My job description is, more or less, “process all the papers that end up on my desk, and attend all meetings concerning these papers”. I am personally responsible for the paper pile my supervisor gives me. Also, I have no working hours, but a monthly salary and an expectation that I don't blow any deadlines. My immediate supervisor supervises three offices, in which there are approximately 5 of my clones and two assisting office workers.
The assisting office workers can see everyone's paperwork, but we experts cannot see but our own, until they are in the company outbox. So, we have no idea what the others are working with. And, according to our schedules we have 2 of these obligatory meetings in a week, in average. And sometimes someone gets sick and cannot attend.
Whenever someone is absent, they inform the supervisor who then arranges a substitute. In the olden days (before the latest merger) we had on-call weeks, so we knew that any fires appearing on our week would be ours to put out. Now, not so much. The supervisor likes to think he's nice and kind and considerate, so he wants to micromanage who gets how much to work with. So whenever someone needs covering, he calls around suitable people to ask if they can take the meeting. Often this is, of course, last minute, causing stress and a need to work while sick (in case something needs adjusting last minute but you don't know whether someone is on the case already).
In the latest office meeting my co-worker suggested an on-call system. She's the one who holds up 1/3 of the office singlehandedly, because everyone else is either her junior, already burned out or working to rule, and with constant interruptions and extra last minute assignments she is going to burn out soon. I vocally agreed with her. Everyone else kept out of it.
Today the supervisor chewed her publicly out for stepping on his toes, apparently. HE does NOT need a simpler, automated system. HE DOES KNOW what he's doing, apparently. And he wants to be able to avoid burdening those who are in risk of burning out!
… apart from this specific co-worker, apparently.
Oh well. The manure will surely hit all the fans when she burns out.