under Transfer of Undertakings legislation to continue your employment under the same terms and conditions as you were originally engaged to take on.  Any change to these terms MUST be subject to due consultation process.

My advice to you is to contact your local citizen's advice bureau and make enquires about employment tribunals.  The very threat of this is usually enough to snap any employer into line.

Don't what ever you do give in or back down.  Good luck

[motorollin]

Sorry to hear you have also experienced this. Rubbish innit :-(

I heard today that my higher management have noticed that our output has dropped and are considering outsourcing our department. Hopefully that means redundancy.

Unfortunately I think they have met the TUPE requirements as my pay and benefits package has remained unchanged.

I hear what you're saying about not giving up. Sadly my manager (who  was put in place by the company which took us over ) is not doing very much to resolve my issues. So I expect the problem will just continue until I leave in September to start Uni.

Before I leave I intent to take a backup of the database application I wrote for them (much of which was done in my own time, and was not part of my job description), and then destroy any copy left in the company.

--
moto

[Van_M]

Before I leave I intent to take a backup of the database application I wrote for them (much of which was done in my own time, and was not part of my job description), and then destroy any copy left in the company.

I don't think that it would be a very good idea. They could drag you to court claiming that you "Vandalized" their property. I don't know what sort of project management and quality assurance steps your employer company follows, but it would be hard for you to prove that the parts of code and/or executables you destroyed, belonged to you and not your employer.
 I used to think like that sometime ago. Then I thought, this kind of "revenge" won't make my life any better.
Currently I am working for a small (well, tiny) software business which has delussions of grandeur, while lacks ANY kind of direction and the management has complete lack of knowledge (but of course they think they know everythink). I'm gonna keep on building my vb.net and C# skills and after the summer I'm gonna quit.  ;-)

[motorollin]

Van_M wrote:
I don't think that it would be a very good idea. They could drag you to court claiming that you "Vandalized" their property.

They would have to prove it.

Van_M wrote:
I don't know what sort of project management and quality assurance steps your employer company follows, but it would be hard for you to prove that the parts of code and/or executables you destroyed, belonged to you and not your employer.

Well, the app is a web-based asset register written in PHP/MySQL. It is running on a computer under my desk. There is no way for them to prove the code belongs to them.
--
moto

[PMC]

motorollin wrote:

Unfortunately I think they have met the TUPE requirements as my pay and benefits package has remained unchanged.

moto

Tupe doesn't just mean the pay and benefits package, it also refers to the working conditions also and the law has recently been changed to further workers rights.  

Have a quick flick through the regs (Warning, 41 page PDF!)

http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file20761.pdf

I wouldn't do anything silly with the database as it'll make you look bad if anything goes toes up.  Your contract of employment may by default contain a clause defaulting ownership of any intellectual property to your employer.  

If you manager stands to be made redundant then chances are he/she has accepted their fate and won't fight.  If they've made a deal behind the scenes to be moved to other projects then you've got a problem as part of their remit may well to be to ease the exit of the staff they don't want.  

If you resign, you're excluding yourself from any redundancy offer so try not to lose your rag.  Watch your back in case they try and pull a phoney disciplinary (that one happened to me once too), but to be brutal, the longer you hang on the more they have to pay to get rid of you.

[CannonFodder]

Agafaster wrote:
what you wanna do is go see your doctor. get yerself signed off sick for stress.
either that, or meet with the managers and explain in no uncertain terms your feelings. you have to stand up for yourself sometimes !

Yes, definitely.  Make sure it says "work induced/related stress" on your sick note mind.

Also go to see a union and get some advice from them about your legal rights as an employee.