Meeting outside work hours

P.Hill

My wife has been asked to attend a meeting that falls outside of her normal hours
It happens at a time I will be working away from home for several days
The meeting starts at 8am and is a half hour drive from our house and we have a 5 year old son who attends a local school, however, he can not be dropped off till 8am

My wife has said it is not possible for her to attend the meeting unless she drops off our son at a childminders for which we will incur a cost.

As such she has asked work if they will reimburse the cost of a childminder to which they have told her no and the meeting is mandatory

Her contract states she does not start work till 8:30
I believe she has been reasonable and showed flexibility in offering to attend if they paid the childcare fees but as they have refused I believe my wife is under no obligation to attend outside of her contracted hours

Can somebody confirm if this is correct?.

ReadingTim

Depends if she's paid hourly, or a salary. If the later, whilst her contract will state her usual working hours, there's often a catch all clause relating to working 'additional hours depending on the needs of the business', which will cover situations such as this. Sorry.

Whilst she may feel she has no obligation to attend, they may feel they have no obligation to keep employing her.

jonnygee2

I believe my wife is under no obligation to attend outside of her contracted hours

I think she shouldn't have asked them to pay for the childcare if I'm honest. It possibly made it look like she could attend but was trying to get some money out of it. Just a note for the future, I would avoid making this offer.

I'd strongly recommend an email to the organiser, genuinely apologetic, saying she realises it's important but due to childcare responsibilities she won't be able to make it until 8.30 unless they allow her to dial in (which she could do from her car, I'm guessing). If they respond, however they respond, I'd just keep restating this. I wouldn't start citing contracts or technicalities at this stage, it's never a good look.

I very much doubt they will take it further, and if they do you have the contract to fall back on at that point. She is acting reasonably because she has given the option of dialling in, given notice and is acting inside the terms of her contract.

Masomnia

It depends on a careful reading of her contract. And more broadly her length of service with the company.

I think offering to dial in by phone is a very good idea and she should suggest that.

pinkshoes

As above, offer to dial in via phone, or ask for the meeting to start 30 mins later.

LilElvis

Why not ask if the son can dropped off at a friends house and his parent take them both into school. Most Mums are willing to help out another parent in a fix. I'm on call for the Mums of a couple of my daughter's friends if they get stuck and need help before/after school - and they do the same for ne.

buglawton

A lot depends on how flexible the employer is about things in general. There may have been times when in emergencies the employer was accommodating. My employer is flexible so the employees are too. The phone dial in is a good idea as well but the employer may be a bit too old-hat for that.

Comms69

What’s her role and why is it vital she attend?

Undervalued

jonnygee2 wrote: »

I'd strongly recommend an email to the organiser, genuinely apologetic, saying she realises it's important but due to childcare responsibilities she won't be able to make it until 8.30 unless they allow her to dial in (which she could do from her car, I'm guessing). If they respond, however they respond, I'd just keep restating this. I wouldn't start citing contracts or technicalities at this stage, it's never a good look.

Well I hope they wouldn't allow an employee to take part in a meeting by phone whilst driving!

In event of an accident, even if using a fully hands free setup, it could well be considered a distraction and therefore driving without due care and attention or worse!

Les79

LilElvis wrote: »

Why not ask if the son can dropped off at a friends house and his parent take them both into school. Most Mums are willing to help out another parent in a fix. I'm on call for the Mums of a couple of my daughter's friends if they get stuck and need help before/after school - and they do the same for ne.

Because that's too much common sense!

Another suggestion is to simply pay the childcare bill IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS A GENUINE ONE OFF. Sometimes unexpected bills come up and, in the grand scheme of life, a one-off childcare cost to keep the employer happy/not get their backs up might be a wiser move in the long run. Just have to be sure that you make it explicitly clear that you are being inconvenienced and you won't be able to attend in future.

jonnygee2

Well I hope they wouldn't allow an employee to take part in a meeting by phone whilst driving!

I forgot to state - but felt it kind of implied - that I was assuming the car would be parked!!

Plenty of our sales guys dial into meetings from their cars, none yet from moving vehicles though.