My work won't pay or furlough me.

[Mammatomyboy16]

So I have a 13 month old son. My dad looks after him when I go to work. Since we went on lockdown my dad hasn't been able to look after him as he's classed as vulnerable. Over 70 and has diabetes. I'm a key worker so haven't been able to go to work. My partner is also a key worker so can't stay off and look after our son.

I've taken some weeks timebanking, holidays and 2 weeks we had to self isolate as my son had a high temperature but he was fine.

Anyway, my work won't furlough me. They've said if I don't come back to work next week I won't be getting paid. I've told them the only way I can come back to work is if my dad comes back and looks after him, which is risking his life and my sons life. I am furious with my work. They have furloughed other people which I understand as they live with someone who's vulnerable. But because I don't live with my dad I won't be furloughed.

I can't afford to not be paid. I can't work around my partners hours as he gets in so late from work everyday.

I don't know what to do!

What @BackseatCookers said.

OP has stated:

I don't expect him to. If he turned round tomorrow and said I'm not looking after him anymore. If either quit my job, work full time and put him in nursery or use other family members who have offered.

So it's the equivalent of that, nothing to do with what childcare choices you did or didn't make. You've already said what the options are, so there's the answer. Furlough is not indefinite and may only be weeks so a longer term plan is needed - as several posters have outlined.

No one is having a go at you OP. Just you are not listening.

You can be furloughed if you’re struggling to work due to caring responsibilities, are shielding or on sick leave.

Yes you CAN be. You don't HAVE to be. That's the whole point.

Some people think they know the facts and are giving bad advice.

Indeed

@Mammatomyboy16 I wasn't saying I had a problem with your dad looking after your child, but you now feel entitled to pay when you got a job without solid child care options.
I was also in the same situation of my job pay not covering childcare. So I left my job and DH works for us. I will go back when the children are in school.
Instead of looking at it from the perspective that you're losing money, look from the perspective that you have been gaining extra money through being lucky enough to have a relative to do childcare for free, and you will continue to gain money from June onwards when shielding restrictions are lifted.
If schools are not an option then the only option is unpaid leave unfortunately.

”I do love people who say ‘ok you just have to pay for childcare then’. Childcare for under school age children is astronomical!”

Absolutely. The cost of childcare in this country is a problem and many families struggle. But furlough isn’t there to support families who can’t afford childcare. It is there (among other things) to enable an employer to let someone who has no childcare stay at home.

The OP has childcare available, so her employer furloughing her would be fraudulent.

I'm struggling to work out the huge issue. Your dad only had him for 4 hours a day. So how many hours a week are you actually working? Presumably after travel and whatnot about 15 hours a week? I don't get why you couldn't request to work the weekend, evenings, or even a night shift over the weekend? Work a long day when your partner is off?

One minute you’re saying that you don’t want to send your DC to nursery because you don’t want to leave them with strangers/you choose to work part time so you can see them grow up (nice job trying to drag down full time working mums by the way) - the next you’re saying that you would send DC to nursery/work full time if you didn’t have your dad around

Something tells me this post didn’t go down quite as you expected.

I do love people who say ‘ok you just have to pay for childcare then’. Childcare for under school age children is astronomical!”

Which means if you can't afford childcare from the household income, then childcare needs to be supplied by the parent(s).

Nobody is saying oh it's super cheap, just pop them in nursery. If that isn't possible financially, as it isn't for huge amounts of us, then that needs to be factored into working hours and if not feasible to work and provide full time childcare, something has to give!

As if people don't know childcare costs are astronomical?! They are for everyone!

If you're doing 4 hours a day during the week, why not do two 8 hour shifts Saturday/Sunday? That will offset quite a lot of the salary gap, and there will be less commuting time too, as only two shifts instead of 4.

Take away Corona for the moment.
Your dad could have a massive stroke / heart attack tomorrow. He could be run over by a bus.

Would you expect your employer to pay for you to stay at home for the next three years until your child goes to school?

You can't rely on your dad for free childcare and must have other options in case the worst (or a pandemic!) happens.

Use this as a wake-up call that you're fucked without him as you have no back up plan and start thinking about the 'what ifs' because this could happen again at any time.

What a lot of unpleasant replies. Also what a lot of ridiculous comments about the OPs Dad. He is 70 and even if he is diabetic it doesn’t mean he’s likely to die anytime soon.

