Asking employer to cover childcare costs

[Totupthenumberspls]

I’ve been asked to go on a business trip for a week, is it unreasonable to ask the company to pay the incremental childcare costs?

This basic fact seems to be lost on OP

i don’t see why my partner should be expected to cover it. Man or woman, in this day and age…if incremental costs are incurred for business purposes why is is so outrageous to ask the organisation to pay? he should be expected to cover it because he’s their father.

Ultimately if you didn’t want to have to travel for work then you shouldn’t have taken a job which included travel. Maybe you didn’t have children then and as travel didn’t come up you didn’t think about it when you decided to have children. But now travel has come up, and you have no idea if/when it will again, so given you can no longer meet your contractual obligations you need to start thinking about looking for a job which suits your requirements.

As for your contract containing clauses which are unenforceable, you’re very likely wrong.

I’m contracted to 4 days a week. If I was asked to work the 5th I would request them to cover my childcare bill.

@Totupthenumberspls is this coming from you or your partner? Some of the things you've said (using his annual leave, inconveniencing him etc.) make me wonder if he's putting pressure on you to sort this?

When one of us has to go away, the other will make arrangements at work or take annual leave where required. It's just what you have to do when you have kids, just like you do with school holidays or when they're off sick.

If it doesn't work for you, you need to tell your employer that, but I'm sensing that you do actually want to go?

This. Don't demand it, don't expect it but no harm in making them aware - it's an expense associated with travel that they may not have thought of, it's probably small compared with the other trip expenses (small for them but large for you), you are only asking for the extra wraparound, you aren't trying to get them to cover all your childcare while you are away.

@Alcyoneus so now I’m paying to go to work?

Then it's a flawed contract.

Are you sure you're not referring to the typical clause '... or as required by business need' or similar?

While they are catch-all, they are absolutely enforceable but need to be reasonable.

If you were in the OP's position asking for help whether this financial or otherwise would be fine as they possibly would be discriminating against you.

Actually I spent quite a number of years doing just that, as many (usually) women do. It was the short term cost I had to accept to stay in employment.

And that is fair.

My DP did that twice and got reimbursed.

And? Millions of people do just that every single day.

What additional costs? Your partner can drop and collect the children from childcare? They already attend full time, so he can sort them during the hours they aren't there. This is free, no?

The point is though it shouldn't cost you any money to go to work.

Eh? But it does cost to go to work....unless your employer is paying your commuting costs, all child/pet care, clothes etc?

Also, the OP's child is in full time childcare and has a partner. It seems like she wants work to pay so her DH doesn't have to do any additional childcare.

Just talk to the finance team about increasing your day rate to help defray the cost of additional child care expenses while you’re away. I assume you get a per diem?

If you were in the OP's position asking for help whether this financial or otherwise would be fine as they possibly would be discriminating against you.

I don't understand what you are saying.

I am expected to travel occasionally as part of my role & stay overnight. I'm a single parent so this is very challenging and has been costly.

As a result, I'll (like a mature adult) have a discussion with my manager about my capacity to travel, and prioritise what is needed. I'll explain the challenges around such travel. We have a mature conversation.

I don't expect them to pay for my childcare on the occasions I do travel. It's a condition of my employment.

So why do you think your employer should fund your childcare when you're the one who chose to have a child?

Yes it’s called paying for childcare. Millions do it to go to work.

That's different though, as you're only contracted four days.

OP's contract includes travel.

I don’t think you should be out of pocket per se. I think the issue is the concept of employer parity and the concept of a “business expense”. A business won’t be able to claim back the childcare cost, so it’s not a business cost. Depending on the size of your employer perhaps they can pimp your per diem or something, but paying childcare is unlikely as that won’t be legitimate to HMRC.

Personally, I think it would be nice if they did. But I would also understand if they didn’t.

Is your current childcare free? Do work cover commuting costs? Pay for your work clothes?

A man likely wouldn't be sorting out the childcare in the first place.

So why do you think your employer should fund your childcare when you're the one who chose to have a child?

Presumably because they value OP's contribution to the company and might be prepared to accept some of the burden society has decided is acceptable when you have children and also want to work in order to retain her as an employee.

Because if the OP decides one day it's not worth her while working because of the expense to her of doing the job and they want to rehire they might find a lot of applicants also "chose to have a child" and they are in the same position again.

My previous employer would have paid this (don’t know about my current one, I don’t travel now!).

Its not asking them to pay for regular childcare, it’s asking them to cover additional costs directly caused by having to work outwith your normal role.

Equality doesn’t have to mean your husband moves everything around to do pick ups, it could mean your employer also covers the additional childcare costs for men to travel. Not your problem if they all expect their wives to drop everything.

Contracts are limited. Your contract says you have to work from wherever they say, but I doubt anyone would agree that they could send you to Edinburgh when you normally work in London without paying your train fare!

I have never heard of this being covered, no. And I wouldn't ask my employer.

Whenever I go on business trip, my husband covers the nursery drop off and pick up (we normally split 50/50). If he has to ask to WFH to do this or other arrangements, so be it. I do the same when he is away for work.

You can refuse to go though, they can't force you, and IMO overnight trips should be kept to the absolute essential. Only you knows how they would take that and whether it would affect your career there.

You pay for your kid to go to childcare in the day as they are not school age, so both you and your partner are already paying extra costs to go to work.

This is a nonsense argument as most employees/workers have to pay to travel work, pay for work attire and other costs unless their workplace is their home.