To ask for another week of furlough?

[Fasttrack321]

I was furloughed at the start of lockdown and have not been working since end of March. I have been looking after my 2 young children full time as my DP has been working full time. Luckily DP's job is secure and their employer is flexible with WFH.

My furlough pay is capped at the limit of £2,500 and has not been topped up so my income has been about half of my normal pay. I am very grateful to have been furloughed rather than lose my job.

My employer wrote to me on Friday and informed me my furlough was ending and I was expected back to work on Monday. I discussed this with my DP (who is classed as a key worker, not front line) as the kids are only in part time childcare. DS is 5 and in Reception, DD is 3 and in nursery 3 days per week.

My DP is working full time 9-5 and cannot change working hours this week at such short notice. So cannot do drop off and pick up for the children (nursery and school are about 15 minutes drive apart). DP also cannot WFH and look after DD who is 3 and needs constant supervision.

This week will be impossible to juggle, but from the following week we can manage with flexible working hours and the help of a grandparent.

AIBU in asking my employer to extend my furlough by one more week? I checked the government guidance and there is a specific provision for this which allows furlough for those with caring responsibilities. I would only want this for 1 additional week.

I am incredibly grateful my employer has asked me to return and I do want to return. I have been there years and have a good reputation for being one of their top employers and managers.

My only other option would be to use a weeks annual leave, but then I'd have none left for the rest of the year and summer holidays when I would need to take leave to cover childcare again.

Most of the company were furloughed and now being brought back bit by bit.

YABU - get back to work immediately.
YANBU - take an extra week furlough to sort your childcare out.

Why can’t your husband WFH with your 3 year old? It’s hard, and there have been many tears in our family, but that’s exactly what we have had to do during lockdown. WFH full time, home school, take on extra work, all with a 3 and a 6 year old.

I think you both just need to suck it up for a week and get on with it.

I do find it odd that your partner can't help at all.

I'm an employer. I have three people still on furlough because of childcare. Their usual childcare isn't open or available (nursery closed or shielding grandparents) and they are good, loyal employees. In normal times we would have had to put them on unpaid leave or let them go.

Furlough is there to support businesses and prevent redundancies. That's what we're using it for.

If you can do you job from home and look after the children, doesn’t mean that we can.

I can't. But that's what I've had to do.

You are showing an astonishing lack of self awareness and empathy, op.

Haha wish I had the DP option of not WFH and looking after a 3yo (& home schooling my other 2 children too). It is really fucking difficult but not impossible. Some of us have just had to get on with it while enviously looking at those furloughed.

Just take annual leave.

I've worked front line throughout.
No time off and having to take 2 weeks unpaid parental leave during summer along with a lot of annual leave as there's no holiday clubs around here atm.

I'll be grateful for the time off, but childcare provision is a nightmare for everyone tbh.

I think many posters are jealous and being unreasonably harsh.

Your employer is being unreasonable to not consider that arranging childcare at such short notice could be an issue, but you just need to talk to them.

Most employers are reasonable when you explain your circumstances.

As a HR professional, there nothing unreasonable about you asking for a week to sort things out. This is what i would be telling a manager who comes to us for advice around this.

“ I didn’t think we could ask babysitters to watch the kids due to Social distancing. We’ve never used a nanny.”

It’s legally allowed to pay childcarers to work in your home and has been since about middle of May

@Fasttrack321 Did you speak to your employer on Friday? The practicalities of notice etc aside, if they’re expecting you back tomorrow; you’re leaving it quite late to tell them that you won’t be working.

Where I live there are lots of emergency childcare providers working right now and as they operate through an agency they have already been through the reference checking process etc.
You could use them to top up the care you already have in place. It’s not ideal but it’s only for a week.
I’d personally be getting my arse back into the office whatever it takes.

You are showing an astonishing lack of self awareness and empathy, op.

That's quite common from rich people to be honest. Although I still believe they are highly over paid. Both too stupid to work this out for themselves, and neither can multi task enough to look after kids while doing their job. Funny how lower paid people managed for months..

Why are you able to theoretically work from home and look after your 3 year old but your DP cant?

I have stated that I cannot work from home.

You said "I can't work from home unfortunately otherwise I absolutely would do so." Which is why I used the word "theoretically" in my post.

@Fasttrack321

For those of you finding it hard to believe all of my points, I don’t know what to say really. If your employer would give you unpaid leave doesn’t mean that mine will. If you can do you job from home and look after the children, doesn’t mean that we can. If your employer gave you three weeks notice, it doesn’t mean that mine did.

