It’s too much – I can’t take it anymore
Working in the health and social services system comes with its share of challenges: the needs are substantial, resources are limited and decision makers are often too remote to understand the impacts of their decisions.
Working under these conditions has an impact on care and services for Quebecers, but also on your physical and mental health. Feeling constantly overwhelmed, out of control or powerless at work isn’t normal.
If you are overloaded, you shouldn’t hesitate to talk about it with your team and your manager. If the situation continues, contact your local union team; it’s there to support you in labour relations.
How does it work?
The process will start off with an exploratory meeting. You will be asked many questions: are you able to take your breaks? are there absences on your team, or recent organizational changes? do you have any solutions to share? etc
Rest assured that you will be able to speak freely, without judgement and in complete confidentiality. The goal is to understand the nature of your work overload and to substantiate your case so that you can better defend it to your manager.
Your local union team will then propose an action plan that it is important to follow (each party must actively collaborate in cases of work overload). Regular follow-ups will be done to check whether the plan is producing the desired results. Union leave is even available if it is needed throughout the process.
A solution for every situation
Among the means available, your local union team will be relying on the Professional Relations and Work Overload Committee set out in the collective agreement. Its role is to discuss employees’ professional practice, conditions of practice and overwork with the employer.
The idea is to get the employer to commit to change that will ensure you have a workload reflecting your needs and limits. If this fails or there is a dispute, other solutions are available, which involve mechanisms in the collective agreement or certain legal provisions.
A different approach
In fact, there are a number of possible solutions to work overload. Adding positions is one, but sometimes it can be just as if not more effective to review the organization of work: using better tools, filling absences on the team, reinforcing clinical support, etc.
Looking at workload in terms of quantity is not enough: we also need to take into account the context of your duties and responsibilities. This is why your managers are misguided in relying solely on quantitative indicators, because they are ignoring much of the complexity of your job.
This is also why, when it comes to work overload, we need to focus on prevention at the organizational level. But this work starts upstream and requires a different approach by all parties. This is why labour relations are important. This is why it’s also important to take steps before things are “broken.”