What should my sister do in this sticky situation at work?

Me, Myself & I: What should my sister do in this sticky situation at work?
My sister works in a small but very busy office. She used to love her job, bosses and coworkers until recently. She has been there for about 12 years. Another coworker was diagnosed with MS. That is very unfortunate however, this person is still coming into work but not performing the job as well. This woman is out sick a lot and even when she does come to work, she is very late (like noon time). The burden of the work is put on the other workers, which they don’t mind doing but now they are all getting stressed out, overtired and run down. The bosses said they don’t have the $ $ in the budget to hire another person to help out so they would just have to deal with it. My sister comes home and cries every night from stress. She (and the others) feel bad for the woman with MS but they all feel they are at a dead end. They don’t want to quit their jobs because it is a good company to work for. Can anyone offer any advice?

Answers and Views:

Answer by 107proof
sounds like she needs to sit down with the boss and voice her concerns, if she doesnt feel right about doing it by herself, have her get together with her co workers to go in and talk to the boss about it. Sounds like something needs to be done, and I am not sure the boss realizes how miserable it is making the employees. But in order for it to improve, they have to let the bosses know how they feel.

Answer by golferwhoworks
tell her to do what she can during the day and leave the work on the office desk. It will get done in time! Don’t take attitudes home that solves nothing

Answer by Jaime F
: Not much can be done, either endure the problem until it wears(?) out, or change your job.

Answer by jedi1medic
the company first of all has to let off and still pay her a big portion of her pay due to the Famliy Medical Leave Act. this is a big thing if dont abide by that. another one, you guys sit down with the boss and talk

Answer by Captain Jack
She needs to just do what she can…and let the bosses stress over the undone work until they make a smart business decision.

No company is worth losing your health over.

Answer by David H
Go sick. Because of the intense stress. That would force the employee to hire more staff. The staff need to stick together. I have great sympathy with the person with the MS though, but by the sounds of it that wont go on too much longer.

Answer by almcneilcan
Yes and you need to correct your explanation. It *WAS* a good place to work. How can it still be a good palce to work when all the workers are stressed out to tears?

Here’s what your sister and her coworkers need to do. They all band together as one, approach management and explain their situation. The workload is too heavy for too long. They understood at first and didn’t mind, but it’s reaching the point it’s affecting their health. As much as they feel for this woman’s plight and how it’s not her fault, the point is, something has to change. I would make sure they finish off pointing out they all enjoyed working there before this situation developed, i.e. it was a good place to work.

What this does is put the ball squarely in management’s court. They cannot single out an individual and dismiss it. It’s their entire workforce. They cannot help but realize something muct be done to correct it or they will start losing employees. If a situation is temporary, it will correct itself over time but this one won’t. Some change must be made and management cannot dismiss it anymore.

Best,
— Liam