Page 26 | To think accountancy isn't a "keyworker" job?

hannabull · 2021-01-06T13:41:29+00:00

One of the parents at school is a self employed accountant who works from home, but sending kids into school. The other parent works out of the home (not a key worker) how is this allowed? Claims to be an essential worker (doesn't work for the nhs or anything, just accounts for small businesses)

amispeakingenglish · 08/01/2021 14:35

To the rude posters re 'goady'

My comment is not. You are reading this as a criticism I so can only assume guilty consciences, and big egos as you are taking it personally. Is was a helpful positive comment, as soo many seem worried about their children, I think children will be fine in the long run. I feel sorry for the older ones, in yr 7 and 11, 12,13. Plus the college & uni students this year. My DC says the yr 7s don't have the skills and are not ready, still yr 6 mentally and the older ones have no idea about self motivated learning, no exams, no revision, they will struggle at uni and the first yrs at uni have had the piss totally taken and had to pay for i THe younger the child the more it will be fine. People shouldn't stress about it as that can be projected on to the child.

PolkadotGiraffe · 08/01/2021 14:37

Is was a helpful positive comment

😆🙄

amispeakingenglish · 08/01/2021 14:37

SueEllenMishke
Why do people have kids if they don't like being with them?

This is the epitome of ignorant and rude.

Struck someone else's guilty nerve then? Don't stress!!

No, its a question, drawn from the comments on various posts and attitudes on here. Enjoy your children, it goes fast. Stop complaining and enjoy the extra time you have with them.

SueEllenMishke · 08/01/2021 14:45

@amispeakingenglish

SueEllenMishke Why do people have kids if they don't like being with them?

This is the epitome of ignorant and rude.

Struck someone else's guilty nerve then? Don't stress!!

No, its a question, drawn from the comments on various posts and attitudes on here. Enjoy your children, it goes fast. Stop complaining and enjoy the extra time you have with them.

How patronising are you?

Not a single shred of guilt here so don't you worry yourself about that. My child will be using a key worker space three days a week because we need that to be able to do our jobs effectively. The other two days we will juggle homeschooling and work between us. We're lucky to be able to do that.

However, your comment may be the one that tips someone else over the edge. I know lots of working parents who are finding it very difficult right now. They're juggling work and homeschooling and are worried about keeping their much needed job so they can pay the mortgage. Making someone feel like shit because they are using a space at school so they can work is the lowest of the low. You should be ashamed of yourself.

PugInTheHouse · 08/01/2021 15:14

Not sure why I was deleted but its fine for a poster to say the reason people are unable to work from home and look after the kids is because they aren't parented properly.

FWIW no guilty conscience here, I work for the NHS as an accountant directly with the staff working on covid wards and doing covid related work. We didn't take any annual leave through the first lockdown and not only managed year end accounts but assisted on covid related work and some were redeployed from my team. I also work with small limited companies and I have seen first hand how hard it has been for many people. Things aren't any better at the moment but we are managing mostly. I will be working as a volunteer tonight on top of a ridiculously long working week to help book people in for vaccines.

I have 2 DCs, both senior school but one in y7 with additional needs and I did up to 15 hr days with them at home also so i haven't used a space based on me being a critical worker (although DS2 is in for 2 days a week now due to his additional needs). Husband was doing the same including working early shifts at tesco so a mixture of working away from home and WFH.

I just find it awful that there is such a lack of understanding of other people's situations just because it doesn't fit into your idealistic view. It was a statement re being goady, describing your post really. I shouldn't have made it aimed at you personally but I don't think it justifies being deleted if I'm honest. I still think your post was totally unreasonable and you contradict it completely in your next post.

PugInTheHouse · 08/01/2021 15:16

Amispeakingenglish - i am certainly not enjoying extra time with them. I am queezing in helping them around work and meetings, then having to work many hours later into the evening to catch up what I have missed, not quite sure where this extra time is. Ridiculous comment.

TheKeatingFive · 08/01/2021 15:23

I just find it awful that there is such a lack of understanding of other people's situations just because it doesn't fit into your idealistic view.

Anyone with the slightest ounce of empathy, kindness or intelligence gets it.

It’s just very unfortunate that some people have none of these things. Tragic for them.

Lynz78 · 08/01/2021 15:33

Yippee it's the weekend ! No school for 2 days. Sending hugs to all parents well done 1st week survived we can does this.

Schoolchoicesucks · 08/01/2021 16:19

@amispeakingenglish. Stop complaining and enjoy the extra time with them.

There have been disagreements on this thread, but I think that most people on both sides of the "keyworker or not" debate have empathised with those who don't have extra time to enjoy with their children.

They have less time than in usual circumstances because in the time that would usually have been family or leisure time, they have been squeezing in either home school work or their own work that they weren't able to do in their regular work hours.

And as for the poster commenting why have children if you don't want to spend time with them. I would be deleted if I responded to that.

studychick81 · 08/01/2021 17:39

@Dinocan

They work in the mornings, evenings and weekends like everyone else if they have taxes to do. Or they juggle some hours in the day between them if two parents. Using KW club enables them to with during the day time hours uninterrupted which is a luxury, not essential.

Totally agree in theory. However at this time of year for many accountants there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. Dh used to have to work well into the night and day when he was in a large team. If this person is a one man/woman band they don’t have any colleagues to pick up the extra. If they have to get x tax returns in by x date and it’s going to take x hours to complete the work it might not be possible to work around their child’s home/zoom learning. Our school has required us to sit and support our dc during their home lessons. Unless the op knows them well enough to know they are taking the piss I wouldn’t judge. IME most schools are being quite strict with spaces so I don’t think they would allocate without good reason.

