Flexible working question

onlyroz

Zazen999 wrote: »

Would they though - keep out of mummy's way for a few hours? For the same few hours each and every working day?

That's the way it's worked since just before my son turned three.

jackomdj

You must be very lucky with your children if they stay out of your way for a few hours!

I will sometime work from home if the children are ill or on school holidays I do a report which takes a few hours, but luckily most of that report is automated & does not matter if I get asked for a drink, something to eat, help wiping a bum etc.

Having said all that I think you could fit it in if you were prepared to be flexible. Are there things you could do whilst they are up that don't require so mush concentration and things you could do once they are in bed?

The other option is to ask to reduce your hours. I do 2 days a week, 7:45 till 5:00 with 30mins lunch. I drop my 5 year old daughter off to a friend to walk her to school in the mornings & she goes to the after school club in the evening. This works well for us, however it does mean having a lot less pay!

HTH

mummy_Jay

Have you spoken to your direct boss regarding this, see if you can come to arrange between you. It couldn't hurt to ask.

Sarahlou_2

My little boy is 5 and I went from 35 hours to 22 hours in September. Yes it meant less pay, but it also meant that we weren't paying ridiculous childminder fees for before and afterschool. I think it works out that we are something like £10 a week worse off.

I used to work at home Tues afternoons, pick my son up at 3.15pm and it was hard to get much work done. Mainly because I felt guilty because, to me, it should be time spent together - not everyone's opinion I know.

So now I work 9.45am-2.15pm and three long days during school holidays, but as I get 22 days A/L I manage to cover the majority of holidays with that, (except summer.....)

Yes we have had to make slight cut backs but I just love the time we get together...and of course it's not long before all the after school activities will start and he will need taking here, there and everywhere lol! :shocked:

Good luck with what you decide x

galvanizersbaby

jackomdj wrote: »

You must be very lucky with your children if they stay out of your way for a few hours!

I will sometime work from home if the children are ill or on school holidays I do a report which takes a few hours, but luckily most of that report is automated & does not matter if I get asked for a drink, something to eat, help wiping a bum etc.

Having said all that I think you could fit it in if you were prepared to be flexible. Are there things you could do whilst they are up that don't require so mush concentration and things you could do once they are in bed?

The other option is to ask to reduce your hours. I do 2 days a week, 7:45 till 5:00 with 30mins lunch. I drop my 5 year old daughter off to a friend to walk her to school in the mornings & she goes to the after school club in the evening. This works well for us, however it does mean having a lot less pay!

HTH

To be fair I think it probably works better with some children than others and I would think the younger the child the more difficult - but then again they we are all different.

I only tend to work from home occasionally when one of the kids is ill and home from school or if there is a snow day for example - mainly because I prefer being in the office and they are usually at school all day.

DS is 7 and DD 6 so they could amuse themselves while I'm working - and are trusted to help themselves to most things.

My colleague says she hates working from home because she can't keep motivated and focus (she has no children) so she doesn't do it very often so isn't really suited to it - some people are just better at organising and structuring their day I guess

Doozergirl

Zazen999 wrote: »

Cheap shot??? Oh my! It's called 'context'.

Flipping reality on it's head and suggesting that putting my children in completely alien environment and expecting a mother to manage two hours work in two hours of time is the same as putting a grown woman at home with her children, flexible hours and some work to do is taking it entirely out of context. Yes, a cheap shot because it bears absolutely no resemblance to my reality or that of the OP.

Perhaps, if you are so eager to profess how much you know about and what vast experience of home working and H&S, then perhaps you could be motivated to try and offer some constructive advice on the OP? Which did ask a specific question about H&S and home working - your area of expertise no less...

onlyroz

Yes, I would very much like to know if it is actually illegal to work with a child in the house, as HR seemed to be suggesting. I've tried doing some googling but haven't come up with anything definitive yet.