Summer holidays are already sorted - we have made arrangements in advance for both children. So even if I had still been furloughed all summer we have already paid for the childcare. I thought that was good planning! Obviously not good enough.

We don’t have grandparents who can help at the moment. I didn’t think we could ask babysitters to watch the kids due to Social distancing. We’ve never used a nanny.

You said earlier that you didn’t want to use annual leave as you need it for the summer holidays. But now you’re saying you’ve paid for childcare for over the summer already... which is it?

An if you’d asked me before lockdown if I could do my job while looking after DS, I’d have said absolutely not. But guess what? Needs must!

Now I’ve added something constructive I also want to quote:

£15k between you per month? [faints]

This!

Plus on top of not being able to work this out themselves they seem to have forgotten a weekend is only two days long and are leaving it til Sunday to tell their employer. Bet you're a nightmare to work for op.

Tell work you are keen to return but will need to have another weeks furlough or take unpaid leave to cover childcare. Don’t use your annual leave

I suspect this is the first time you can’t buy your way out of a problem and that’s why you’re struggling so much.

I think it's really important that parents can use the furlough scheme for childcare reasons and it's one of the reasons it is available. People at my work are using it solely because they cant work due to childcare. And its completely unreasonable to give such short notice.
I've worked all through at home, but I'm part time, my children are older and I can work flexible hours. But not everyone is in that boat.
The TUC are running a campaign to keep furlough for childcare reasons as they point out many women (shouldn't just be women but it is) risk losing their job if they cant get childcare when their job requires them to go back to the workplace.

Could ask a baby sitter to move in for the week

Just because your employer can claim a furlough payment doesn’t mean they should. I know you pay a lot of tax - so does my family. But because you are on a higher income and have the means, I think you should pay for an emergency nanny or other short term childcare and leave the tax payer funds for those more in need. So technically you can ask for another week of furlough but I think it is unethical when there are other options available - paying someone to care for your children - to you in your situation. Or alternatively you or your husband taking paid annual leave or unpaid parental leave (but given your work commitments that seems unfeasible).

@beela

If you can do you job from home and look after the children, doesn’t mean that we can.

I can't. But that's what I've had to do.

You are showing an astonishing lack of self awareness and empathy, op.

Sorry I don't meant to at all. I'm trying to emphasise the point that my DP's job cannot be done whilst looking after our children. And if they took a week off with no notice this week then there would be severe consequences that would negatively affect the lives of others. I know that many many families have had a very hard time of trying to find a new way of working and balancing childcare. And I have so far been fortunate that I have been able to do so by being furloughed. I haven't enjoyed being furloughed and do desperately want to go back to work.

My DP can and will be more flexible with a weeks notice. In fact once I am back at work they will be doing most of the juggling.

I can take annual leave now and then later in the year ask for unpaid parental leave - I hadn't thought of that as have never used it before but will look into it.

It’s not an employee’s decision whether to be on furlough, childcare reasons or not. It’s an employers decision based on the needs of the business. Unfortunately many jobs and businesses won’t survive furlough and will close with redundancies.

@LaurieMarlow

If you can do you job from home and look after the children, doesn’t mean that we can.

Do you not see how that sounds OP?

We can’t do for a week what the rest of you managed for months, therefore we need more of tax payers cash

What makes your circs so special that you uniquely can’t do it? No one found it easy or comfortable by the way. But needs must.

This is what a lot of people think op. Unless your dp has a job, which 100% prevents him from working with your dc around, he is going to need to step up from tomorrow.

What his employer does and doesn’t want or will and won’t allow is immaterial. Unfortunately there are a lot of people in your situation. The time for him to discuss this with his employer wasn’t Friday, it was weeks ago. I understand you haven’t planned. But that is not the tax payer’s responsibility. You can ask. But your employer is under no obligation to do so.

What I don’t get is you can get 50% covered by schooling, so is it really that hard for the 2 of you to muddle through for 2.5 days?

As an ex HR Director and someone who has sat on boards to discuss redundancies in the past I can tell you that I am quite flabbergasted at some of the attitudes I am seeing around.

In my own job now, which is different, I constantly hear my colleagues moaning about going back and wanting more time off. We went back to work and the hours are much shorter. Last week I heard my manager say that next week we may work an extra hour a day (still less than normal) and I heard one employee kick off saying she won't do it. Personally I am being more flexible and accommodating to my boss as I want to keep my great job with a great employer. Some people are a bit dense because there are going to be redundancies and they will get rid of inflexible people first because the new working world will have higher margins and profits and they will need highly efficient and proactive workers to save companies.

higher margins and profits, not higher of course.