Then they need to be cut some slack on deadlines and tax dates could be moved. Personally I don't buy it- most jobs have deadlines, people just work harder to get it done. My dsis was getting up at 6 working three hours before home schooling and then again in the evening on her work days. They could do that, they just don't want to and take the easy option as they don't want to work long hours. Just because they can doesn't mean they should.

caspersmagicaljourney · 08/01/2021 17:49

@DeeCeeCherry

You are right OP. But people lie and bend the rules to suit them.

Being busy and self-employed does not make one a keyworker or essential worker. It does not come under that category.

From what I've seen on MN over the last couple of days too many people want an "I WFH don't want the kids under my feet all day so can rules please apply to everybody else but me"

Selfish entitlement

Absolutely agree with this.

I know someone that works in a school and they are now having to draft in additional staff to address this situation which is potentially putting those staff at risk. We are in the midst of a global pandemic for goodness sake.
Totally unfair, schools aren't a babysitting service.

Utterly selfish.

tigger1001 · 08/01/2021 20:01

@studychick81 work harder..... if only!

I was sitting at my desk by 6.30 ( in the office, so leaving the house at 6) this morning as I have been all week, and have been working 12/13 hour days not sure how or where I fit homeschooling in. I'm not alone in that. Will also be working over the weekend. I'm not sure that even if my kids could start their homeschooling at 7.30/8pm that they would be getting anything of quality from me.

You may not buy it, but that's my usual reality for January.

They could move the deadlines but so far they have refused to do so. So we have to assume that the deadline remains and work towards that date.

tigger1001 · 08/01/2021 20:06

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

The time for schools to crack down is when they decided at the start of the week who would get a place. Set the capacity- choose who fits the requirements and fill to the set safest level.

That's exactly what's happened in my area. Not all key workers got a space in some areas and priority (rightly) was cat 1 and 2 workers and cat 3 workers getting any leftover spaces

bravoy · 08/01/2021 22:51

Why do people have kids if they don't like being with them?

🤦🏼‍♀️

and then

Why do so many think they can put rude comments and not back them up.

Hypocrite much.

Casiloco · 09/01/2021 07:18

I'm an IFA and cannot work from home. I also need to be working at certain hours - because that's when the insurance companies, platform providers, etc etc are working. My clients who are moving house, have just lost loved ones, need funds from their savings or who are retiring need me to help them with their finances more than ever at the moment!

So, yup financial services staff are key workers

merrymouse · 09/01/2021 08:04

I wonder how many people are under pressure from their employers to take up key worker spaces because the government guidelines suggest their children could be in school?

Parker231 · 09/01/2021 08:13

www.bbc.com/news/amp/education-55579711

Headteacher now seeking clarification

merrymouse · 09/01/2021 08:25

But the response from the government implies that they want schools to offer places to all ‘critical workers’:

"Schools are open for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. We expect schools to work with families to ensure all critical worker children are given access to a place if this is required.

They don’t seem to be making any effort to help teachers.

‘Vulnerable’ children also includes children without access to space to work or a laptop, so it’s really easy to see why some schools are over 50% full.

ragged · 09/01/2021 08:33

I feel dismay at the outraged jealousy in the threads debating whether lots of people are 'keyworker' enough to be "allowed" to send their kids in. Remove that envy and there's barely anything left to say.

Thisbastardcomputer · 09/01/2021 08:50

The type of accountancy I do now can easily be done at home, but I've worked for some companies that what I did, it wouldn't have been possible.

Xenia · 09/01/2021 09:03

If perhaps even most children are critical/key worker children then surely the solution is a school operates as normally and the very few without a parent who is can watch the lesson live streams where that is possible. If the child has no computer or wifi the state has now said they can go to school. In this way we might be able in a sense by the backdoor but lawfully get almost all children back to school and schools working as normal.

Parker231 · 09/01/2021 09:07

Xenia - why would we want most children going to school? The point of them being closed to the majority is the reduce the transmission rate. If the numbers don’t go down I can see the lockdown being extended further. After yesterday’s dreadful numbers I can’t see things changing in the short term.

merrymouse · 09/01/2021 09:19

Rightly or wrongly, what Xenia suggests is the logical outcome of current government policy. I foresee another U turn.

wonderup · 09/01/2021 09:21

@Parker231 so what do you want to do with the kids of key workers & who are vulnerable?

studychick81 · 09/01/2021 09:26

[quote tigger1001]@studychick81 work harder..... if only!

I was sitting at my desk by 6.30 ( in the office, so leaving the house at 6) this morning as I have been all week, and have been working 12/13 hour days not sure how or where I fit homeschooling in. I'm not alone in that. Will also be working over the weekend. I'm not sure that even if my kids could start their homeschooling at 7.30/8pm that they would be getting anything of quality from me.

You may not buy it, but that's my usual reality for January.

They could move the deadlines but so far they have refused to do so. So we have to assume that the deadline remains and work towards that date.[/quote]
The accountants I know took it up in the last lockdown too which wasn't the busiest time. Plus January is only one month, are they at their busiest feb and March too. Well the people I know who were working PT or FT and trying to do home schooling got up early to work, worked in the evenings and caught up at weekends. Why are accounts special that they can't do that too? It's a shit situation, yes they had no downtime, yes they tag teamed all week. There is no reason those who aren't front life staff can't do that- it's just what needs to be done.