Advice for if you are falling behind

The following is an excerpt from my local's flyer about what you should do if you are overwhelmed at work with your job duties. Considering the nature of this blog, I thought I'd repost it here for the viewing of all. For those of you who are shop stewards, please add comments, even if you disagree, clarifying the finer points of staying out of trouble--

What do you do when your employer, either by "reorganizing" your work place or simply by not hiring enough coworkers, gives you more work than you can accomplish? How should you act to protect yourself?

1.) Follow the plan at your work site- The union can protect you from getting into trouble for falling behind, as I will explain below, but we cannot protect you from getting in trouble for refusing to do what you are supposed to do. Just because you disagree with your orders, it does not mean that you can decline to follow them.

2.) Realize that you are not responsible for the entire system- You do not have to stress yourself out, work unpaid overtime, take work home, or hurt yourself in any way. You owe your employer 40 hours of solid effort each week; no more, no less.

3.) You have the contractual right to two 15 min breaks per day- If you are not getting the chance to take a breather, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, then the union can represent you and make sure that you do. Asking employee's to skip breaks is a serious violation of our contract. Speak to a shop steward or contact the union field office if this is happening to you.

4.) Use email to tell your supervisor why you do not have enough time to complete all your assignments- Most employee's who are falling behind are scared to admit it, when really the opposite strategy best protects you from discipline. There are two reasons for this. First, you are less likely to be disciplined if you are a good employee, and good employees give feedback. Secondly, we want to be able to challenge any discipline later taken against you by pointing out that you had already determined that there was a problem and asked for help. By using email, you automatically make a record of your request.

5.) Use email to ask for help in prioritizing what work you should do first- Just like with #4 above, this protects you by making a record of your request for the guidance necessary to avoid problems. You deserve a good answer from your management on this point, since it should be part of their planning anyway.

6.) Get representation if your management wants to meet with you about falling behind- Chances are that if your have followed #1 through #5 this will not happen, but if it does, then you have a right to representation. Your right to representation in a meeting with your management starts when you feel that you may be the subject of discipline in the future. They cannot deny you this representation, and they must take reasonable steps to work out scheduling conflicts with shop stewards. Once again, use email to make a record of your request for time to contact a shop steward, and then contact your local field office and ask for help.