The working world has become ridiculous

[Rothschild]

Recently a manager at my company attended an online meeting in tears because of a minor issue regarding her child's school. She excused herself from the meeting and took a mental health day.

I can barely get hold of anyone at 3pm in my (large) organisation because everyone is doing school pick up. I don't believe they're getting much work done once they've picked up because they become hard to contact, don't respond to messages and won't attend meetings, despite it being their normal working hours.

It's ridiculous. When our children were small we paid for wrap around childcare or for someone to collect. We were available to work between 3 and 4pm and afterwards.

I'm not talking about anyone who has negotiated flexibility or finishes at 3pm, I'm talking about others who are, frankly, taking the piss.

And if I had taken a mental health day every time I'd had some difficulty in my life I'd have hardly worked.

On one hand yes...I agree

On the other....

1. trying to find wraparound childcare is ....challenging
2. The cost is also challenging...

I give a hollow laugh when I hear my mum / aunts etc say "well it wasnt cheap in our day - the childcare cost me ALMOST the same as the mortgage!"
Mine currently costs over 2 x my mortgage which is 2.5k pm... and the fees are going up by £200 in jan....

It's crippling...

The government are failing society by not addressing this.

The end of this game is genuine people with genuine problems not being able to access the help they need. It’s exactly the same with all the grifters leeching off welfare. It will get to a point where those genuinely in need will lose their safety net.

My primary doesn’t have any wrap around care available. Not all schools do.

similar things are going on where I work too. Half the people are off sick and there’s jack shit you can do about it

Does your work not have policies & procedures though?

If the cost of living allowed for a family to live comfortably on one salary, or if childcare was free/cheap, this would be much less of a problem, at least with respect to parents being available.

If you're struggling to do your job because you can't contact your manager or colleagues when you need to, then you need to raise it in your supervision. Tell your line manager exactly what was needed and what problem was caused for you and when. Sweeping generalisations about people's working habits won't address the problem. You need to be specific about the impact on you, and ask for a solution.

What’s going to be the problem is if employers realise that Ai can do the job instead of the half anrsed employee. That job will go and that person will be without employment.

@EvangelicalAboutButteredToast but that’s a problem regardless if the employee is off sick or not working?

People seemed to figure it out before Covid though.

Since then, lack of childcare (or lack of willingness to pay for it) seems to have become the employer’s problem to solve.

All this

It's absolutely ridiculous ... all 'I know my rights' whilst ignoring all their responsibilities ... the things they're supposed to be doing to earn their paycheques.

similar things are going on where I work too. Half the people are off sick and there’s jack shit you can do about it.

Well that's simply not true. Sickness absence is by far the easiest reason to get rid of people.

Productivity & wages have never recovered from the 08 crash so this isn’t new.

Maybe it's because a person is employed to do a certain job for which they are paid! Whether or not the top managers/directors get dividends has nothing to do with it. I'm glad some people DO have a conscience and do the work they are paid for without complaining and trying to get out of it.

Sometimes, if you did the job you're employed to do, you'd be killing yourself in the process. That's when you have to ask why you're doing it

Where are all these companies that pay you despite being off sick for months with no performance management?

I don't know if it would. Would families choose to live on one salary (and all the risk that carries for one parent) or would they take a better standard of living, whilst continuing to work PT for full time pay?

I think a lot of people are underpaid for what they bring the people at the top. I don't blame them for slacking.

UK wages are pretty crap which I think feeds into it.

Agree with PP, ‘policies and procedures’ yes. Management able to implement - no. We seem to be a working generation who are conflict avoidant. I suspect because higher up the scale unwilling to support aka step up to enforce.

I had similar in my team. Duty Manager would clear off to do school run. When complex issues arose, they were not available to resolve, even after the school run. No one addressed the Duty Manager’s conduct. Leaving lower grade in a difficult position to compromise their position or step up, and then be vulnerable to accountability. A no win situation.

The second income in a lot of families just goes straight on the cost of working

@Bookpage but how does your company function if it has all these employees paid full time but only working part time? Surely the bottom line is impacted?

Oh my gosh NO, how DARE someone prioritise their family/children/home life and their mental and physical health over WORK. People like you are the reason that people NEED time off to unwind/relax, and stop themselves from burnout!

Give your head a wobble FFS @Rothschild

Yes, but it’s the new thing now. 🙄

Yes but saying that, the working conditions in other countries can be crazy. Particularly the US.

Your employer shouldn't be paying you to take time off when your child is unwell. You should take paid holiday or unpaid parental leave.