To think I can WFH 9-5 in the holidays with my kids at home

If you worked where I work then you would have to sign to say that you weren’t looking after children while working - if they found out you were looking after your children then your employment would be terminated

You aren’t being paid to look after your children

The fact that parents working from home is being discussed in Parliament because of the absenteeism it is causing in schools, is a red flag to parents who think they can combine working from home and childcare.
Parents who discuss it on MN must be aware that these kind of threads are monitored by outside agencies. As long as parents insisting on their human right to work from home realise the effects this can have on all areas of society, including recruitment of key workers.

There's a reason why it is called working from home and not childcare from home. For older children we would permit it occasionally in an emergency. For younger children you must take time off paid or unpaid. What you are proposing would, at best, you moved to full time office working; it could be a disciplinary or dismissal. That's in the "cushy" public sector.

But the people to ask are not randoms on the internet. You ask your employer. Because we can't dismiss you for it but they can! If you daren't ask your employer, that's because you already know the answer.

And the recent discussion in Parliament about records of absenteeism amongst school kids are at a record high because most parents 'work from home' on a Friday so treat it as an extra weekend day and keep their kids at home.

Pupils missing school on Fridays as parents are at home, MPs told www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-64875643

As a counteract to the posts demanding that women have the right to work from home take a look at this current thread
www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4765923-the-future-of-schools-with-no-teachers-kids-in-a-hall-on-screens?page=6&reply=124755125

Why would anyone choose to be a nurse or teacher when so many women appear to be able to work from home, nip out to take the dog for a walk or to collect kids from home? Recruitment levels for teachers are at an all time low and the OP (not me ) is concerned that the Govt is pouring money into online learning.
Surely what is sauce for the goose etc? You cannot campaign for a law to insist all women have the right to work from home (hybrid or otherwise) and not expect it to affect other sectors

And that’s a shame because surely not all your staff take the mickey, and not all of them have young children?

That’s how I read the original post originally. It makes a difference, two days and two weeks.

The comments on here make me want to get my staff back in the office full time.....

Roll eyes or not, they’re absolutely correct.
If I found my employees were spending paid time entertaining their kids, they’d be back in the office the following Monday

I expect your employees would fuck off and get themselves another job with a boss who does understand flexible working and doesn't try to treat them like children.

Oooh you're loving that little power trip.

just because they're home, it doesn't mean she's entertaining them FGS

@lazycats

Thankfully I work for a company that's treats me like an adult who can manage their own workf load and I don't need monitoring tools to prove how much I'm doing. I have objectives set out each year and if i didn't deliver those it would be obvious I was slacking, no need for Spy ware!

I have regular meetings during the week and daily catch up with the team, they know I'm there working.

The minute you start intense monitoring staff is when they will only work to rule and you lose all respect

If you can't trust your employees to work from home then you shouldn't have employed them

The trick to improve systems that don't allow mickey-taking. If you can't tell how productive someone WFH is being - ie they don't have quantifiable workloads that need to be done by specific deadlines - you probably don't have a good business model, and presenteeism won't change that.

Some of these respones are hilarious! You've really upset some people OP 😂 2 days wfh with the kids who you've said are perfectly capable of occupying themselves (mine wouldn't be at age 8, 8 and 10 but every child is obviously different) is perfectly fine, I'm assuming everyone else thought you were implying 2 weeks not 2 days!

It depends on sector I suppose and how valuable your skills are. As many employers begin heading back into the office remote or even hybrid roles become more competitive. Personally I'm all for flexibility and for those who find it preferable wfh should be kept, but there is more trust involved and some people do take the mick.

all these people saying they’d dictate to their staff they must be in an office etc are the kinds of people/companies I’d never work for because I like to work for companies that see their staff as actual people not robots

Yes. No doubt they will start struggling to recruit.

Yup, all my work is on laptop and commuting was pointless. Going all that way wasting money, being unhealthy just to work on a laptop.

Working flexibility 100%, best thing to come out of covid.

Definitely. I don’t have children but hybrid has been a game changer, I would have gone part time otherwise, the commute was a real pain

Yes! I often see comments on here how if you're WFH you are not to be disturbed or expected to do a thing, you must be glued to your screen for every minute of your working day. In reality, most people at my large corporate come and go picking up kids and taking walks etc. No.one bats an eye as our outputs are met 💁

Exactly, what I’ve been saying!

At 6 and 9 I think it's fine. They are not babies and don't need supervising. They can play on their own and watch TV with you working. If they were younger I'd say no way! My mum used to work from home during the school holidays (this was in the 80s so literally just paperwork as no internet) and we would just watch telly and play in the garden.

Problem asking that question here op is a lot of mumsnet don’t seem to get that some companies are flexible and so long as you get your work done they don’t mind what your day looks like

all these people saying they’d dictate to their staff they must be in an office etc are the kinds of people/companies I’d never work for because I like to work for companies that see their staff as actual people not robots 🙄

Nothing less than £50 a day where I live. Per child.