to think I can get by without childcare in August because work is quiet?

I could never get away with looking after my kid secretly for the entirety of August. If i needed a day or two I would disclose that Information and inform my employer off my working plan. Mostly to protect myself tbh, and if it’s reasonable I’m pretty sure it would be fine!

Totally appreciate every role is different - your role sounds very stress free and ideal tbh. (Appreciate this may just be August and I don’t know what you do). However, so many people are getting made redundant or let go at the moment because companies across the board are having to look at where costs can be cut. If I could get away with doing so little work for an ENTIRE month, I’d be expecting an awkward call at some point! Also if I was your manager and found out you had been ‘enjoying the summer’ when you were left in charge of the team - I’d absolutely be making cuts!

Yep, I said upthread she should be honest about it :)

Then why not be honest?

If having kids there all day with no other form of childcare, and doing fun stuff with them on works time really isn't an issue then she should let her employer and colleagues know.

If she doesn't want to do that, and hides it, then she is taking the piss.

Because she'd rather spend it without her kids

It sounds fine. Gosh, you are very lucky! August is so busy for my work and it's hard to get time off in the summer hols.

I’m doing this now, i wfh. My boss is also currently doing this 😆

i’m a believer of being home and bored rather than summer clubs. I think they need summer away from scheduled activities

Because there often needs to be someone around to answer phones or general enquiries - but it's not urgent and doesn't need to be done immediately.

So what do you think she should do - sit at home at her desk all day, twiddling her thumbs? Because in many jobs, that is genuinely the alternative. There isn't anything to do because the industry basically shuts down for a while and there just needs to be a few people on-hand to answer basic, non-urgent queries.

OP has quite clearly said, several times, that she'll still be doing all the work expected of her - she's just also saving money on childcare. Sounds like a win to me!

I just can’t see why an employer wouldn’t enforce holiday to be taken in these quiet times. It’s very very very alien to a lot of people!

This^^ I would be really miffed if someone on my team shirked during the summer and then took leave as soon work picked up.

My work gets quiet over the summer too and we are encouraged to take a bit more time for ourselves (as in a longer lunch break or log off at 4pm) but if we wanted to go out for the day with our kids we would have to book annual leave. I do the odd day of working with mine at home but I couldn't do whole weeks - that wouldn't be fair on anyone.

Lots of people work in industries like this - it's not necessarily a case of making lots of money either, it's just that some jobs are more flexible than others, and have more regular, planned periods of down-time than others.

@tumblingdowntherabbithole There's no need to yawn. I understand what you're saying about flexibility and I have a job that is partially WFH and has some flex. Sometimes I start a bit late, sometimes I finish a bit early or take a long lunch and make up hours. But there's a massive difference between that and taking your employers' money to swan around for 6 weeks with your kids whilst not being transparent about it.

My DS doesn’t have DC but if he did he could totally do childcare and his job during quiet periods (the summer). As long as he does certain tasks during the week which can be done whenever he wants the rest of the time is his own.

Blimey, how the other half live. I really can’t see how these jobs are going to be around in 5 years time. Whose head do you think is going to be on the chopping board when costs are reviewed? Yup, that person who does bigger all for two months a year.

If she can do her job when the kids are in bed, and just check her e-mails during the day, why on earth would she waste her money on childcare?

Yep, sounds fine to me. We don't all work jobs where there are time limits and where things have to be done immediately.

Just this.

no wonder people get pissed off with people who WFH who are completely taking the piss.

I was prepared to say YANBU if you were working and they were going to entertain themselves and it was just a case of being present for snacks and emergencies, but if you're planning on going out I think it depends on their ethos as a company to an extent. It sounds like these quiet times are frequent so what has been the expectation of management in, for example, January, when presumably management were also present?

If the expectation when work is quiet is that you get ahead on what is due tomorrow, update plans/notes/procedures/whatever, train other team members, do e learning etc and it's a case of while there's nothing time critical, but there's other stuff that could be done in the downtime, YABU. If when it's been quiet before they have said "don't bother coming in because theres nothing to do, keep an eye on your emails and make sure you action anything that comes up but otherwise we'll see you next week/tomorrow, then I don't see the harm.

I have had jobs that would have fallen into both categories so without knowing what you do it's hard to answer, but I suspect the fact you're asking us, and aren't able to ask them/extrapolate from previous quiet periods speaks volumes tbh.

If you were planning on taking annual leave when they were back at school, could you not take half now, (one day a week for 5 weeks, for example) to do something big with the kids and let them entertain themselves 2 days a week and then 2 days work from a bench in the park/soft play/wherever as a compromise, and then use the other half of your planned annual leave in September for a "break" ?

Yawn.

Not everyone has a job where they need to be present and actively working all the time. There are definitely lots of bitter, jealous people on here sometimes!

Why are you not taking your annual leave and instead having it in September?

Yep agree @tumblingdowntherabbithole but there's a difference between 'some flexibility' and basically doing childcare for the entire summer.

But she’s not expecting them to amuse themselves while she works. She’s planning on taking them out and about on holiday, checking emails on her phone once per hour.

Yep, I agree she should let her boss know.

But lots of people on here seem to completely lack imagination when it comes to work - we don't all have to work a set period of 8 hours a day with no breaks or down-time.

I am honestly staggered by some of the middle-class-WFH privileged entitlement on these threads. Would you be okay if your GP or nurse or your kids' teacher or the builder who you were paying to do your house adopted the same work ethic shown here of 'I'll do literally as little as I can get away with?'

Please let me know where I can get a job like this. I don't currently have young children who need looking after but would give me a great opportunity to catch up on the decorating, gardening, reading a few books, getting my hair and nails done instead of traveling in to work and doing a job each day