Employer suggests buying extra childcare to cover school closure?

[FeminismandWomensFights]

Our primary school is now remote teaching for two weeks. My team leader at work suggests we pay for extra childcare, or take annual or unpaid leave to cover this time. I will take annual leave to cover days in this week while I work something out. Unpaid leave isn’t an option.
Where would I stand with work if I just refuse to buy in extra paid help to cover this time? I work part time within school hours and use the after school club when I need to, which is affordable, but that’s shut while school is closed.
Apart from the massive increase in childcare costs that I haven’t budgeted for, if I do find an all-day babysitter or childminder for several days a week at no notice, I am a bit worried about the contact with them. Local schools were closed because of this much more infectious variant. I work for a public sector employer so we can’t access furlough. WWYD?

Keyworker status is not the deciding factor whether you can be furloughed or not (although most keyworkers can't incidentally as their jobs are needed). There are also plenty of non keyworkers that aren't being furloughed. I think that's a dangerous statement to make that if you can't get furloughed you may be a key worker. It doesn't correlate at all.

OP sorry but I think your employer is right and I think it's quite reasonable of them to have given you the choice. If you can't get childcare in time the only other option is leave whether that's paid or not depends on how much annual leave you have. It's not feasible to work with a child in the house

It's expensive but there are online babysitting agencies who will send you a babysitter who can care for your children in your home while you're working upstairs. It depends on location, though...where we live, there are plenty of great babysitters available, usually with nursery experience.

We did that during the first lockdown when I had a deadline I really needed to meet and it worked well. The other thing you can do is place an ad on childcare.co.uk stating what hours you need and what you're willing to pay and you might get a response.

We have an almost 3yo and I have two part-time jobs. Had nurseries shut, my plan was to resign/take unpaid leave from the less flexible one and get a babysitter in for some hours in the morning so I could continue to do the other one.

In the end, it's unfortunately a calculation of what will be best for your family. Is it worth paying in the short-term to secure your job in the long-run? Or is there no other option financially than to struggle through, even if your employer is unhappy and it puts your job at risk? There are no easy decisions.

You don't say whether you are wfh or not or the age of your dc. Its not as simple as buying extra childcare if there's no services that offer it, let alone have the spare cash to pay for it.
Not sure what you mean about refusing those options, surely if you don't turn in work you are opting for the unpaid leave option? 1 week unpaid isn't ideal I agree . Do you have any friends or relatives who can help out the second week or a child from school you can look after this week and they return the favour next week?
Its an absolute shit show for working parents at the moment your situation is far from unique unfortunately

What did you do the first time around?

Can you make. Childcare bubble with someone else in the same position this week and swop children etc - so you only have to take half the annual leave?

I am in no bubbles. Will get no school place, this is going to be my only hope - but finding someone who is going to want to my youngest as a swop will be nigh on impossible!!!

Thanks for the tips everyone. Sorry that others are in the same stressful crappy situation. I found and forwarded on civil service policies from GMB and PCS union websites to my manager that says special (paid) leave should be made available in a childcare emergency specifically due to coronavirus. Our manager hasn’t discussed that so hoping we can get it on the table. I’m also trying to set up a childcare support bubble for next week, swopping care with another parent like Poppystars suggested. We can isolate until then while I’m using up annual leave.

If you are public sector are you classed as a keyworker?

Agree with childcare bubbles as not many people are aware these now exist.

Do you/can you WFH?

Will employer offer flexi time working either through making time up in 2 weeks or working outside contracted times if tasks can and will get done?

I just want to add i find the whole public sector cant be furlough for childcare but private can so unfair. The suggestion to juggle your hours around is also only sustainable short term if you're going to stay sane! 1st lockdown nearly killed me, working from home with an 18 month old, DH doing the same and juggling childcare and work between us meant regularly starting the day at 7am, working at nap time, couple if hours while dh watched her and vice versa, but still having to work after bedtime and regularly not turning work computer off until 9.30pm, by the end of the 12 weeks I was exhausted, near breaking point feeling like a rubbish mum and a rubbish employee.
I hope you get something sorted, do you have a union could you speak to them? there's loads of articles on people management daily which is part of CIPD about the current discrimination against working parents being expected to do what would have previously been considered unrealistic.

@FeminismandWomensFights are you able to post links? I'm also stuck in the trap of being a public sector worker so not eligible for furlough, but also not a key worker so not eligible for a school place. Dh exactly the same.

Various unions’ websites seem to offer links to civil service policies which the civil service public webpages do not. Lots of civil service Covid-19 policies are linked to here via GMB:
www.gmb.org.uk/network/public-services-section/civil-service-noticeboard/civil-service-covid-19-working-office-reopening-documents

PCS host one specifically covering parental leave including the paid special leave- If you just google ‘PCS’ and ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) - HR Policy Guidance FAQs - version 7’ it brings up a link to a Civil service HR document. I don’t know if version 7 is the most recent version, you’d have to ask a civil service person that, but might be enough to point management towards for now as an example of paid leave as a result of school closures and lack of childcare.

Joining a union seems like it will probably be the quickest route to sorting it out though.

Anyway the relevant quote from that civil service HR document, outlining the principle, if not the detail is:

Q. 8.2. What if an employee has to take special leave because of school closures?

Following announced school closures, line managers should be fully supportive of employees, considering flexible working arrangements, including working from home, adapting working patterns to care for children. If an employee is required to take time off to care for children due to school closures, paid special leave should be applied.
[DN - Departments to include a link to the School & Early Years Closures guidance and the Annual Leave & Flexi leave section, and Leave scenarios].

@FeminismandWomensFights thank you, that's really helpful. I hope you manage to get sorted.

Civil service here also, my who area of the civil service are classed as key workers so have access to the letter confirming to give to schools etc, but we did also have guidance on reimbursement of childcare costs due to coronavirus. Don't know what area of the service you are in but maybe worth going through all the guidance and see if this is in there. Also union if your in to push your case for paid leave
Hope you manage to get something sorted either way

My job comes under Defra and they've said:
Tamara Finkelstein on Defra intranet "If you have children at home due to the closure of schools, please discuss available options with your line manger to identify the best way for you to balance your childcare and work responsibilities. These could include varying work patterns, working flexibly and sharing caring responsibilities with others. Where there are no other reasonable alternatives, Special Paid Leave will be available."