AIBU to think that flexible, family-friendly jobs do not exist.

[MothersRuinart]

A job where you don't get penalised for having to stay home with a sick child, either by having to use annual leave or take unpaid leave. A job where you can leave earlier or start later at a short notice and be able to work up the lost hours another time. A job that would allow you to work from home regularly and/or often and/or at short notice. A company or a work environment that doesn't resent you for having to miss workdays due to childcare issues. Where you're not overlooked for a promotion because you're a parent.

I've never worked for a company like that, neither have any of my friends as far as I know. Tbf, most problems would be solved if more companies allowed their staff to work from home more often or were more flexible with their hours.

I understand that there are jobs where flexibility is not an option but I think most jobs could be much more flexible than they are now.

They do, I've got one. I'm very lucky, I have a great employer

I work for big 4 and in theory its like that. Reality is that with my current client and the crap I am having to deal with I am working until 1am or later every single day and have been since December. Since January I also worked Saturdays and this month Sundays.

I am looking for a new job before I lost my mind (yes I am on a call with a service center who is supposed to get work to us but is very very late).

It was DS's fourth birthday yesterday. I was in meetings until 2:45pm, ran home and walking in at 3:35pm, five mins late for his party. Our poor nanny came in, working a six day week, to look after the kids while DH got everything ready. NEVER doing this again....

I work for a lovely company that let me change my hours - I worked full time before I got pregnant, came back 3 full days a week while my daughter went to nursery, then 5 days 8.30 - 2.30 now that she is in school. If I have to leave to pick her up for any reason it's no problem, if I have to come in late due to assemblies etc nothing is said. I do not really have to make up the time, although I pay lip service to it. I don't think there are many companies like this one, and I won't be choosing to leave before my daughter finally leaves school, due to the flexibility.

The odd sick day off school and doctor's appointment here and there would have been manageable in my previous full time position. But what if you have a child who is off for weeks at a time, and has on average 50 appointments a year, some of which are day long hospital visits? Not even my ultra flexible 2 day a week position managed to survive that. Constantly having to reschedule the days I worked at short notice, yet unable to cram the backlog into subsequent weeks. If however, there had been the ability to work remotely from home, it would have been a different story. There is a huge wealth of resource amongst us that is sadly wasted, and my situation is far from uncommon.

I think it really depends on the employer and the management . I worked in the private sector in Consultancy for 10 years and some of the leadership were more understanding about family health issues and carer leave / time off for a sick child than an NHS Trust that I have just left after 3 years . I am having a break after many yers working as have got tired of juggling and feel similarly MothersRuinart.
In contrast my own Mother who worked in scientific laboratories worked 3 mornings a week in the 80s and managed to keep that going for many years ! I do feel that employers prefer ' full time ' and that's after 30 years in the workplace

MothersRuinart, take a look at Copify. It's up to you how much you earn because you select a job from what's on offer.

I'm a tax adviser working in a small private company. The last job I did allowed this as a forward thinking small tech company whose sales staff travel/work from home a lot so working from home is normal. The larger companies like Deloitte, PWC can be very flexible I understand - never worked for them so can't confirm - and my current job is also with a small family friendly company whose professional staff travel a fair bit. Mind you this is mainly for the trained pro staff who have many years experience. Hope that's helpful.

seb2015 so are all those online reviews of Copify wring then? People talk about earning £5 for a 500 word piece of writing?

This came up on a work email today:

www.treatwell.com/jobs/?gh_jid=614577

I work in higher education administration. I work from home one day a week (out of four) and am not penalised for time off with sick DC.

farfalla what was the job?