Work

You know, work is a funny old place. In the past 4 years I have had 2 managers leave, both grade 7 and they think I can carry off their work load and still remain a lowly grade 5. I now have someone standing in, for the last 6 months he keeps telling me we must go through my HERA form.

HERA is a form we have to fill in, they say it takes 2 days, but it is more like 2 weeks. We fill it in giving examples of the work we do under different headings. Communications, team management etc. It is so complicated that our HR department, unlike other university HR departments, apply what they want. So far my stand in manager has told me: It's not about how many staff you manage, but about the type of work they do. Quite insulting I reckon for a team of excellent telephonists who know everything about every department in the university and are the first port of call for the irate callers who need to fume because another department doesn't do something correctly! HERA guide lines, kindly supplied to me by the union, do not say this at all. Their only comment on managing a team, is that anything over 2 staff is considered a team. Not a thing about the work they don't or do do!

Monthly, I provide a report, that gets presented to the executive group, I don't present it, but I do produce it. I added that to my HERA form, the stand in manager says I have 'Over egged the pudding' because I also have to present this report, BUT, that's not what the HERA guide lines tell me. They say nothing about presenting it........So it seems, the current (temporary) manager wants me to put what he wants rather than what I actually do, because, god forbid, I may get a pay upgrade and he can't have that because telecoms is an easy target to claw money back for the areas they have overspent on. So, because I have told him if it is not included I will no longer do it, he stalls and stalls actually getting around to filling in  the HERA form.

Yesterday, my Dad had a accident with a bus door. Anyone else would get a bruise, but because he has very thin skin, the bus door tore his skin back exposing all the fat and what muscle he has. Understandably, he is in some discomfort and using the arm is difficult for him, so bearing in mind I can take 4 days paid family emergency leave, I phoned my manager to ask if I could work from home for a few days. You'd thinks I'd asked for a years paid leave! I must call him today to see 'how the situation is'. My Dad is almost 89 so doesn't have super human healing powers and until I am sure he can use his arm and has a new dressing to make sure it is healing o.k, how that is going to change?

I despair, perhaps he judges me on what he does when he is 'working from home'. In my case if I don't it will pile up until I am in the office so it doesn't benefit me at all being at home! The only luxury of working from home is I get is to go make up free, which I am finding a chore on a daily basis these days.