Current Events > Poll: should I take a personal day from work tomorrow?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So lately it's been really rough where I work, at least by my perception.
A little background: I work at a call center for some car dealerships and due to staffing issues, I've been overworked and really stressed. How it works, in brief, is my team is supposed to have six members in order to balance the amount of vehicle inquiries we receive from all the dealerships we work with/for. This ensures all members of the team aren't getting so many leads that they can't keep up or so few that they can't make enough commission. But a little while ago, one of our team members quit to move on to a better job, his replacement quit because the schedule was "interfering with his wrestling league", another team member quit because she got a work from home job that suited her better since she was pregnant, her replacement didn't even make it through training before walking out on one of her shifts and not coming back with no explanation (which was weird because she was a recommended hire due to being the sister of an employee on our service team so you'd think our own employee would have faith in her own family and not give us a garbage hire) and one more team member is still employed, but hardly shows up for work due to a mysterious medical condition that keeps him bedridden for days, even weeks on end. He missed almost all of December, only showing up maybe five days out of the month. Because of this, I and our remaining team members have been getting overwhelmed with doing the work of six when we're only three. Not only that, a manager quit out of nowhere, so one of my team members has been filling in for some manager duties and when he does that, he's not on leads due to having to do those aforementioned manager duties. There have been several days where I get too many leads and ended up staying late to finish all my work so I don't fall further behind. With how many new leads I get, I find it more and more difficult to keep up with the ones I already have. Like, I'm so busy calling the ones I get fresh that I don't get to call the ones I already have more than once and my work queue is completely out of control. This is made worse sometimes when I'm scheduled to work a Saturday, of which there are only two people per team scheduled that day, and that sick guy calls off leaving me to field all the leads that come in when it's supposed to be split. There's also supposed to be three people Monday morning to field all the leads that come in Saturday evening all the way through to Monday morning when we're closed, but it's only been two people due to not enough staff and they won't schedule the sick guy because they know he's not reliable, leaving us to keep doing it every week even though you're supposed to switch off (open one Monday, not the next Monday, then open the Monday after that, then not the next Monday, rinse and repeat). Pretty much since Christmas they've been scheduling me to open almost every Monday since then. And then there's the random stuff that makes it harder. For example, we only have one shift on Friday since we close early so it's all hands on deck at the same time rather than in shifts so the leads are spread out. Unfortunately, this past Friday the one girl was scheduled off because she worked yesterday, the sick guy called off, the guy who does manager things was moved to Saturday and nobody told me he'd be off on Friday, and the new recruit we're training wasn't on leads because someone didn't set his settings right nor did they notice until it was too late in the day leaving me to get all the leads myself again. I've just about had it with this overwork and reliance on only a few people to do the job of six. My morale is low and I'm not putting any effort into my work because it feels so pointless, like I'm not getting anywhere. I'm not even doing what they need me to do properly because I'm so burnt out and bitter that these problems keep multiplying and compounding. That's why I was thinking of using one of my sick days tomorrow to take a personal day and try and recharge more. I open tomorrow and I just don't want more leads until I've sifted through the ones I have. I must have over 600 tasks in my queue by now. Not all of them are equal, but they're still there.

On the other hand, I always feel guilty when taking off, even when I'm legitimately ill or something because that means more work for my fellow teammates and it's just not good work ethic. I would become the very thing I hate and put pressure on those that come in. Also, I'd use a sick day and I only get a few of those a year and I already used a couple to do things like enroll in a research study and I've been called for jury duty, which they legally have to let me off for, but not pay me so they'll just use one of my sick days automatically. I don't think I'm in danger of being fired as they can't afford to fire me with such low staff, but it's more about the precedent that sets and the consequences for others. I want to help and support the team, but I feel like my proverbial back is breaking under the pressure in which case I'll be useless either way. It's a real moral dilemma.

TL;DR I'm overworked and want another day to recharge, but I feel bad when I take off for any reason and would be contributing to the very problem that caused me to be overworked in the first place. Let me know your thoughts, CE!!

If you feel like you need the day you should take the day off. Though I got fired for taking off too many days so what do I know?

Without even reading all that, yes, yes you should.

Personal days are meant to be used however you want.

