Can you request furlough? I could cry

[Cantstopwontstopeating]

Hi,

I’m not sure if this has been asked so apologies if it has. But can you request furlough? I was furloughed last year for about 4 months when we were in proper lockdown- then worked from home. I know their is so many people in this situation and a lot of people worse off but I just can’t manage working from home and parenting at the same time.
I just say managed the first time as it was quite new for us both (4yo) but he’s had to isolate twice since September and each time has been a nightmare. My job requires me to be on zoom meetings/calls most of the day and my son is too young to understand. He is ok playing on his own for an hour or so,’il set him little tasks etc but then soon wants my full attention.

He is an only child and I am a single parent with nobody else to help me. He’s finding it hard anyways and being overly clingy with everything what’s going on. The last time in November when he isolated my manager gave me a warning about how my standard of work was slipping and could I lock myself in a different room. I know il not be able to do my job properly and then there is the homeschooling - his school are setting activities what need to be completed everyday then sent back.

So my question is can I request to be furloughed again now his school has shut. I am literally sitting here crying, I’m just so done with this shit and the constant anxiety of it all. I am so sorry for the pity party I’m just really feeling it at the moment.

Thank you for all of the advice.

I have asked my manager and he has refused...which I think I was expected. Just said I need to manage my time and don’t let my standards slip. If only it was that easy with a four year old grumpy child haha.

Thank you everyone I’m off to cry 😭 xx

Your employer sounds an arse. I can understand the issue with furlough applied here though.

Your job is not mothballed, the work is still there, the employer still needs someone to do the work.

Can you work in the evenings or weekends part time at least? You need some kind of flexi-working pattern agreed I think as a first step to release the pressure. Then your mum could help on her off days with your dc.

Hope this may be helpful OP www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/coronavirus-if-you-need-to-be-off-work-to-care-for-someone/

Just said I need to manage my time and don’t let my standards slip.

Right. You need to stop being a wet blanket about this.
Tell your manager the extent of care that a 4 year-old requires, that it is dangerous to lock them in or out and that they cannot be prevented from interrupting you. This is not about home schooling being incompatible with work, this is about basic safe childcare being incompatible with work. It sounds like that message is not getting through. (If your manager has no children he or she may not actually realise how much oversight a child that age needs, I would not have before I had one!)

Also, you need to pin down exactly what is meant by “standards”. Is this number of hours worked, ability to meet deadlines, ability to talk uninterrupted to third parties, time taken to complete tasks, attention to detail in work? Are there parts of your job that could be done when your child is in bed? Can he help manage the expectations of other colleague re meetings being interrupted, deadlines having to be extended etc?

There is no point being vague about what your issues are, or allowing your manager to make broad statements like “manage your time better”. Push for a detailed practical discussion and make sure that it is all carefully documented. Do not be a pushover here.

@Lemons1571

Bloody hell. Your manager has suggested that you lock yourself in a different room to your 4 year old leaving him unattended while you work.

Speechless. What the fuck is happening to this country.

My thoughts exactly.

If someone came on here two years ago and said their child care provision was locking themselves away in a different room to work whilst their young children were left to fend for themselves then that arrangement would have been correctly called out as child neglect with a need for social services to get involved.

But hey now it's all perfectly OK???

By the way your manager sounds like a complete wanker and if you get the chance of a better job in future do hesitate to leave him in the lurch.

I'm sorry you're facing this, employers really need to start understanding the reality of this situation rather than just demanding the impossible and putting people in the situation of either losing their job or neglecting their children.
This is not a normal situation, it's not like it's something you've chosen, it's been thrust upon you as much as it has upon them, so they need to start being a bit more flexible and understanding.
I agree with a pp who said you need to be straight with what they're telling you to do and how that can't happen. Can you change your working hours at all so you're working when your mum is there/you're staying with her, and for a few hours in the evening when he's gone to bed.
Employers shouldn't be allowed to just demand everything continue as normal regardless of the shit show around them, everyone has been and will continue to be affected by this.

@Cantstopwontstopeating

Hi,

I’m not sure if this has been asked so apologies if it has. But can you request furlough? I was furloughed last year for about 4 months when we were in proper lockdown- then worked from home. I know their is so many people in this situation and a lot of people worse off but I just can’t manage working from home and parenting at the same time.
I just say managed the first time as it was quite new for us both (4yo) but he’s had to isolate twice since September and each time has been a nightmare. My job requires me to be on zoom meetings/calls most of the day and my son is too young to understand. He is ok playing on his own for an hour or so,’il set him little tasks etc but then soon wants my full attention.

He is an only child and I am a single parent with nobody else to help me. He’s finding it hard anyways and being overly clingy with everything what’s going on. The last time in November when he isolated my manager gave me a warning about how my standard of work was slipping and could I lock myself in a different room. I know il not be able to do my job properly and then there is the homeschooling - his school are setting activities what need to be completed everyday then sent back.

So my question is can I request to be furloughed again now his school has shut. I am literally sitting here crying, I’m just so done with this shit and the constant anxiety of it all. I am so sorry for the pity party I’m just really feeling it at the moment.

You can request. They can refuse.

With regards the school work, I would write and say that you will do but will not be guaranteeing daily returns. Hwiever, if you say that you'll perhaps use the weekends for some of the activities that require you to support more and leave some of the other activities for when he can manage more independently.