Meeting outside work hours

sangie595

DontBringBertie wrote: »

This happened a lot in my previous job. One of the employees with a child decided she needed to do 7am - 3pm every day. Which meant every meeting which ended after 3pm, or required travel to another office (both were fairly regular occurrences) had to be covered by another one of our team. Even if they had weeks of notice.

If this "happened a lot" then it wasn't one off or occasional. In which case the employer, having agreed that someone works 7am - 3pm, should organise their regular meetings at a different time. Totally different situation.

Takeaway_Addict

prowla wrote: »

Most companies allow remote access to meetings, via Skype, Zoom, GoToMeeting, etc.

No they don't, a minority of companies do.

DontBringBertie

Except they weren’t ‘regular internal meetings’ they were external supplier meetings when you often have to work around them or have to fit a whole day’s worth of meetings.

And it wasn’t formally agreed that she would work 7-3. She just gradually got earlier and earlier after starting 9-5.

So you’re suggestion is to ring up the 10 suppliers who would be attending and say “sorry - can we not do this meeting as one of our staff has to leave at 2pm to drive home?”

nicechap

DontBringBertie wrote: »

Except they weren’t ‘regular internal meetings’ they were external supplier meetings when you often have to work around them or have to fit a whole day’s worth of meetings.

And it wasn’t formally agreed that she would work 7-3. She just gradually got earlier and earlier after starting 9-5.

So you’re suggestion is to ring up the 10 suppliers who would be attending and say “sorry - can we not do this meeting as one of our staff has to leave at 2pm to drive home?”

That sounds like poor management rather than someone's enforcing their entitlement.

sangie595

DontBringBertie wrote: »

Except they weren’t ‘regular internal meetings’ they were external supplier meetings when you often have to work around them or have to fit a whole day’s worth of meetings.

And it wasn’t formally agreed that she would work 7-3. She just gradually got earlier and earlier after starting 9-5.

So you’re suggestion is to ring up the 10 suppliers who would be attending and say “sorry - can we not do this meeting as one of our staff has to leave at 2pm to drive home?”

(A) that wasn't what you originally said
(B) I never mentioned whether they were internal or not
(C) if the employer allows something, then they have agreed it. Just like if employees allow something (legal), they have agreed it! So she didn't just decide anything- the employer allowed it and that means they agreed it.
(D) I didn't suggest anything except that if the employer allowed someone to work those hours, which they did, then it is up to the employer to manage regular meeting around the hours or accept that person won't be at the meetings. And I'm not "suggesting" that - it's simply a fact.
(E) since this person's absence had to be covered by another member of the team, and this happened regularly, the it doesn't seem to have been a problem!

Having childcare responsibilities does not make someone a burden unless the employer makes it that way.

silvercar

By asking for childcare payment, your wife has acknowledged that it is possible for her to attend. Non attendance wouldn't look good as management now know she is able to attend. If she wasn't willing to pay for childcare it would have been better to say she can't arrange things to get in that early.

sangie595

silvercar wrote: »

By asking for childcare payment, your wife has acknowledged that it is possible for her to attend. Non attendance wouldn't look good as management now know she is able to attend. If she wasn't willing to pay for childcare it would have been better to say she can't arrange things to get in that early.

Whilst I think this is all a red herring on the situation she's in, I don't agree. Asking for the payment of childcare says nothing other than "i could make the time if I have childcare but I can't afford it". The employer knows nothing about their financial situation and whether they have the money to pay for the childcare - and it's none of the employers business. However, that said, she needs to go in for the meeting. Whether the employer can or will pay for it is a separate matter.

Spidernick

Les79 wrote: »

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.

I agree with this entirely and have to say that I find the lack of pragmatism shown by many people these days rather worrying. Entrenched positions help no one, yet seem to be the norm in many instances (most notably when it comes to Brexit and Trump).

Smodlet

I find it amazing that, in this age of zero hours contracts and no-one having any employment rights unless they have at least 2 years' service, that anyone thinks they can take such risks with their employment unless they own the company. If someone is unable to afford an hour or two of unforeseen childcare costs, I'm guessing they don't own the company. Sure, there will be exceptions.

In principle I don't think people lower than management level should have to attend unpaid meetings, especially given no notice (I have had to, for 2 hours+ on more than one occasion) In practice, how sensible is it to refuse if you want to keep your job?

sangie595

Smodlet wrote: »

I find it amazing that, in this age of zero hours contracts and no-one having any employment rights unless they have at least 2 years' service, that anyone thinks they can take such risks with their employment unless they own the company. If someone is unable to afford an hour or two of unforeseen childcare costs, I'm guessing they don't own the company. Sure, there will be exceptions.

In principle I don't think people lower than management level should have to attend unpaid meetings, especially given no notice (I have had to, for 2 hours+ on more than one occasion) In practice, how sensible is it to refuse if you want to keep your job?

In principle this makes sense. Unfortunately, in the real world, for various reasons people do not always have spare money. What they "ought" to have doesn't matter. We don't know what the family income or circumstances are - two wage earners on minimum wages in London, for example, doesn't leave a lot of capacity for "spare money". Equally, in a society that encourages over extending loans and credit, perhaps they genuinely can't afford any unforeseen bills. I know people on good salaries who can't afford an unforeseen bill. It astonishes me because I was brought up with "can't afford, can't have" - but it's worryingly common!