Still no sign of who key workers are or two parent rule?

[Drogonssmile]

As an NHS worker whose husband earns double what I earn, if the rumours are true and both parents need to be a "key worker" for children to attend school or nursery, then I'll be off from Monday and on unpaid leave for the foreseeable future.

The idea struck me though, and I wouldn't do it myself, what is to stop someone in my situation going off sick with stress due to trying for sort out childcare etc and getting paid full pay for 6 months? (NHS sick pay).

School staff (and that includes TAs on £10k a year) will be working to support children with medical, mental health issues, disabilities, behavioural issues. Many of whom they won't have worked with before. These same school staff will be supporting children who are in daily contact with CV patients and trying to support all the children emotionally through these difficult and worrying times. We will be feeding them, nurturing them and dealing with their mental states. After that, we will be going home to do exactly the same with our own children and attempting to support our elderly parents.
It is going to be unbelievably shit for EVERYONE. So OP, if your DH has to reduce his well paid hours to look after his OWN children to enable you to do your valuable key worker role, you're just going to have to suck it up I'm afraid.

It also includes MoD civil servants.

Unfortunately at our school we would be looking at over 50% families having a key worker parent, many, many have an at home patent, yet we have been inundated with queries regarding sending children in. We would be looking at a huge attendance, many unnecessary as family care would be available, therefore defeating the purpose of closing the school except to vunerable and to free up key workers. The potential abuse of the system means school are expecting to implement a both parents key workers / single parent household with key worker parent policy otherwise due to staff absence we can't guarantee to safely staff the numbers.

It's unfair, it's already open to misuse and it's another example of the fucking shit hovel society is becoming. Parents are planning to dump their kids back at school while there is a parent or close family member who can care for them. Those who really need it will get fucked over because if those abusing it.

My brother is a structural engineer and his whole firm are now working from home. It’s taken some setting up but is doable.

Just say you're separated and living separate lives under the same roof. If you're a key worker I'd rather you were able to keep working without your household going under for it.

@Dragonboobs can I ask how they are doing that? My DH uses a fancy level to mark out points for buildings before putting the foundations in and converting this all to paper

Where do you get those no’s from btw cantkepawayforever are they guesstimates or do you work in a school and have acces to real figures? No probs either way. Just curious.

I would add expecting key workers to risk their health (in some cases) be overworked etc etc.... And also to face financial pressures seems unfair. And counterproductive if they have the option to throw in the towel. We need them. Yes it’s crap for the people you outlined but making it crappier for key workers in order to be ‘fair’ is counterproductive. Unless there are real numbers issues for schools. Hence my first question!

This morning I witnessed something that made me very cross, a parent harassing the head teacher about being a supposedly key staff member needing three children in school. I was waiting patently as she told how her part time admin role in the police force deemed her entitled.. the head calmly trying to explain he was yet to find out the full extent of what key workers were. I've been up since 3am, I'm a news desk glorified pa working all hours right now with two children with ehc plans at that school. At no point did I think I'd be entitled to a school place neither would I dare to assume. We will somehow manage and embrace home schooling. Stop this entitled shit it's really not very nice!

One parent key worker would mean Sahps sending in their children. If 50% of the children are going to qualify, please, please can we just keep the schools open and pretend it was all a bad dream?

DH works in senior management for a tech company.

All staff have been instructed to work from home since Friday last week. Staff are now starting to work from home with children also being in the household. The company recognises this is the only way to responsibly manage the current situation and has asked everyone to do their best.

I'm a key worker and can still go to work while DH does his best to hold the fort at home and work.

I appreciate this isn't possible for all industries, but I'm pretty horrified that so many companies aren't prepared to sacrifice a bit of productivity over the coming weeks to secure the long term health of the population.

@PicsInRed I don’t think I could be that dishonest but thank you for trying to be kind And see it from my side, it is keeping me up at night worrying about how I can keep my family safe whilst helping others,

@JoyceDivision I totally support what you are saying. Think people.. we need our nurses and emergency service out here right now! The admin can wait.. if it turn horrid like Italy we really are up shit street.

I think the LAs, MATs and heads will call it as they see fit at this point given the guidance is so late.

I'm a teacher - there are very genuine numbers issues for schools. Especially as children with EHCPs will still need 1:1 care, and vulnerable teachers / TAs cannot be in school.

@dannydyerismydad I don’t think it’s the worry about a few months missed productivity, if my DH company just told everyone to go home now before they have been told otherwise that would mean things not being finished thus company not getting paid, next thing we know there will be no job for my DH to go back to so another stress to add to my burden. Once the country goes into lockdown or companies told to close insurance will tide them over

Many schools have already partially closed because they cannot safely staff whole year groups - and in some of these cases, the number of eligible families (if 1 key worker would qualify) would move the number in school higher than it is today.

@Quartz2208 I totally agree with you but that is what my company are telling us as employees. That we risk facing disciplinary action if we aren't productive enough due to childcare issues. And for us financially, even though I'm on a low income, we would be better off - financially but also just practically at having someone at home more for childcare, home stuff etc - if DH, the key worker, was at home with DD, than if I had to take months and months of unpaid leave or get layed off. There will be loads of families in similar situations and they will all make the decision that is best for their family when we are talking about who can provide the best care for their child/whether they can pay their bills or not etc. Nobody is going to put themselves into severe financial difficulty by sending the lower paid worker out to work. People who are saying that people should do that aren't offering to do it themselves, are they? People expect health workers in particular to be at the mercy of society and actually they have their own needs too as members of society like everyone else.

Barbie222 I see your point but I’d hope they’d take that into account and provide accordingly via an exception. That would be ridiculous!

@Barbie222 Surely it would be possible to exclude families where there is a SAHP. Just need to provide proof that both parents are working surely?

@meadowhay nice to have a few people try and see where I am coming from. I do my job because I have a passion for helping people not for thanks or the money and this is truly an awful time and I know it’s not even at its worst yet. I want nothing more than to be out there helping and not putting more strain on staff numbers but I will put my children first and I won’t apologise for wanting to make sure I continue to have enough money to look after them

What happens if the one parent rule applies and the other non essential parent is WFH? Do they send the kids in (allowed under the rule but adds burden onto the school) or do they keep the kids home and their own productivity is reduced?

If my DH had the option to work at home my children would be staying home

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz this is our situation (or will be, soon). Our DC is under 2 and I can't really WFH at all with her present, she doesn't even let me sit down away from her. It would be so far from productive it would be taking the piss and work have made it clear that's how they feel about it (understandably) and I face the prospect of disciplinary action if I attempted that. So if nursery will take DC they will go there although they only go 3 days a week anyway. But obviously we are with a private nursery that have confirmed they have capacity to remain open for that etc so not the same kettle of fish as an LA school with limited resources.

I don't blame individuals for making the choices they are making.

I blame some companies for their inflexibility.

But most of all I blame the government for doing nothing to help families secure their incomes, nothing to help companies so that they in turn can help their staff and for still not publishing the bloody list of key workers so that schools can actually start planning how many children they are likely to have on site.

But I should add mine are 11,6 and 5 so can pretty much amuse themselves and work away on projects or work themselves that they have been set for a while