First off, I love my job. I am very lucky to have found myself in this position, and my supervisors and coworkers are amazing, smart, and compassionate. I have only been working here for 90 days part-time, but just started full-time with salary last week. I work for a small company with less than 20 employees total. The environment is a fast-paced laboratory setting specializing in a high-throughput and quick-turnaround service.
I work alongside up to 6 other lab staff. This month, two employees (my superiors) are on extended vacations but are still available remotely. Last week, one full-timer was on vacation. This brings us down to maximum 4 staff for the first week of the month, including me. 2 of these employees are part time (2-3 days a week) which has left the majority work to myself with the help of one other coworker. My coworker (who mainly works on special projects and does not typically work in my department) has been playing a supportive role in helping me complete the main work, but he is not trained in 75% of the work that I do, so he can only help so much. Therefore, the majority of the work falls on me to complete, individually. I have been taking on the work of 5 people, all by myself.
This upcoming week, one of our part timers is out sick, the full-timer that was supposed to come back from vacation is now quarantining, and my supporting coworker that was helping me last week is now going on vacation as well. This leaves me and one part-timer who, to put it gently, isn’t much help as they are not trained in my department either. I will now be taking on the entirety (more than 90%) of the work, ALL BY MYSELF. A workload that was still heavy for 6 staff, rests entirely on my shoulders. I am physically running around and constantly multi-tasking.
I am single-handedly keeping this company afloat while my coworkers are gone, and I am feeling slightly under-appreciated for it. Yes, they are cheering me on from afar and praising my hard work and commitment, but that does not help me at the end of the day. Due to the entirely of the workload falling upon me, there is no time for breaks or lunch (although I don’t take one anyways), and I am quickly burning out. (Did I mention I am also working at my internship every day after work? 8-10 hours of work, and 2-3 hours of internship after.) The toll is both physical and mental.
I feel that I should be earning more for taking on more work due to my coworkers being gone, but I’m not sure what to ask for. I have also quickly excelled in my position, learning much more and much quicker than my supervisors probably thought I would, and I feel I deserve a raise based on that alone. These conditions, although temporary, are not what I signed up for. On top of that, I am proving to be a huge asset to the company. If I got sick too they would be SOL. What is the correct way to go about bringing this issue up to my supervisors? I don’t want to come across as entitled or whiny; I want to come across as grateful yet that I know my worth. Any advice is appreciated!