OP:
“AIBU to be getting annoyed with the short end of the stick that the childless are getting right now with everything regarding childcare and lockdown.”
Yes – you are not being unreasonable to be annoyed about having to work more, but you are being very unreasonable to think that you are ‘getting the short end of the stick’ – it infers that you are worse off than parents.
“I have so many colleges who are currently wfh whilst looking after children. I completely sympathise and understand this is hard but I am really starting to get annoyed with them being less productive, and logging less hours for the same pay (no reduction), whilst the rest of us are expected to pick up the slack, and work more hours to make sure tasks still get completed, whilst not being paid anymore for our extra time and effort.” “I know there is no perfect solution but it really grates on me that they aren't being paid for what they complete which could therefore compensate the rest of us for the extra we are having to do because they are not fully fulfilling their role.”
People who sympathise and understand their situation are not annoyed with parents for something that is outside of their control. Being annoyed that they are getting their full pay also shows you don’t sympathise or understand. Sympathy and understanding is not something you can just say you have – your attitude has to back that up.
“On top of this with the idea of school provisionally going back in June some of these parents have said they will not be sending their DC to school, despite a place being open and available to them, and therefore expect the rest of us to continue to pick up their slack because they can't work as productively whilst looking after their children.”
Considering the different parts of the UK can’t even agree on whether this is the right move, and the fact that many teachers have said it would not be safe as there is not adequate space to socially distance properly, would you put the possibility of your colleagues having to work harder because you’re keeping your children home, before the possibility of people dying because you sent them to school? I know I wouldn’t (and I don’t even have children by the way). You think parents enjoy juggling parenting with work?
“My housemate (shared house) works in a place where many parents have been furloughed for childcare reasons, despite their being lots of work to do, just because they've asked to be. This means that my housemate has been incredibly stressed as the workload is still high but the team is now smaller, whilst many of their colleges are receiving 80% on the taxpayer, despite their actually being work for them to do, all because they complained to their employer that it was too hard working with children and thus asking to be furloughed.”
Until you’ve been the sole caregiver for young children and tried to juggle that with full-time work, you should not judge those who have. How do you know these aren’t single parents and/or people with other caring responsibilities, people with mental or physical health limitations or people whose children keep them up half of the night depriving them of sleep? Employees don’t always share these details with employers (funnily enough out of fear of attitudes like yours).
“This is especially grating as it is taxpayer money that is being used to pay them, despite their actually being a job they could do and be payed for.”
The furloughed are taxpayers (actually, we all are as income tax is only 25% of total revenues collected. We all pay VAT and NI contributions etc.)
“1. Some employers and employees are taking the piss by allowing staff to be furloughed/asking to be furloughed despite their actually being a job to do. Which then negatively affects the rest of the teams as the work level remains the same but there are less people to do the work so the remaining people have to work harder with no extra pay.”
Employers will be allowing staff to be furloughed if they need to save the money, and if workers such as yourself are not telling them that they can’t make up the extra time, they have no reason to refuse those requests. Also, you don’t want parents WFH if they can’t do that as effectively as they could at work, but you also want them not to be furloughed. What do you suggest they do?
“2. Employers need to be understanding but also firm with parents that although some productively will be affected by having DC at home, a certain level still needs to be consistently met or they are not doing their job properly and that negatively affects the business and the rest of the team.”
So you want them to set an arbitrary target for all parents even though they won’t have any idea of the possibility of achieving that target without trying for themselves? And this added pressure will magically improve the productivity of those staff?
“3. Employers need to be especially understanding and grateful to employees still working, who are picking up the slack for those not being as productive because of DC at home/furloughed for childcare reasons despite their still being work. And actually need to consider financially compensating them for the high level of extra work and overtime and/or promise to look at these people first for upcoming promotions as as they have shown serious dedication to the business.”
In case you weren’t aware, parents (mostly women) are already penalised for being parents. That is what a huge part of the gender pay gap is about. Interestingly, family responsibilities discrimination is illegal in the US, and frankly it should be here too. To offer a promotion to childless employees first is blatantly wrong, and blaming it on a lack of productivity during a global pandemic that nobody could have predicted would cause parents to have to WFH whilst caring for their children, is ignorant at best.
“4. Employers should not be allowing parents to choose not to send DC to school when they can if it continues to affect the parents productivity level.”
Employers should have no say in this! Once it is safe to do so, I would be surprised if there was a single parent who wouldn’t be happy to send them back. You think people enjoy WFH and taking care of their child(ren) at the same time?!
“I understand this is a hard time for everyone, and parents do have it hard with few childcare options for DC, however that is not the problem of their colleagues and they should not be negatively affected by being expected to work far far more for no extra gain. My housemate and I are stressed beyond belief both having to work 10-12 hours every day for what would be a 9-5 office job in order to pick up the slack for colleagues whilst not being paid anymore whilst these colleagues are only completely 4-6 hours a day yet continuing to be paid the same as us. And on top of this are expecting it to continue despite their child being able to go to school soon because they are choosing not to send them.”
Would you choose to send your child to school to prevent your colleagues working harder, if doing so may result in the deaths of more vulnerable/elderly people? And let’s not forget children aren’t immune to coronavirus. If we were talking about a couple of months down the line when the R rate was lower or at least England, Scotland and Wales could agree that it was safe for children to return, fair enough, but we have the highest death rate in Europe right now and are still on almost full lockdown so I can understand the hesitancy.
I could argue, that parents are working harder than you based on your 10-12 hour days (if they’re achieving 4-6 hours work on top of full-time childcare, that is like working at 150-160% productivity, compared with your 125-150% productivity) by the way. And that’s on the basis of childcare only being for 8 hours a day which it obviously isn’t.
Again I want to point out that I am childless, and WFH, and have PTSD, type one diabetes and multiple other personal issues I’d rather not get into, so whilst I sympathise with your situation, it does not give you carte blanche to generalise about parents as if they’re having a fun time whilst you’re picking up the slack. If you’re so unhappy, tell your employer that you aren’t able to work more than your contracted hours. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with complaining that you are struggling with your situation and/or the workload, but to say that you are annoyed with parents because they are receiving their normal pay when they’re doing the best they can with a horrible situation, is completely unreasonable.