Www.gov.uk specifically mentions that employees can be furloughed if needed for childcare HERE

“Employees with caring responsibilities”
“Employees who are unable to work because they have caring responsibilities resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) can be furloughed. For example, employees that need to look after children can be furloughed”

There would be nothing wrong at all if the OPs employer decided to furlough the OP simply because she had not other way of sorting out childcare.

However, the employer can chose if and who they want to furlough.

What a load of twattish, unhelpful replies to someone who is clearly struggling. Why on earth are so many MNetters piling on the OP for getting free childcare from her Dad? Is it jealousy? I'll presume it is. Some of you sound positively gleeful that she has found herself in this position.

I second those who have said see what you can get through Universal Credit if you give up work or go on unpaid leave. It's a shitty solution, but this won't last forever.

Is it jealousy?

I'm terribly jealous. My wonderful MIL died young when DD was a baby. I'd have loved her to be able to look after DD.

That's not the point though. The point is that OP can work weekends, she can sort childcare out with her OH, she can do her key job. She wants the government to pay her to stay at home. When she's part of the way people get to eat. Supermarkets can't furlough everyone even if the country could afford it.

Beeep
This comment doesn’t apply to op. She is a key worker. If after looking for alternative care, being a supermarket they probably still would have offered a change of hours.

How on earth do you think a company, which is making money hand over fist right now could justify furloughing an employee because they didn’t want to pay fees? This could trigger a fraud investigation.

I ask him every single day how he got on looking after him and if at any moment he can't do it that's perfectly fine and I will sort something else out.

Which is??

OP has been getting free childcare when plenty of other families have to pay £1000+ a month.

OP doesn't seem to realise how lucky she's been to have that option til now.

Actually supermarkets are laying the temps off now as everything is getting back to normal

Is everything getting back to normal, supermarket, supply chain and online delivery wise?

< genuine question >

OP - perhaps I missed something or don't understand. But why don't you change your working hours to evenings, weekends or nights? Whatever works around your partner. Please could you clarify as it feels like I'm missing something here.

@Nixen

Presumably you have planned really well for this pandemic.

Any suggestions for lottery numbers?

I'm sorry you're in this situation op. It's a tough time for everyone and you're far from alone unfortunately.

I expect that your employer won't furlough you because they have work available for you, and they know that there is childcare available for the children of keyworkers.

Furlough is to protect the jobs of people who would otherwise be made redundant, or people who are not in keyworker roles and cannot access childcare.

I fear, as pp have said, that your options are to dig deep and pay for childcare or take unpaid leave. Work out which is the least-worst option financially, and do that.

@PippaPegg why do you think I don't know how lucky am I?

Oh OP you're getting a lot of shitty replies. Do people really think she should suddenly bung her still infant son into random half open childcare when there is specific government provision for people in OPs situation that wouldn't cost the company anything? He's 13 months old not 13 years! Presumably OP you've not been back at work long so your son was still adjusting to being away from you anyway.

OP MN has a lot of middle class women who either had kids later in life so their parents are elderly, or live a long way from their parents for their Very Important Work so they hate anyone getting childcare from grandparents and always assume that grandparents are forced into it. My in laws and my mum love taking care of my children and all I've heard since lockdown started is how much they miss them and can't wait to get back into routine. But on MN you are an irresponsible bad person to have anyone other than Official Childcare Settings take care of them and if that's too expensive for you well fuck you, you shouldn't have had kids. It's ridiculous. If it's any consolation they will be the same people bleating that they shouldn't have to help their elderly relatives because, hey, you can always underpay someone else to do the work you don't want to do...

Of course they should furlough you.

@mathanxiety I worked hard pre kids to ensure I had an adequate salary to afford childcare for when I chose to return to work part time. I’ve been working from home with my 20 month old, same as millions of others right now. I didn’t ‘prepare for the pandemic’ I just wasn’t relying on others to raise my child in the first place. HTH

@MondieBee

from a PP
Furlough is to protect the jobs of people who would otherwise be made redundant, or people who are not in keyworker roles and cannot access childcare.

Who is a key worker?
Key workers are the people who are still needed at work to keep the country together.

These include medics, firefighters, coppers, shop keepers, journalists, and pretty much anyone who wears a uniform or high-vis jacket to work.

Those working in supermarkets and transport are also essential.

OP has a job that is needed, so she can either do it and get paid, or quit.

There are options, but they all seem to boil down to "i'm not furloughed and its not fair" - well, life is pretty shit and unfair to almost every person in the world right now.

Sure its annoying when you see people being furloughed and they seem to be having a ball, but for every 1 person furloughed there are probably at least 10 that are worried they wont have a job to go back to when its all over (if it ever is)