To think I can WFH 9-5 in the holidays with my kids at home

[TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl]

I recently started a new job where I’m based at home full time. Was a bit nervous at first not going into an office as I’ve only ever had office based roles but I’ve found a good rhythm and routine and we meet in big city once a month so I’m happy with that.

I was off through February half term but I don’t want to use all my holidays too soon. Obviously Easter holidays are coming up. My kids are 6&9. Holiday clubs not only cost a fortune but the kids absolutely hate going to them. I can get family childcare for a couple of days and DH can take a couple of days off bit WIBU to keep them at home while I work? They’re old enough to entertain themselves i’d just need to make their lunch and check they’re still alive.

For context - I know people at my new work who WFH on half days with their 1yo babies there. One of them was late to a meeting the other day because the health visitor was round!

Yup, all my work is on laptop and commuting was pointless. Going all that way wasting money, being unhealthy just to work on a laptop.

all these people saying they’d dictate to their staff they must be in an office etc are the kinds of people/companies I’d never work for because I like to work for companies that see their staff as actual people not robots

Yes. No doubt they will start struggling to recruit.

It depends on sector I suppose and how valuable your skills are. As many employers begin heading back into the office remote or even hybrid roles become more competitive. Personally I'm all for flexibility and for those who find it preferable wfh should be kept, but there is more trust involved and some people do take the mick.

Some of these respones are hilarious! You've really upset some people OP 😂 2 days wfh with the kids who you've said are perfectly capable of occupying themselves (mine wouldn't be at age 8, 8 and 10 but every child is obviously different) is perfectly fine, I'm assuming everyone else thought you were implying 2 weeks not 2 days!

The trick to improve systems that don't allow mickey-taking. If you can't tell how productive someone WFH is being - ie they don't have quantifiable workloads that need to be done by specific deadlines - you probably don't have a good business model, and presenteeism won't change that.

@lazycats

Thankfully I work for a company that's treats me like an adult who can manage their own workf load and I don't need monitoring tools to prove how much I'm doing. I have objectives set out each year and if i didn't deliver those it would be obvious I was slacking, no need for Spy ware!

I have regular meetings during the week and daily catch up with the team, they know I'm there working.

The minute you start intense monitoring staff is when they will only work to rule and you lose all respect

If you can't trust your employees to work from home then you shouldn't have employed them

Oooh you're loving that little power trip.

just because they're home, it doesn't mean she's entertaining them FGS

Roll eyes or not, they’re absolutely correct.
If I found my employees were spending paid time entertaining their kids, they’d be back in the office the following Monday

I expect your employees would fuck off and get themselves another job with a boss who does understand flexible working and doesn't try to treat them like children.

Yes I have worked for those places before and it’s a total nightmare.

I once worked in the public sector and I’d been working in another location. This was on a Thursday, I didn’t work Fridays and someone else who used my desk on Fridays needed my laptop - so I had to drop it back.

Because of the length of drive back I swung by to pick DD up (then 4) from after school club first as I’d otherwise be doubling back on myself and wouldn’t have made it in time. So I got to the office at 5.15 (I clocked off at 5) and a few people including my boss were still there martyring themselves. I obviously couldn’t leave DD in the car so she came in with me whilst I literally put my laptop back in the docking station. Some colleagues cooed over my DD as shed just started school and was in her little uniform. My boss looked furious.

I got a bollocking the next day. Even after explaining why I had no choice and how it was outside of office hours. Apparently it’s inappropriate to bring children into the office no matter what. I was and said that at the request of the organisation I’d been working 50 miles away and I couldn’t leave her in an empty school or in the car for the sake of not bringing her into the office. DH couldn’t do it either as he had to pick DS up from nursery. I asked what she expected me to do and she said “Not bring your child into the workplace”. She knew I had children (I’d been on maternity leave!!!) I’m not sure why she wanted me to hide them or leave them in unsafe places so she wasn’t exposed to their existence.

I applied for new jobs the next day and within 2 weeks I’d handed my notice in and my boss was utterly perplexed and sorry to see me go, apparently.

My workplace has us all working on Sharepoint and you can see on the shared dashboard exactly what documents people have been working on and the times. I imagine that if people weren’t popping up consistently as working on the documents there would be questions

The comments on here make me want to get my staff back in the office full time.....

