To charge my employer for these childcare costs?

[DixieD]

I started a PT job about 6 months ago. It was always clear I was looking for PT as I had young kids. I work half seven to four to get home in the evenings to let the childminder go. This has been the arrangement since the beginning and everyone is happy with it.
DH works long hours, while I get home for 5 he is rarely home before 8. This is the nature of his job, it can't be helped. There have been a couple of occasions due to Board meetings that I have had to work later and DH has stepped in those evenings. Otherwise if I need to work later I've brought the laptop home and worked after the kids go to bed.
Anyway my boss needs me to go to the Milan office for a day. He wants me there for a full day so I need to go for two nights. I am happy to go. However there is no way DH can finish early both nights, so childminder will be minding the kids for extra hours one evening. Obviously I will have to pay her for this.
My question is would IBU to charge this as an expense of travelling? It is the fact I am abroad for two nights that I am incurring it. I think I've a case. DH thinks it cheeky. What do you think? AIBU?

[ShiftyFades]

My employer has a policy for domestic expenses (in addition to normal travelling expenses): if you incur additional costs (such as childcare or caring) then they will cover these if you are ask to go away. It specifies that this does not apply to pets.
I think it's not unreasonable to ask. You are covering one day but are unable to cover the other, so it's unavoidable additional costs.

I also think that it's not reasonable for one employer to expect and employees partner to take annual leave to cover their business requirements. Yes, it should be the first option but I can't imagine one of my staff insisting on annual leave, when not convenient to MY business, to cover childcare because their partner has to go away for the day! Reverse the situation and, if its not convenient (e.g. Teachers) then one company doesn't have say-so over a another company's employees leave dates - that is ridiculous!

[Blankiefan]

Given you seem to be in a fairly senior, (I assume) relatively well paid role, I think it's quite a small amount of cash to be taking a potential credibility hit for...

[hugoagogo]

Why would it be a 'credibility hit' ?

[DixieD]

Blankiefan I think you are right. I may hold fire and see if this becomes a regular thing. If so I can deal with it then. They have been great employers with regards to facilitating me as a parent. No problems with me leaving on the dot every evening, working from home in the evenings, time off for parent teacher meetings etc, so I don't want to come across as pushy or ungrateful.

[Blankiefan]

The OP has suggested she doesn't want her boss being a bit. about her asking. Given the number of posters on this thread who think its not a great idea, Its fair to say that it could be potentially viewed as less then credible (for the reasons quoted by those who think its not reasonable)....

[hugoagogo]

Well I think it's wrong that someone should just absorb this perfectly straight forward expense.

Would people be saying the same thing if a man was considering claiming expenses for looking after an elderly parent?

[HairyHandedTrucker]

seems unfair to suddenly expect you to do this. dknt think your are being cheeky at all. discuss it with yourboss

[DixieD]

hugo I do agree with you as in when you think about it logically it is an OOP and should be paid for. But I posted this to gauge reaction and a fair proportion of people thought it was out of order. So by even asking the question I may lower myself in my bosses opinion. I do not want to do that. I love the job. They are great to work for. As a once off it won't cause financial hardship. I can always review if it becomes a regular thing.

[TheDoctrineOfSnatch]

hugo, yes, I think they would. Because that would be a 'personal life' expense. Similarly if, say, you had to pay your cleaner to come at a different time becuase you weren't home to let them in. It's not the 'childcare' element, it's the 'domestic' element, I think.

[mammmamia]

Not read whole thread. I don't think it's cheeky. But you could ask to get paid for the extra time rather than expensing your childcare? Would that work?
I work 3 days a week and recently I had to go on a week long course. I had to use extra childcare for the extra 2 days so I asked to get paid for the extra 2 days and it was fine.

[KatOD]

Sorry, not read while thread either. I recently had to work on my non-work day to get something urgent done for our programme and my daughter had to go into her nursery for an extra half day. My boss offered to pay the nursery costs and give me time off in lieu. I guess it prob depends on what agreements you had wrt going back part time. If you're only incurring costs because of requests outside your contact/agreement then you should be reimbursed.

