Employer wants me to WFH looking after 1 yr old FT?

[PopandFizz]

Hi,
I'm due to return from maternity in September and had a catch up call with my boss last week and he said that we will all be WFH for the rest of the year to ensure employee safety. Fair does.
But then when I said I dont think I can get a nursery place there is no provision for this. Simply that I'll have to look after my 1 year old whilst WFH. My job is very detail based and I'm baffled at how he thinks this is an option.
Am I naive from being on mat leave to think this is wrong? Is this what people are doing?

Maybe you need to hire a nanny or have your husband take care of your child.

42BBCONEANDTWO

Have you got a trusted friend who doesn't work or wo works part time and you could maybe take it in turns to look after her child and she yours?

@PopandFizz. ^^ This. Or the suggestion about Mother's Help Or that your husband approaches his employer about flexibile hours a day or 2 a week.

You had your daughter booked for nursery so that was the plan but the it closed. But on the other hand you mention that due to surgeries, it is not safe for her to attend nursery. If it is not safe then makes no difference that creche is closed & place is gone, you needed another plan anyway surely...so the above Mother's Help, sharing with friend, husband doing his bit or a local childminder. You have 3 mths to sort & that's lots of time.

Not sure if this has been suggested but could you get even a pt nanny? I did this when I wfh with a baby. Even pt gives you a chance to get the work done.

Are you married?

In the same boat here is about to finish mat leave but also homeschooling an older DC. Plan is to wake at 4am, do work until 7, then childcare/schooling until their bedtime and then work until I drop.

We have got a nursery place but not allowed to start until september. Hopefully schools go in too but we are pretty sure with the whole bubble set up that we will be having kids around for most of next year because of the self isolation rules if kids get sick, and kids are always sick especially first year in nursery, so 2020-2021 is likely to be one week in, two weeks isolating, one week in etc

A lot of people would bite his hand off! By not commuting you get to take you child to and from nursery every day and if the child is ill etc you don't the hideous struggles the rest of us do with childcare and doing a full time job.

Get a childminder? Or a nanny?

Don't panic, childcare is opening now, my son went back this week after 10 weeks of working from home with him. Its been a reallly difficult time, my partner and I have had to share out the care and he has ended up having to work into the night as my job has a lot more meetings etc during the 9-5.

You have 3 months to find a nursery place, childminder, or nanny. It will be fine :)

What would your ideal situation be?

You could also look at taking the last 3 months of maternity leave, its unpaid but then you dont have to pay nursery fees.

You can at least start ringing every single local nursery and childminder and put your name down.

Do you have a local Facebook 'chatter page'? Our one is fabulous.

The trouble is you've already decided this is all your responsibility by saying your partner cant do anything because hes got the higher paid job etc. That's not a reason for him not to share the childcare as everyone is in the same boat. If I were you I would look for a childminder or a nanny even if it just covered part of the day, then split the rest. The baby will probably sleep quite a bit as well.

The suggestion of your partner taking some leave is good too, my partner has been taking 1 day a week and so have I so we both got a day of uninterrupted work done.

Unfortunately this is what people have been dealing with. I have colleagues with toddlers I can hear in the background of calls - it's not great that they're not getting the attention they need. I'm astounded at how responsive my colleagues with babies and toddlers have managed to be.

But on the flipside - by Sept, hopefully nurseries will be open, so you may be able to work from home while using nursery too. That's better than being forced back into the office.

That’s interesting as all my friends seem to have the dh doing most the childcare but then I’m in a hospital where 80 % of staff are female!

The CJRS closes for new entrants from 10th June so furloughing you in September and claiming back a percentage of your salary isn't even an option for your employer.

If you can't find a nursery and don't think that working from home is achievable you will need to resign.

”The other options are that he says you need to find childcare and work in the office, take unpaid leave, reduce your hours or leave your job tbh.

To have an employer who is allowing you to work your hours whilst looking after your child is actually a really good position to be in.”

