Can work force me to ask grandparents to watch the kids?

[Lifeisconfusing]

Iv been furloughed as I have 3 kids at home,dh works away Monday-Friday, so no childcare.

Since 4th July am I right that grandparents can Now look after your children? Problem Iv got is one set have health conditions and feel it’s too soon and the other side work (nurse+teacher) if work call me and tell me Iv got to come back what will I do ? It’s not very clear to me what my rights are. Thanks

SophieLeGiraffe But the situation IS different from 3 months ago re childcare. You can now have people in your house. You can do exactly what you have done book a playscheme, arrange for a student to help, book leave, swap with friends etc..

Is it ideal - no.
Is it completely different than covering most summer holidays - no.
Has there been lots of unfair things due to the pandemic - yes, different challenges for different people.

@SophieLeGiraffe furlough ends when the employer says so not the employee. Its irresponsible not to have even considered what other child care options there are available for when that time comes then you aren't finding child care out of nowhere.
Yes employers CAN continue to furlough for child care but they dont have too and quite frankly if the business has suffered due to covid why should they? If you are being returned from furlough its because the company need you actually doing the job your employed for!

Man, people have some right bitter and jealous feelz about this furlough thing. Definitely the new benefit scrounger

Hope you get sorted OP.

OP, I’ve had to resign from an extremely high paying job and I’m about to start a job working from home. I’m a single parent with no support, so I had no other option.

Can you juggle it? Maybe ask for a week working from home before you physically go in, get dp to take 2 weeks leave, then teacher grandparent does a week, then you take 2 weeks leave?

I keep reading here about people on furlough due to childcare. Seems like OP has been exceptionally lucky.

I know lack of chilcare is one of the reasons to get it but I don't know anyone IRL who has been able to go on furlough for that reason. All people I know have to juggle work/homeschooling/childcare.

@Mumratheevergiving

jldy2020 it's hard to keep up with what is and isn't allowed! bumblingbovine49 shared a useful link workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/coronavirus/

Assuming you are in England:
Can I leave my children with a family member or friend if I don’t have childcare available?

England: According to social distancing guidance in England, from 4 July, two households will be allowed to meet indoors. This means that informal childcare can be provided.

Enjoy your maternity and I hope your families get to spend more time with you and you baby soon.

Thanks @mumratheevergiving

I thought using grandparents for childcare was only allowed if social distancing can still be maintained. 2metres or 1metre with masks. So I thought grandparents could care for older children, but if you have a younger child or baby who needs help eating, toileting, nappies changed, comforting etc, then that would be against the rulers so to speak.

Have I misunderstood?

I should add unless either grandparent lives alone or the parent is the only adult in their household then they can create a bubble and be within 2 metres. But if you have two grandparents and two parents they have to maintain social distancing.
That's the way I've taken the info?

Try also looking at this from the perspective of the taxpayer
What on earth does this mean. I am a taxpayer, of course I look at it from that point of view as well as many others

Would you normally expect the public to pay someone's wages while they don't work over summer? . This is such an unspecific question I can't answer it. It would depend on the terms of contract, the reason for the non-working (maternity leave, sick leave, carer leave?, career break) . I would expect both the employer and employee to to abide by the law and the policies of the company in question. This is true for furlough as well.

With the exception of people shielding and those who work in places that are still unable to open then if work is available people need to return to their jobs. This may mean employees need to be proactive in arranging one of the many options of childcare mentioned above.

Nowhere have I disagreed with this. I have at no point said the op should not go back to work. I have said the tone that was used in replying to her by many posters was bullying. Also telling her not to even speak to her employer about it in case she 'makes it too difficult for them' is not something I agree with either

The op will need to make some arrangements in order to get back to work, . That doesn't mean she is responsible for whether the business can afford things or that she should not investigate her rights and try to find a way forward that works for her as well as for her employer. In the end if the employee is not fulfilling her obligations, she can be fired, that is a hell of a lot more power than the employee has against her employer.

Of course I understand that employers are under a lot of strain and
I think expecting to wait until September to go back is way too much to ask, if the employer wants July for instance.

However, asking for an extra week or two of time to make arrangements for childcare (in whatever format, furlough, annual leave or unpaid leave) is in no way 'taking the piss' . It is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for if you are asked to come back earlier than expected. The employer may of course still say no but until you ask you will never know and I would never judge an employee for asking.

Update. My work advised me today that they are ending furlough for all staff from the 1st August. Iv arranged to go back from the Monday 3rd as that’s my 1st working day back. Iv found a lovely club for one day and managed to get the other two days with grandparents. They are happy to help from August which is great! I am so great full to the government and my work for the support Iv been given.

Thanks for all your ideas/comments and support good and bad. I know it’s been such a challenging time for us us especially all the key workers having to juggle so much. I wish you all well XX

@dairyfairies I have been lucky.

@Isthisfairornot I wish you well

I always find it puzzling these threads where people ask who will look after their primary aged kids. What do you do in school holidays? If grandparents what if they are unavailable?

Are people being deliberately obtuse? My parents normally have my young DC in the school holidays for a couple of days a week. I take some leave. This covers my part time work.

One of my parents is extremely vulnerable to Covid. So should not be providing childcare. So that is my childcare gone. That's what I normally do in the school hols and Covid has put paid to it. Dc are 3 and 4 so too young for every holiday club ive looked at. All child minders are booked up.

I always find it puzzling these threads where people ask who will look after their primary aged kids.

they might use holiday clubs? Not sure if you noticed that a pandemic is doing the rounds though? None of the usual clubs near me is running. I imagine it is similar elsewhere and just not enough child minders around to cover the gap. Of course millions of working parent won't have access to their standard school holiday childcare. what on earth is puzzling you exactly???

When mine were primary age we used a combination of summer camps and DC’s going to their grandparents in Canada. Neither options available this year.

I always find it puzzling these threads where people ask who will look after their primary aged kids. What do you do in school holidays? If grandparents what if they are unavailable?

Holiday clubs, swapping childcare with other parents ect.

However with the grandparents thing, and this is really dark but I do something think it what if they die?

Plenty of people have a baby intending to use grandparents as childcare instead of nursery or through school holidays so parents can still work. But what if they die when the child is 3 or 6 or tommorrow? COVID aside (which is awful no doubt about) but old people die out of now where all the time. It's obviously a tradgedy but do parents who have no option other than grandparents because they can't afford childcare/time off ect have some contingency plan for the rest of the nursery/primary years and holidays if grandparents die or go into care?

Many grandparents aren’t old. My DC’s spent some of the summer holidays in Canada with DH’s parents. DMil was a teacher and had the long summer break. When DT’s started school she was only 62 - hardly old.

@GlitteryFluff

I thought using grandparents for childcare was only allowed if social distancing can still be maintained. 2metres or 1metre with masks. So I thought grandparents could care for older children, but if you have a younger child or baby who needs help eating, toileting, nappies changed, comforting etc, then that would be against the rulers so to speak.

Have I misunderstood?

@GlitteryFluff that's the way I took it too, which didn't make sense to me as you can have paid childcare but not relatives looking after them. I'm still a bit confused 🤷🏻‍♀️