That’s how I read the original post originally. It makes a difference, two days and two weeks.

And that’s a shame because surely not all your staff take the mickey, and not all of them have young children?

As a counteract to the posts demanding that women have the right to work from home take a look at this current thread
www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4765923-the-future-of-schools-with-no-teachers-kids-in-a-hall-on-screens?page=6&reply=124755125

Why would anyone choose to be a nurse or teacher when so many women appear to be able to work from home, nip out to take the dog for a walk or to collect kids from home? Recruitment levels for teachers are at an all time low and the OP (not me ) is concerned that the Govt is pouring money into online learning.
Surely what is sauce for the goose etc? You cannot campaign for a law to insist all women have the right to work from home (hybrid or otherwise) and not expect it to affect other sectors

And the recent discussion in Parliament about records of absenteeism amongst school kids are at a record high because most parents 'work from home' on a Friday so treat it as an extra weekend day and keep their kids at home.

Pupils missing school on Fridays as parents are at home, MPs told www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-64875643

There's a reason why it is called working from home and not childcare from home. For older children we would permit it occasionally in an emergency. For younger children you must take time off paid or unpaid. What you are proposing would, at best, you moved to full time office working; it could be a disciplinary or dismissal. That's in the "cushy" public sector.

But the people to ask are not randoms on the internet. You ask your employer. Because we can't dismiss you for it but they can! If you daren't ask your employer, that's because you already know the answer.

The fact that parents working from home is being discussed in Parliament because of the absenteeism it is causing in schools, is a red flag to parents who think they can combine working from home and childcare.
Parents who discuss it on MN must be aware that these kind of threads are monitored by outside agencies. As long as parents insisting on their human right to work from home realise the effects this can have on all areas of society, including recruitment of key workers.

the OP (not me ) is concerned that the Govt is pouring money into online learning.

@anexcellentwoman am I?! I don’t ever recall saying anything of the sort. Unless I’ve been posting in my sleep

If you worked where I work then you would have to sign to say that you weren’t looking after children while working - if they found out you were looking after your children then your employment would be terminated

You aren’t being paid to look after your children

I must have been asleep through the last 2 years as I didn’t realise ‘work from home Fridays’ was an actual thing (didn’t in my job I had before this one). Why is she saying “Parents are at home on Fridays” - since when? And I can’t see from that article any evidence to suggest that’s why people aren’t sending kids into school. Totally bizarre!

Why is it a red flag to discuss WFH in the school holidays ie nothing to do with absenteeism.

Anyway I started this thread some time ago but thought of it the other day as I made an impromptu call to a colleague. We’d both been adding notes to a document, and because we were doing it at the same time there were a few crossed wires so I thought it’d be easier to speak in person. She took the call with her gorgeous toddler sat on her knee.

And another reason because today DH booked Center Parcs for him and the kids for one week of the holidays so I can work. We are also getting work done to the house now in that week so it’s much easier if they’re out the way and this felt like a great solution.

But I don’t work where you work.

Odd day here and there fine. 4/ 5 days a week, miserable for all concerned and I think you’d definitely need to explain to your work. Maybe your kids will be happily playing on an abacus together but mine would have either been glued to a device or involved in a wild game full of shouting and rows. I can’t really imagine even the best behaved 6 yr old enjoying this set up.

Agree that you need to find better holiday clubs. Mine hated most of them but loved coding clubs or ones where I knew their friends were going too.

There is a lot of evidence in the BBC news report about Government concern that the trend for WFH on Fridays has led to significantly increased absenteeism amongst school kids. The BBC is simply reporting from a Parliamentary debate about this effect of parents being home on Fridays.
The other point I am making is that with the HUGE demand on MN for mothers to work from home and supervise their kids is having a significant effect on the number of women applying to be teachers and nurses or other key worker roles. Which is the point being made in the other MN thread about the prospect of more online learning from home as it gets harder and harder to recruit teachers.
The Government has to monitor the consequences of more and more parents seeing it as their right to work from home. The fact that they are discussing this in Parliament shows that they are aware of the knock on effects of this on education and recruitment of key workers.