This. What else would you like them to do? If you want to reduce your hours you can put in a flexible working request. If you want to stay off work longer than the year you’re entitled to, you could request a period of unpaid leave.

Obviously make sure you are sharing care with your DH if you don’t want to use external childcare provision.

I can't help but agree with everyone else. If the childcare provision you had chosen is now unavailable, it's your duty to find another one regardless of the CV risk. Your childcare issue won't go away until you find a nursery or childminder, whether that's today, in September or in January.

Have you looked at every nursery available in your area? Further afield? Childminders?

And yes, many people (including me) have been WFH with small children while nurseries are closed because we had to and employers were very understanding because we were all in the same boat, but I fear that good will May start to disappear if people have childcare options and choose not to use them.

Yes, this is what people have been going - I have three young chiiidren, it's been challenging. Maybe work when baby has nap and in the evenings?!

I get the money saving expert email and Martin Lewis says

"Warning. New furlough deadline. You need be furloughed by 10 Jun (even if on MATERNITY now) to get it after. A new rule means to be eligible for furlough from Jul, you have to have been on full-time furlough for a min 3wks. So if you've not been furloughed, and may need to be, the cut-off time to start is 10 Jun (3wks before Jul).

For those on maternity leave, if you plan on coming back between Jul and Nov, and it's likely your firm will want to furlough you, they need to furlough ASAP or you're unfurloughable (yes, I've likely invented the word) later - we think this will do the job, but are making some final technical checks. You'll usually still stay on maternity pay until that ends though, see maternity furlough for more"

Link to maternity furlough: www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/04/employed-help-coronavirus-furlough/?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=02-Jun-20-50616092-2847&utm_campaign=nt-hiya&utm_content=23#matleave

Obviously though, your boss and yourself have to agree to this. Otherwise, there are lots of appropriate suggestions on this thread.

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Regarding DH, it would cost us more financially for him to lose a couple of days than it would for me to leave my job. And he is helping with the search for a solution it just happens to be me posting. He also offered for me to leave my job but I didnt want to if I could avoid it.

In regards to those asking 'what did I expect them to do' or generally making out like I'm expecting a free ride until covid is cured - I expected support. Saying yeah you'll have to WFH isnt as helpful as say, yea you have to WFH BUT you can work flexible hours/ we understand you might not be able to deliver as much work / if you cant attend calls because baby needs you that's ok... anything supportive in addition to 'yeah you will just have to WFH whilst looking after her'.
But given some of the responses from fellow mothers, I now understand that was clearly an unattainable expectation.
It's hard coming back from mat leave as it is, and in these times a little bit of extra support from my employer would have been welcome.

Thanks to those suggesting Mothers Help will look into it and the other supportive comments. Much appreciated and I'm sure I will find a solution.
Good luck to all those mamas doing it all!

”yea you have to WFH BUT you can work flexible hours”

Did you ask for flexible hours?

”we understand you might not be able to deliver as much work”

Have you discussed workload/expectations? It’s a bit early to do that yet but if you haven’t don’t penalise your employer for not bringing it up several months in advance.

”if you cant attend calls because baby needs you that's ok”

See above, have you actually had discussions about availability for calls? Do you actually have any reason to think they’ll want or expect you to bring baby to video calls? Or not to see to a crying baby?

Allowing you to work from home without insisting on childcare being in place is hugely supportive and goes way above what they have to do. Have more detailed discussions further down the line about how it will work in practice.

reading your post one could assume you were a lone parents as it seems to be only your issue. Where is the dad in this all? Just because he earns more it doesn't mean he should wash his hands off his parental responsibility. I wouldn't be happy with that.

Why is the childcare only your problem?

there are also lots of nurseries open and childminders are also operating again. You will either have to pick a nursery/childminder, work around the child's dad or get tye dad to work round your working hours or give up work. Furlough runs out in October anyways...

and your title is misleading. Your employer doesn't not want you to WFH whilst looking after a 1 year old. If you decided not to use a nursery or a childminder then this is your decision. All your employer did was asking you to WFH. What would you do if you had to return to the office? Take the baby with you?