Assumed role of manager

Hi all,

I was assistant manager in a small company for 2 years and was due to go on maternity leave last year. The week I was due to leave the manager resigned. The company is not doing so well financially and so she was not to be replaced. so off I went on maternity only to return as what looks like manager with all the stresses and strains that go along with this position but with none of the pay! My problem is that I am not coping very well. I am under huge stress going back to work anyway as I really do not want to be there but now I have the added stress of being manager and doing this at reduced hours.

If the role of manager had come up I would not have gone for it as I am just trying to keep going as it is and trying to get used to being a working mum. My question is, is my role of assistant manager deemed reduntant now and so would I be able to apply for voluntary redundancy? I am back 2 months now.

I hope this post makes sense. I am in a blind panic and work is all i can think about. My home life is suffering greatly

Hi narky

It's a very tough world out there. The company isn't doing very well. Everyone is going to have work harder. They can't make allowances for you because you are a mother.

You should bring it up with your boss though and tell them that you are unable to cope. They might come up with some other arrangement.

Brendan

I know Brendan and feel ridiculous for even going on about it. Its just I wanted to know the legality of just assuming the role of manager with no contract to say this. And where would I stand on the voluntary redundancy front if the job of assistant manager doesn't exist anymore. I loathe to use the excuse of being a mother as I feel like so many other people go through it but it just is really getting to me.

Brendan Burgess said:

You should bring it up with your boss though and tell them that you are unable to cope.

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I agree with the first bit, and not the second bit - well, not in the blunt way that Brendan has put it. You should certainly have a discussion with your employer, but be very careful about what you say and how you say it.

Try to come up with solutions, rather than just raising the problem. Have you any suggestions as to how the manager's role can be filled? Are the parts of the role that you can take on, if some of the other parts (the ones that you are struggling with) go elsewhere. You could find yourself on a better package to reflect your increased responsibilities. Or you could find yourself out the door with statutory redundancy.

Tread carefully.

I agree.

You need to talk to your boss about the workload but don't look for sympathy because you have a child. Be prepared before the meeting. Be factual and look like you are trying to help. Arrive with some potential solutions, not just a problem, as complainer has said.

In answer to your other question, I don't think you have a case for demanding redundancy because job titles and responsibilities have been changed and they have work for you to do.

huskerdu said:

In answer to your other question, I don't think you have a case for demanding redundancy because job titles and responsibilities have been changed and they have work for you to do.

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I disagree with this... but I wouldn't recommend going to war about it!

It seems that the assisant manager postition has been made redundant. It's the position that's redundant, not the person. There used to be a manager and an assisant. Now there's only a manager. So the assisant is redundant. As the OP is the assisant then she is redundant, and her employer is trying to force her to take on the managers role.


Now, while the OP should make very effort to accommadate her boss , she should also have the right to either continue to work under the old arrangement, or be made redundant.

It seems to me to be pretty clear the the assisant manager position is now redundant. Can't the OP force redundancy in this case?


(I want to be clear, .. in this climate I think the OP should try her hardest to accomadate her boss, .. but if the workload is too much, and the new conditions too onerous then it's hardly fair on her, so in fairness she should also be offered redundancy if that's what's happened)

I agree with Complainer.
Talk to your boss but do so in the context of the impact on the business because you cannot get through the workload.
Suggesting where some of your roles or duties could be placed with other people in the company and why it would be a good fit. Offer to be the person that organises and supervises the new division of labour.
Don’t talk about how you feel (for god sake don’t use the phrase “I feel” to preface a comment) and don’t talk about personal stress levels; you shouldn’t bring your home life into work or your work life home.

I also agree with posters (an your own comments) that you being a parent is irrelevant.

Narky, you were an Assistant Manager before your maternity leave. In the normal course of things you would hope to one day assume to be Manager. But, you go on maternity leave and then return and find yourself in the role as Manager. You don't want to be where you are.

You are not doing working mothers any favours with your negative comments. [You are probably surprised to hear this from me i.e one who supported staff against management in other threads].

My advice is to grasp your role as Manager. Work through the situation. I hope your company situation improves and perhaps then you can negotiate some kind of pay increase or even shorter working hours or even working from home.

I know that I am oversimplifying your situation. But, the alternative is to leave and take your chances elsewhere. However, your financial situation probably dictates that you must work.

Think back to the late 60s when females had to resign their jobs on marriage or soon after. You are not the first to be in this situation and you wont be the last.

(Please, I dont mean anything offensive and before anybody says it, I could write this post into the ground also). I know of some working mothers in their late 50s who would scoff at your dilemma, they themselves having been in your situation.

Thanks for all the replies. I have now sorted it all. I have finally learned to say no making my life much easier and my job much more manageable.

Leper I really did not intend to drag women back into the 60s. But I did state that I/ME/MYSELF could not cope not that mothers could not. It could easily have been a man writing this post about assuming a post! In fact most of the reason that I could not cope at the time was because I was trying to be super woman and was afraid that if I said I couldn't take on the mountainous workload then it was because I was letting all working mothers down...this was to my detriment as now that I've had time to reassess everything I realise it had absolutely nothing to do with being a working mother but in fact my boss admitted that I was expected to do 2 peoples job on a part time basis that in fact NO PERSON could do. I was blaming the fact that I was preoccupied with baby etc but now I know that this was not the case. I could actually write about this all day so I'll sign off now but thank you to all who took time out.

Hi Narky,
I'm glad it's sorted out now.
You could have become burnt out without being a parent, just from working + commuting long hours, bringing complaint cases back home to work on in the evenings and at the weekend, and not sleeping enough. It's happened to me in the past, and I had the same problem as you: I was doing a manager's job, but did not have a manager's salary, nor did I even have 'manager' in my job title. I did up to 35 hours unpaid overtime a week (i.e. 70 hours over 6 days), and there was 1 instance when I worked 70 hours (6 days a week) for 5 weeks running. No bonus, nothing.
In the end, I was part of a wave of redundancies when the company's owners saw they were going to lose their contracts... I went on an IT course for 6 weeks, then took a 3-month holiday, sailing, riding, and trekking, before starting to hunt for a new job!
I do admire you for juggling work and a family. It's a good example for your child, I hope (s)he takes after you when (s)he gets older and wish you every success in your career!