To refuse overseas work trip?

[Bumbleumbo]

Posting here for traffic..

I work for a large global company and each year over 200 employees from around the world meet for a conference in the US. This moved to virtual in 2021 but the will be back to in person this year, with a 6 night, 5 day trip planned next month. I don’t want to go. I’m worried about catching Covid whilst I’m out there and get stuck in quarantine. I’m a single parent to three children and my ExH is unable to have them anyway due to health issues.

I am obliged to travel overseas as part of my job and I’m expected to go. Travel wasn’t an issue pre-pandemic, however so much has changed over the last two years and childcare support is a challenge. Isolation could mean getting stuck in the US for weeks. Can I refuse to go even if it’s in my contract?

Idbe interested to hear your company's position on expenses for being delayed overseas due to covid. Does their insurance cover you for full medical care, in US or just basics? As well as dependant cover at home? Overseas travel
L is 1 thing but extended time away from dependants is something else.

@TrickorTreacle

It's in your staff handbook that got given to you when you first started.

Maybe in 1992 🤣

Wait and see how things unfold.

It might get cancelled.

The situation re Covid will evolve.

In my jobs involving international travel, it would be a very bad mark to refuse.

But your situation is tricky.

If I were your line manager I'd be sympathetic due to the kids...but I'd probably also suggest you took a role without international travel as your next move.

I would speak to your manager. I’m also in a global company with international travel that’s been on hold - and in our case, still is. An exception would definitely be made for you (and no consequences) because of the quarantine risk when you have children.

In your shoes I would be looking to move job.covid is really not the point here. This job requires some travel and really you cant do any. It's not the right role for you.

If it's a feature of your job you can no longer do, I would start looking for a new job that doesn't involve global travel as it's going to constantly cause you stress as a single parent. I only took the promotion I knew would involve global travel when my youngest turned 16 for that reason. It is so so stressful trying to rely on others when you are a single parent so huge sympathy to you especially with your ex so unwell and therefore not a reliable source of support!

In the meantime, I would be honest and say that your back up childcare option is no longer available and you're really sorry but you can't do global travel for the foreseeable future. It sounds like it will keep popping up so it's better to deal with it head on. People's circumstances change and this isn't anything in your control and there is bound to be a virtual option too.

Your contract was agreed in a world where there was not a global pandemic and a serious chance that you could be quarantined and unable to return to your children.

I think it unlikely that your company would be able to dismiss you for breach of contract given the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic. But I'd be interested to hear from someone legal about how the pandemic impacts existing contracts.

Personally, I have used Section 44 of the Employment Act to tell my employer I would be working from home when they tried to bully me into coming in when there were Covid cases in the office!

There were over 1 million daily infections in the us yesterday, it’s insane to consider going to a conference atm.

Have you had covid already? Your kids?

Do you think your boss would understand your concerns?

@BellaChagall

I'm shocked at how many people are suggesting faking covid. It's unprofessional and unnecessary. Talk to your management and/or HR OP and discuss your situation.

You know what's unnecessary? Sending people around the globe when it can very easily be done remotely, both from a covid perspective but even more so from an environmental perspective. It needs to end.

And I imagine several people here have professional roles, and senior ones to boot. They just don't find it acceptable to be sent thousands of miles away to very likely sit in a hotel room ill a couple of days after landing, especially when they have family at home that need them.

Wineandsprite I don't disagree with you. I'm just saying that there is no need to fake illness. Any major corporate worth its salt would not expect unnecessary international travel from a single parent during a pandemic. OP needs to talk to HR.

I don't disagree about the unnecessary international travel either, but some posters are behaving as though the OP is trying to get out of a pub meal.

Mind you MN is full of people who resort to lying as soon as a challenging situation comes up.

You can try talking to them about the concerns you have about covid and possible isolation delaying your return beyond the contracted time but the going away to a conference is part of your job, it's not their issue that you have childcare issues so tread lightly. Even if they make an exception this year you need a plan for the future, international travel isn't suspended for ever

@BellaChagall

Wineandsprite I don't disagree with you. I'm just saying that there is no need to fake illness. Any major corporate worth its salt would not expect unnecessary international travel from a single parent during a pandemic. OP needs to talk to HR.

But that's it though. They don't tend to give a damn about these sort of things.

My company even lied and said that government advice had changed and we were all to start coming in again, weeks or even months before it actually did change back in 2020. They just don't care about the well-being of their employees.

When you signed the contract which stated overseas travel would be required, it was with the understanding that those days would be defined & known in advance so that provision could be made for childcare (or other responsibilities).