As to those suggesting that I reduce my hours - I really don't want to do that. I'm a young (ish) woman at the beginning of my career, and I'm the highest earner in the household. If somebody was to reduce their hours then it would be my husband - it's something that we've considered but I'd rather that we didn't have to do that until my youngest is at school and we're no longer paying nursery fees.

I also agree that home working is not for everybody, and it wouldn't be possible with some children - however I think that's mainly a discipline issue. I think it's good to teach a child to be able to entertain themselves independently for short periods, just as long as they know they can get their one-to-one time later at another time of the day.

Sarahlou_2

onlyroz wrote: »

Yes, I would very much like to know if it is actually illegal to work with a child in the house, as HR seemed to be suggesting. I've tried doing some googling but haven't come up with anything definitive yet.

As to those suggesting that I reduce my hours - I really don't want to do that. I'm a young (ish) woman at the beginning of my career, and I'm the highest earner in the household. If somebody was to reduce their hours then it would be my husband - it's something that we've considered but I'd rather that we didn't have to do that until my youngest is at school and we're no longer paying nursery fees.

I also agree that home working is not for everybody, and it wouldn't be possible with some children - however I think that's mainly a discipline issue. I think it's good to teach a child to be able to entertain themselves independently for short periods, just as long as they know they can get their one-to-one time later at another time of the day.

I guess it depends how you look at it really....I like to think I am a youngish woman (29 - i better bloody had be!!!) with a degree and also had a good job -I have stayed with the same company and know that I can pick things back up on a full time basis once DS is older - would that be an option?

My company's view was that my knowledge of the area I work in is beneficial therefore it's better to have me part time than not at all.

Obviously I know all companies aren't the same and its a bit dog eat dog in some sectors

I wouldn't say my child is not disciplined, he most certainly is, but I couldn't expect him to sit there for 3 hours and not interrupt me at some point (3 hours being my situation, may not be yours ).

Not sure about the HR thing to be honest...I know i had to have a risk assesment in my work space though (my lounge :rotfl:)

Your time with your LO's is so precious, I really hope work will come to some arrangement with you. Best of luck x

Pee

Just one thought - if the current arrangement does not form part of your contract - try ringing ACAS, they can be great - could you employ a teenager to "babysit"? If you know someone who could do with a little pocket money and could supervise your son to a certain level, this might worK?

Kay_Peel

10 hours is a heck of a lot of time to squeeze into your schedule. In your position, my options would be:

1. Reduce the number of hours worked and take the reduction in pay.

2. Increase the number of hours worked to around 32 hours - it will be much easier to find 4 extra hours than 10. This would need more flexibility from DH's employer or the payment of a child-minder, but at least most of my time would be your own.

3. Work full time. Save the nursery fees and engage a childminder who can do the school run as well as looking after my daughter. This would be a good option to cover school holidays and unforseen illnesses.

4. See if my DH could work less hours and, possibly, continue working on the Helpdesk from home?

It's very difficult to juggle - particularly since you have a lot of travel that eats into your time and leaves little room for unexpected crises.

Just as an aside, I've been a manager that has had to work with mothers and fathers to arrive at flexible working hours. By good fortune, a few cases have been been with couples who work in the same organisation but different parts of it, 24/7. I used to get frustrated when 'my' employee (usually a woman) took the brunt, made all the concessions and negotiations, ran around like a blue-bottomed fly, while hubby didn't even raise the issue with his manager. (His job was too important to mess around with or some such nonsense).

Many's the time I've rang up the other manager to ask why they were doing sweet F.A. to assist the couple only to find that they were more than willing to be flexible. When I've raised this with 'my' employee, she has usually said that she doesn't want that sort of flexibility, she wants to spend more time with her baby.

'Well work less hours then!' I say.
'But we need the money', she replies
'Then be more flexible and work together,' I say
'But I don't want my DH to do the childcare'.
And we go around in circles.

Women, eh? :rotfl: