Asked to say “Key worker”

[Spaceshiphaslanded]

Context: I worked at a large food manufacturer. I work in a head office department with a home based contract. In March I worked from hone with 2 small kids - I just worked through the night, it was exhausting.

This lockdown I have said I will home school 4 hours and work 4 hours, but that’s it - I physically can’t repeat March.

My company’s response has been to issue key worker letters to enable the kids to go to school. My role is not producing food even though that’s what my company does.

It’s feels very immoral. Is there consequences for doing so? I feel disappointed that this is the companies response. I don’t know what to do.

Your company can’t force you to give the letter to the school. If you feel you are not a key worker, don’t take up the provision from school.

However if you normally work full time your company isn’t obliged to let you reduce your hours.

Obviously one would hope employers would be supportive of employees having to manage homeschooling, but if they discipline you for not being available, or for not completing assigned work, the circumstances will be your defence.

I believe it is what the company does rather than your individual job, as you are all part of the same machine so to speak. So admin staff and estates, for example, at a hospital are keyworkers as they keep the hospital running. Producing food is essential for the country so you play a part in that. As such I would say you are a keyworker, unless your job is irrelevant to the company in which case I would be more concerned about being made redundant. Nothing immoral as far as I can see?

The consequences I suppose are risking your dc catching Covid through increased interactions and spreading it elsewhere.

I don’t see anything wrong with this tbh.

I think the question is what is the alternative? Are work willing to furlough you? Do you have enough leave to take some hours each day?

Will they agree to cut your hours or do you risk losing your job?

Is their Dad about? Could he have them a couple of days a week so you can work a full day a few times a week and then work around them the other days?

You're a key worker - just because you don't physically make the food, presumably you're part of the cogs of the company?

You can't just say you're working 4 hours a day and expect your employer to swallow it!

Your employer is correct.

Key worker status is for all workers in certain industries, not just front line staff. The back office roles are essential to keep the front line working.

Food production is vital and you need to be able to do your job properly.

I'm an HR keyworker. My organisation is in social care. Those of us in the offices, HR, IT, accounts etc have just as much a role to play in keeping services running as those directly helping the service users. I dont need any key worker privileges myself, but any employee who did but refused to use them, choosing to fail to do their job properly instead, is going to have a very hard time justifying that.

We need food. It's one of the absolute essentials of life.

I have an office role in a food manufacturing company too OP and I understand the guilt as you aren't exactly on the front line, however I work in HR and Payroll and I'm the only one in the business who does. Therefore, those who are actually producing wouldn't be doing so for long without my input, which is their pay and knowing their rotas etc. I'm a small cog in a big wheel, to keep the supermarket shelves stocked.

Could you ask your employer for flexi furlough, allowing you to work part time hours and receive furlough for the remaining hours instead? Will depend if you can do your full role in the shortened hours at the moment though?

The government defines key workers as including those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery. As others have pointed out, support staff such as HR and payroll are also covered as, without them, the business could not operate. Your employer is almost certainly correct in classing you as a key worker.

This has eased my guilt considerably. Thank you all.