Flexible working question

Pee

I'm struggling to think of any job that you could do properly whilst watching a four year old...

onlyroz

Pee wrote: »

I'm struggling to think of any job that you could do properly whilst watching a four year old...

I'm a software engineer - perhaps I should tell the company that any work submitted after 4pm was actually written by my son :rotfl:

Lilacblue

Blimey onlyroz, you can't start getting up at 6.15 in the morning to start work...it'll kill you!

You aren't a 'bad parent' if you allow your son some down-time after school, we all do it. But ultimately he's still there with you and you are being responsible for him at the same time as being paid to work - the two just don't fit well together.

What does your partner say about all this - has he got any ideas (or any job flexibility)?

Lilacblue

Meant to say as well...I understand that HR won't let you work at weekends but what about evenings?

onlyroz

I don't mind working some evenings, but I don't want to commit to working every evening, or to say that I'll *always* be working between (e.g.) 8-10 pm. That's also the time that I like to spend watching a film or tv with hubby, or reading etc. I think my brain is more likely to be in a "work" mode in the mornings, anyway.

My husband's response was to look for another job. He's also commented on how it's unfair that the company has been asking us to work unpaid overtime at the moment (we've got a big deadline looming that we've been perpetually pushing back for the last few years) - but at the same time I've just been told by HR that I can't work weekends. So if we're not allowed to work at the weekend when are we meant to do this overtime?

onlyroz

Lilacblue wrote: »

Blimey onlyroz, you can't start getting up at 6.15 in the morning to start work...it'll kill you!

My brother works in a factory that opens at 5 AM. Now *that* would kill me :eek:

Atelier

Is your current working pattern a contractual one (from a previous flexible working application maybe)? If so then such changes are permanent contractual changes and should only be changed/amended by mutual agreement.

Depending upon your job then the arguement that the company is a monday - friday one may or may not be valid. If you are sat at home doing paperwork / a task with no other person involved then you can argue that the company's standard hours do not restrict when it can be done. However if you have a lot of communications going on with someone else then it is harder to argue the case.

HTH

onlyroz wrote: »

I have just had a meeting with HR about my flexible working arrangement. Essentially, I have to do 36.25 hours a week. On Mon-Wed I work in the office from 9:45-14:15 (total 13.5 hours with no lunch breaks). On Thurs-Fri I work in the office from 9:45-17:00 (total 12.5 hours including an hour a day lunch break). This leaves me with 10.25 hours to make up at home at some point during the week.

On Mon-Wed I pick up my son from school at 15:10, and my husband arrives back from work at around 18:30. So ideally I would like to be able to do my 10.25 hours of home working during this time. The trouble is that HR won't let me, citing "health and safety" reasons - because I would be combining working and childcare, and this apparently isn't allowed. They also say that I can't work at weekends, because the company is a Mon-Fri company and so employees are expected to do their work between Mon-Fri.

Is this correct? Can the company forbid me from working when I'm at home alone with my child? If this is the case then my only options are to either get up early and work in the mornings, or work in the evenings (which does not leave me with much time to spend with my husband).

Any thoughts?

Rachel85

I don't have children yet, but already worry about how I'd manage childcare if I do, so I appreciate that it must be really difficult to juggle. However, I don't think your employer is being unreasonable here. Many employers wouldn't entertain the idea of homeworking at all so the fact that they're letting you do it, albeit with strings attached, is a bonus. They also appear to be letting you arrange your working day when you are in the office around your childcare committments. Again, many employers wouldn't entertain the idea of an employee not arriving at work until nearly 10am and leaving not long after 2pm, so they have been pretty flexible.

Like a few other posters, I don't think you really can combine childcare and work at the same time as both require your full attention and your childcare committments will always (and should always) come first. There are some good suggestions here. If you say that your son spends 4-6pm watching the tv and playing games (and I certainly don't think that makes you a bad mother!), then an after school club (is there one at a nearby school he could go to) or a childminder could be a good option. Often they will have a tv for kids to watch and games consoles as well as other activities for them to choose from if they wish. Alternatively you could make use of a breakfast club (again if another local school offers one, I know that round here the schools join forces for these things) or a childminder, allowing you to get to work much earlier. I know it is extra expense, but it would allow you to be sure your children were well cared for. If it wouldn't be worht it financially could you consider dropping your hours? If not, could you do 2 or 3 long days and then another 2 or 3 shorter 9:45-14:15 days to do 36.5 hours in the office, making use of childcare?

You say you have a daughter too, just out of interest what does she do after you pick her up from nursery? You must be superwoman to fit in 3-4 hours work after school make tea and look after 2 kids. You could sell your secret, make a fortune and never have to work again.

It might help to see this from your employers point of view. I appreciate that it does sound as thought they're not being particularly reasonable in other aspects of your work however what they will see is this; You don't want to drop any hours but you don't want to be in the office full time, you don't want to come in any earlier than 9:45 due to needing to drop your children off, three days a week you want to leave at 2:15 to pick them up. You can't work as soon as you get home as you have childcare committments (in their eyes) and you don't want to committ to working in the evenings as you (quite justifiably I might add!) want to watch tv, films, etc. I know this is putting it very bluntly and there's a lot more to it than that, but this is what they'll see.

I really hope you find a solution that both you and your employer are happy with and that works well for your children, who are the most important thing.

Bennifred

Is it worth actually reducing your working hours so that you need to work fewer hours from home - at least while your children are so young? Of course, I realise that may not be an option........

esmy

I've been lucky enough to have had flexible working arrangements for nearly 20 years but I've had to put some very clear boundaries between work and home - the two together never worked for me when kids were young.
Do you have to be in the office each day or could you work a whole day at home to save travel time? 30 minute lunches? As others have suggested use some part time childcare to give you extra time at one end or other of the day?
Fitting full time hours around small children's schedules is very hard. I found that dropping a few hours was the best solution for me and the income loss was worth it for not worrying about the kids when I was at work and vice versa. School holidays are another problem altogether - you need to plan for these well in advance.
I really hope you can negotiate something workable for you.