[josiejay]

If you're happy to go, I would say the extra childcare cost might be annoying but well worth it for gaining some goodwill with your employer (which might help if you need a bit of flexibility from them for something else in future), plus hopefully you will get to see at least a bit of Milan while you're there, stay in a nice hotel etc.
I think a lot of employers would be a bit taken aback by a request to pay for childcare and it would probably stop them from offering you opportunities like this in future, unfair as that might seem.

[2rebecca]

I think it depends on the type of job and whether this sort of thing is an accepted normal part of your job or something exceptional. If the former then I think that the fact that you are part time would just mean you get fewer trips (pro-rata for hours worked) than a full timer but that these trips are still part of your job. If this is unusual then I would refuse to go unless you were recompensed for any extra expenses the trip involves including childminding. They then have the option of sending you and paying your costs or sending someone else.
I don't see that you being part time is relevent in this case as a full timer away for 2 days would have to find childcare for the evening as well. Sometimes part timers can forget that part time just means doing 3/5 or whatever fraction of a full timers work, not avoiding all the antisocial hours.

[AnnaRack]

josiejay good point about needing flexibility in future. As long as the op's employer is fair and it sounds like they are!

[ShellyBoobs]

Well I think it's wrong that someone should just absorb this perfectly straight forward expense.

It's not a "straightforward expense", though.

Reasonable expenses are based upon the premise that anyone making the trip would have incurred that expense. So airport car park, food, hotels, flights, drinks, etc are all reasonable. Something which is related to personal circumstance isn't.

[janey68]

Your employer should reimburse you for your travel costs, sure. But Childcare is a totally different thing. Look at it this way: having children is not something you need to do to enable you to do your job, therefore it is not a cost directly relating to your doing the job.
I frequently work outside 'normal' working hours and would never expect to be reimbursed extra childcare.
I think the PT issue is not relevant either- if you were FT the trip would still be over and above normal hours.
By all means give it a try , but i would think it was a cheek if I was your boss tbh

[LadyPessaryPam]

As a past employer I would not be upset if one of my employees asked about some sort of compensation for the extraordinary (in the financial sense) expense. TBH I would have discussed the whole trip with the employee before arranging to ascertain if it was possible for her as I would know about her small children.

[LayMizzRarb]

It's all about flexibility. Do your employers deduct some of your salary if you have a couple of hours off to go to school concerts/parent teacher meetings/kids medical appointments?

[LIZS]

Are these days on which you would normally work ? Can dh not take leave to cover the hours ?

[gordyslovesheep]

mine will pay towards additional costs - so if I HAVE to attend a meeting on a none working day they will cover childcare

[lljkk]

That's exactly what we would do, LIZS.

I think what OP wants is a complete revolution in what most of us see as reasonable working conditions, it ain't gonna happen.

[outtolunchagain]

You can charge it but if they pay it it will be a taxable benefit on you . Of course the tax will still be less than the total cost but you will have to pay tax on it.

[fairylightsinthesnow]

I work Pt as a teacher and have claimed extra pay if I have done something like a trip that was not on one of my usual days. Also, if we have INSET at the start of term on a non-work day but they want me to be there, I claim a day's pay. It depends on how your contract is worded really. Are you on a salary or a pro-rata rate? It is true that your childcare issues are not your bosses problem, but IF these trips were not made clear at the time of employment then I think you have a right to at least raise it, but try and do it in a non-confrontational way as a conversation, not a stampy foot demand.

[ImperialBlether]

I'm appalled at all these people who think the OP is being cheeky.

Why isn't the organisation being cheeky expecting a mother of small children to spend two nights away from home without considering whether she is out of pocket as a result?

[fallon8]

Will the child free employees be able to claim extra extra expenses too?.. Cat/dog/elder parent carers?