The issue is that it is likely that your contact only says overseas travel is part of the job but doesn't specifically state that you will still need to travel if the dates are uncertain.

I think it would be a good time to ask for your employer to now clarify the terms of your contract.
Expecting you to be able to travel with a possible unknown return date is akin to expecting you to be available to work with no notice.

It's clearly unreasonable of them to expect you to do this and the issue needs to be raised so it can be clarified.

Your employer is a complete arse if they don't understand the position you are in.

@Akire

It sounds really tough but if your ex health means he can’t ever have kids then long term a change of job could be on the cards. Unless it’s incredible well paid that you can have a nanny for week each time you need to go. You can’t just never travel with the job if that’s a vital element unless they agree to change your contract. If they highly value your skills and experience they may agree to do that but being sick before each trip will soon have you in trouble

This. You can’t hold down a job that requires travel if you can never travel.

You need new childcare or a new job.

@ilovesooty

Don't do what *@Totalwasteofpaper* suggests if you want to retain any professional credibility.

Exactly. It's sad to see so many people telling OP to lie.

@DeepaBeesKit

In your shoes I would be looking to move job.covid is really not the point here. This job requires some travel and really you cant do any. It's not the right role for you.

Errr, Covid is completely the point. The OP states she was able to travel pre-pandemic, when she could arrange childcare.

It's also 'sad' and in my view 'morally bankrupt' that so many employers are willing to disregard their staff's health for something that does not have to take place in this way. Not to mention the disregard for her family due to a situation that has only recently arisen, isn't her fault and is beyond her control.

If employers could be trusted to do the decent thing in circumstances like this, I wouldn't say lie about it. Unfortunately they often can't and don't. Women in particular who have caring responsibilities often get a raw deal from managers and saying you can't do something because of childcare - even if it's an 'extra' and not absolutely essential to your role - puts you in the bad books. Plus HR are going to prioritise what senior management want. They're not on your side. So in OP's position, I'm afraid, I would join those saying stay quiet and, if needed, regretfully test positive just before departure.

*This. You can’t hold down a job that requires travel if you can never travel.

You need new childcare or a new job.*

The OP didn't say this, she says she is worried about getting stuck out there in quarantine.

Posters on this site frequently slate employers so much but then sometimes it encourages people to do morally bankrupt things and then wonders why employers take a hard line with staff.

Exactly. Employers then treat everyone like unethical liars and everyone suffers. It's really depressing. If you have one work-shy chancer on your team you have to take the same hardline with everyone as they are also invariably the person who makes complaints and escalates everything if they don't get the same flexibility (even though they try as hard as they can to never be there and the other employees actually show up).

@TheOrigRights

When you signed the contract which stated overseas travel would be required, it was with the understanding that those days would be defined & known in advance

An employer can never guarantee being able to do that.

Sadly even before the days of Covid travel plans, especially those involving travel over long distance, were vulnerable to disruption due reasons various.

Seems an utterly ridiculous idea for a company to stick ALL their employees in one place for 5 days with COVID about. A recipe for a very large number of staff absences all at once!

Yeah, travel plans have always been vulnerable but not to the extent that they are now. Previously short term delays due to weather, strikes etc could occur, but with Covid people were trapped out of my country for over 18 months. There were still flights but very few available spots, very expensive etc. In March 2020, people didn’t see that lasting so incredibly long.

It doesn’t matter what someone’s person risk assessment towards getting covid is, it’s a fact that borders have been closed at short notice, severely effecting travel (in Australia that included borders between states). No one wants to go back to that but if another variant is more severe, I expect it would happen again.

Definitely talk to HR. I think it’s nuts they aren’t already planning to do it virtually. You won’t be the only one with concerns.

[quote notimagain]@TheOrigRights

When you signed the contract which stated overseas travel would be required, it was with the understanding that those days would be defined & known in advance

An employer can never guarantee being able to do that.

Sadly even before the days of Covid travel plans, especially those involving travel over long distance, were vulnerable to disruption due reasons various.[/quote]
Well of course there are no guarantees, but covid could currently cause very severe disruption to a significant number of people.

I think it's reasonable for employers to not lump the current pandemic under the usual disclaimer.

I wouldn't go. I know of a well known international event that didn't go ahead before Xmas because the majority of the 100 people organising it went down with covid 1 by 1. That many people you are pretty sure to get it. 1 in 15 had it in December. Ormicron is so so transmittable the chances of not getting it now are incredibly slim. I feel for you as a single parent with unwell ex that would make me vary scared to go too because of the consequences of getting ill