With the O/T you put into typing all that up, yes, you probably could use a rest.

i didn't even read it and i said yes

because fuck work. if you ever think you need a day off, just take the day off and stop making excuses. we're all human. if they don't understand, find some place to work that does.

They will think you are hungover from a Super Bowl party.

Cuticrusader09 posted...

They will think you are hungover from a Super Bowl party.

Probably, but if you have the free time to take off then take it off.

AngelicRadiance posted...

If you feel like you need the day you should take the day off. Though I got fired for taking off too many days so what do I know?

I'm sorry to hear that! That doesn't seem fair... within reason. What happened?

a-c-a-b posted...

Without even reading all that, yes, yes you should.

Personal days are meant to be used however you want.

The thing is they're sick days, not personal days. A personal day would be using a vacation day, but I guess it's not made explicit. As long as I use only one, I don't need to provide proof. If I did it three days in a row, then I would need a doctor's note. But I digress... It is at my discretion and my boss is super lenient when it comes to this so it's not like she'd care all that much.

SiO4 posted...

With the O/T you put into typing all that up, yes, you probably could use a rest.

Is it that obvious? Some of it is just backstory, but yes, a lot of it is my grievances. I guess I wanted to provide as much context as I could and not just "I'm stressed. Should I play hookey?" because that wouldn't have captured the whole situation. I'm normally not this stressed at work and really enjoy my job... when it's balanced. When we had a full team, it was actually quite pleasant and rewarding. Now it's just an endless slog that's draining the life out of me.

Guerrilla Soldier posted...

i didn't even read it and i said yes

because fuck work. if you ever think you need a day off, just take the day off and stop making excuses. we're all human. if they don't understand, find some place to work that does.

Sometimes I think about it and come to the conclusion that I only have this one life to live. I'd rather spend it doing the things I enjoy with the people I love than killing myself working. Once I die, nothing I ever did will matter so it's all inconsequential in the end. Besides, I can't be doing worse than the people who have quit or walked out or the sick guy. I even agree to cover his work if they think he's not gonna come in on a morning he opens so I do plenty to support the team where I can, but they need to understand the cost of sapping my energy like that. I can't burn my candle of life so quickly all the time lest I snuff myself out. If they want me at my best, they need to let me rest.

Cuticrusader09 posted...

They will think you are hungover from a Super Bowl party.

Error1355 posted...

Probably, but if you have the free time to take off then take it off.

They know I'm not into sports. I am, however, watching the Puppy Bowl. But I'm doing that by myself with no alcohol involved. Why bother when I can get drunk on cuteness instead!

Bump.

Final Bump.

Take the day off. Good work ethic does not equal you having to constantly bend over backwards to compensate for a staffing shortage, that's you offering yourself up to be exploited and passively hoping your efforts will be recognized when the majority of the time it won't be.

_Angel_ posted...

Take the day off. Good work ethic does not equal you having to constantly bend over backwards to compensate for a staffing shortage, that's you offering yourself up to be exploited and passively hoping your efforts will be recognized when the majority of the time it won't be.

That seems to be the overwhelming majority, yes. I've made my decision and I'm glad I got some feedback from other people. Now it's time for that much needed respite...

Doesn't seem like just a day will be enough. Should probably just request a few days off in a row instead.

Take the day off

I hope you get the rest you need

SomeLikeItHoth posted...

Doesn't seem like just a day will be enough. Should probably just request a few days off in a row instead.

Wll, unlike you Hoth, some of us have lives and part of that process is going to work to make money for a living. The more I take off, the smaller my paycheck gets. I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand that.

I still think the current Automotive Dealership model of selling cars is dumb.

Cars should be ordered, customized, & configured online; and once the configurator is done and chosen, the customer should come in to validate that they are who they state they are and can pass the credit check and do the paper work for ordering their custom car(s).

There shouldn't be inquiries into cars.

Just have them configure their car online and have no "Haggling".

Dealerships should be converted to receiverships for final pickup.

Dealerships should function as:
Receiverships
Repair/Maintenance centers
Show Rooms for all possible configurations of all car models & their associated accessories.

Tesla proved that the online Pre-ordering & customizing can work, so can every other auto maker go in the same direction.

If you have to ask, the answer is yes.