To question a colleague's childcare arrangements?

Continue to turn a blind eye, your concern is the output and productivity. Surely maintaining her well-being is equally important as her current arrangement is allowing her to be productive...so allow her to maintain that?

HR Director here. You need to have the conversation. This isn’t okay and if you’ve policies forbidding it then she needs to be made aware of those.

It is absolutely not possible to work productively, look after young children and maintain your well-being all at the same time. You need to discuss this with her and give her a deadline to sort out proper childcare. (Have dealt with this umpteen times since Covid.)

What is your company policy on this? I would imagine there is one. It wouldn't be ok in my company.

If she is doing a good job and getting the work done then I don't understand what the issue is?

You can absolutely speak to her about not having worked her day in the office and set out the expectations.

If the issue is that she is not coming in one day a week as is company policy then that’s the issue you need to raise.

Ohsorry, I see it's against company policy. Then you of course need to talk to her. This isn't about her coming in or not (in my view at least), it's about her looking after young children on your company's time.

However, this is directly against company policy

If it's directly against company policy you need to address it.

I work with a mainly remote team. Company policy is childcare must be in place for working hours, with an obvious exception for emergancies. Secondly where office attendance is in the contract, it must be adhered to.

While I love to provide my team as much flexibility as I can, I cannot contravine company policy, that's detrimental to my own career.

Therefore I would let her know that she must have understood company policy on hiring, and therefore while you understand she may be facing difficulities, she is going to need to come up with a plan to ensure proper childcare is in place going forward, and what is that plan?

Sorry but I think it’s tough shit, she needs to pay for childcare like the rest of us. No one wants to pay it but we do.

No way you’re productive as you should be with them around - is there a risk of errors in her work?

Also if they’re young then it’s not safe for them either as they’re not being properly supervised.

You need to work out what is expected for all employees and make it clear to everyone what that is

Working with the care of young children at the same time is not on

If it’s against policy you need to speak with her, and provide a copy of the policy.

I would agree with her a reasonable timeframe to get childcare in place, and keep a written record of the conversation.

It’s also not good for the children. She cannot work, care for children effectively, and look after her own well-being. At some point something will have to give.

I agrée she needs childcare in place and also needs to come in as per your requirements for all staff.

I assume of her partner works shifts then it's only sometimes that she needs childcare (ie when he is also working) which might be why she doesn't have it in place. But she needs to.

This.

Address it before it's noticed in your team. Childcare shouldn't be the problem of the company when it has a policy. We had one member of our team give up childcare when wfh came into play and while her work was done, the damage the resentment did with the rest of us was irreversible as the manager just didn't want to deal with it. Sort it now or risk losing the respect of your team.

How young is very young?

If they are old enough that they can occupy themselves and she just needs to keep half an eye on them AND she is getting her work done, then what is the issue, exactly?

Is the 1 day in the office actually required for her to do her job, or is it just a pointless rule someone in HR dreamed up?

Things have changed in the workplace, employees know this. Don't piss off a good employee for the sake of a rule which doesn't serve any useful purpose.

Exactly how young are the children? If they're school age and this is only a school holiday problem which is nearly over for this year and will get easier every subsequent summer then I'd be tempted to turn a blind eye until September and suggest that she does a couple of extra office days then.

If they're nursery age and this will be a 52 week a year problem then you are going to have to intervene.

It makes me roll my eyes when people say they can’t afford childcare. It is no secret that childcare is expensive, so why have 2 kids?! If I had a child now I know how much it would be for their nursery place. Projecting that onto an employer is just wrong! She must be knackered looking after them and working at the same time.

I'd have let it go as a one off but this will be how she expects to work consistently by the sounds of it. It won't be long before others realise this and insist they can do the same so they don't have to fork out huge childcare fees. It needs to be the same rule for everyone I think. This would irritate me as a working mum who has to pay for childcare if a new start came in and was being given special treatment

Is it possible that her partner is caring for the children as the partner works shifts?
Also, I think that it depends on the nature of the work. Does she need to be available at set times or is it more of a project oriented job where the work just needs to be completed?
Is there anything that you are actually unhappy about with her work performance?

Which is of absolutely no concern to you and should not impact your decision making on this in any way at all.

You need to address it. She’s very cheeky to be flouting the expectations when she’s still new and I’d have a problem with her not doing her office day regardless of how productive she is. If she was making the effort to do her office day then it would be easier for you to turn a blind eye to her not using childcare considering she still does her job well, but she can’t have it both ways. It’s not fair on other staff.

You need to treat all your employees equally and that doesn't seem to be happening at present. It's only a matter of time until this is pointed out by colleagues.