Working from home when children are ill

[Debdale]

Is this allowed where you work? If yes, are there restrictions (e.g. age of kids etc)
We are just updating our policies (finally) - we were totally office based pre covid (client facing service but not all staff are client facing) but we are offering flexible working moving forwards - some face to face with clients/some telephone
Most of it is pretty straight forward but this is causing a few issues!

Yes it is although there is no official policy in place that states it, most managers will allow it. However, it’s reasonably expected you don’t take the piss and you make a token effort to make some of the time up.

Yes but it's more at the managers discretion in my place of work.

My manager knows that my youngest child is with me on one of my working days and she is aware how I manage my time on those days.

Not explicitly in policy. Our dependents policy outlines the leave you're allowed to take and advises to speak with a line manager about reasonable alternatives. The manager can then use discretion about the application of the policy with HR support if needed.

A generally accepted option is that WFH is fine for children who just need occasional topping up with calpol and rest but anything more involved whether that's younger children, D&V children etc then you can't reasonably expect to "work" whilst caring for your child so the company won't allow it.

That's when conversations about other flexible options like shift swapping/using annual leave come into play if the employee doesn't have paid dependents leave left and cannot afford to drop the hours.

Grey area and I’ve asked for clarification. Old job it was a no-no. Now it feels like I’d get away with it with my older one who could be trusted to just sit in front of the tv. Don’t think I’d attempt it with my 2yo. I’d also be worried about putting pressure on people to work with sick under 5s when actually poorly little ones need care. I wouldn’t want to staff to feel they had to wfh.

Again where I work it is manager's discretion but so was working from home in general pre-COVID. we

I did it with DD and know others that did but the DC were old enough to watch tv all day, I don't know anyone who did it with a baby/toddler

In my previous places the policy has allowed it for emergencies only and only for 1 day.

Basically fine if child is too sick for school / nursery one day but alternative care should be found or leave taken after that

It’s sort of at the manager’s discretion here, depending on the work you’ve got on that day, the age of the child, the illness etc.
I’ve not done it, because DD is a toddler, but I can see it being fine for an older child who is just going to lie in bed/on the sofa all day. When I think back to being off school when I was young, nothing would have prevented someone working on a laptop in another room, checking on me periodically.

I worked in an office where people massively took the piss with this, so I'd hate the idea of working somewhere it was allowed with no qualifications. Personally I think at manager's discretion with some guidelines makes sense.

So - if someone has an under 4 year old, and says they can work a half day by going on a call for an hour during a film and making up 3 hours in the evening or similar, fair enough. If someone has a 9/10/11 year old they can put in front of the tv and pretty much do a full day, also fair enough. But the 'oh I'll just work while the baby naps' crowd are kidding themselves, and I say this with a 3 year old. If she's off sick, the only way I can work is during max an hour of tv time, when my husband is watching her, or in the evening. Our set up has meant during lockdown with both WFH we could divide the working day up, do evenings and do a full day. But if he was working from the office that would immediately drop to a couple of hours a day. So I think it depends, but I'd be careful about making it an automatic 'right'

I think it’s at managers discretion.
Ds is toddler so I can’t work with him really.

But he’s been ill and contagious 2 weeks recently which would be a long time off work. I couldn’t have worked 9-1pm, but with 1-4pm nap, and dh able to take over at 4pm onwards I could have easily fitted in a half day

Yes but both my DC are much older now and i can leave them on the sofa and work if they're poorly.

This was one of my number one stresses back before I worked for my current employer so I'm so glad my manager is flexible when my DC are ill.

However, I will caveat by saying wfh when kids are poorly toddlers is impossible and in those circumstances I would've taken a day's leave.

Nhs community. Was a definite no pre covid- I once went home for the afternoon to do admin while dd asleep upstairs (dh had been home with her in the morning) and got a rollicking the next day and genuinely hadn't realised it was a big deal . Since covid I'm not sure officially what the rules are. I worked from home while two kids had covid but that was work policy as not allowed in of household contact - not sure what they'd say if was a non covid related ill child . Personally I think it should be allowed as whenever I have had to take a carers day I've been twiddling my thumbs with a child asleep or in a sofa bed watching tv and would've liked to get on with work as unlikely to be interrupted apart from occasional dosing on calpol etc . Totally different to childcare with well kids when it's hard to get anything done and constant interruptions

It is allowed at my work place, it's something we've discussed as a team. It will allow us to get at least some work done when looking after a DC rather than having a day off and having to leave all your work to others or delayed. Half our team have kids (from babies to older teens) and we all have realistic expectation of what is possible when looking after ill DC. So we know you won't be as productive as usual but try your best. And to be realistic also about situation when it just isn't possible to work at the same time.

Yes but it's managers discretion - the child needs to be self sufficient so there's no specific age as one 9 year old might be more capable than another 12 year old. Basically if you can continue to work effectively, that's fine.

It seems to depend on management discretion at my work; the difficulty is that it depends on the temperament of your child as much as how old they are. I’ve worked from home with a 2 year who is just sleeping and watching kids tb more easily than a 6 year old who is nearly over a bug

Yes it’s allowed and older children don’t need anyone to be with them when poorly.

It’s really tricky which is why I think companies need to set some parameters otherwise resentment will build if down to manager discretion.

I’d personally do a blanket no with under 5s- possibly allow a 1/2 day max. Either they are poorly and require attention or are likely to be climbing the walls. I am much more anti it having done it during lockdown and I would be concerned about employer liability if man accident happened with a small child while an employee was working.

I think the policy would need to cover what happens if due to be in the office- can employees pick to wfh instead or would they need manager permission?

Also what is the position for wfh and general childcare? Eg a know lots of people who have had kids in the house for the odd inset day and stuck them in front of the tv and were no bother but not sure if a slippery slope in terms of broader position on having childcare in place.

Our policy says no, you can't have child care responsibilities whilst wfh but... our managers usually do allow it, especially with older children who will just watch TV and not need much active caring.

We're a small place and it's managers discretion. Otherwise it's annual leave or unpaid leave and they'd rather you got some work done that none at all.

Thanks all for the responses - I think it’s the resentment issue we’re most concerned about, I think we may try a no in the policy but allow managers some discretion approach

I do it if DD is just going to curl up on the sofa and watch TV, and I can work normally.
I wouldn’t do it if she was spewing everywhere, needed a lot of looming after, or was unable to amuse herself.
I think rather than a blanket policy it should depend on the circumstances really.

My boss is brilliant, plus my DH works in the same department so we both WFH and split out the day if we need to look after DS.

Grey area here. With school age children it's generally accepted if they can just sit in the background watching TV. With toddlers it's more likely that you'd be expected to take some form of leave. The company does offer 5 days of paid special leave though.