Employee wfh without childcare

[goteam]

I manage a small team of 6 and one of the staff members joined the company 2 years ago and moved into my team during the first lockdown.

The job is home based and this person has had lots of training but doesn't do the amount of work required. The manager from the other team which the employee moved from said that she suspected she was wfh with her young kids present but she didnt feel she could touch the issue.

Is it not ok to suggest that a full time employee has full time childcare and that this does not breach employment law?! This employee is rarely at their desk as far as I can tell. Never answers the phone but will call back half an hour later, wont reply to urgent emails, ignores requests for work which I have to then pick up.

I know things were difficult over lockdown with childcare (same here) but my own managers are worried about me raising this and say things like 'I would be careful about it'. Other staff are getting a bit tired of picking up the slack and most of my team are parents too and paying for childcare.

Can the company send a general message out? Our did saying that although it had been acceptable during lockdown now childcare options were more widely available it should be used and wfh with young children who need supervision was not acceptable and any exclusions would need to be agreed directly with a line manager

If she’s not doing her job then you need to investigate the reason why and start from there,

There is no need to mention childcare at all but rather have a performance conversation with her - tell her what you've said here - she needs to answer calls ASAP, calling back a half hour later isn't acceptable nor is taking time to respond to urgent emails.

Do you use things like Google / Outlook instant messaging? My team would send a quick message to the group on that if they were on a call and someone was trying to get hold of them - it wasn't done as a trust thing but rather to let the person know not to keep trying to get in touch, but it did also mean the team knew they were at their desk and just unable to answer the call at that time.

If she’s not doing her job then you need to investigate the reason why and start from there

This. It should be treated as a performance issue - because it is. She’s not doing her job properly abs it therefore requires a performance review.
And let’s face it, no one really would care about any childcare issues if the work was being done in a timely fashion

Why do you need to be 'careful' about it? She's underperforming. This is a management issue. 'You do not respond to emails and telephone calls in a reasonable timeframe, are not performing to the point your colleagues are covering for you - it seems you are undertaking child care when you should be working. This needs to stop and I'll give you xx weeks to sort this. I'm also putting you on a performance review effective immediately.'

Or just fire her for gross misconduct if you believe she's shirking and looking after her kid if that is against your policy.

Performance issue to be raised and find out what's going on.
I do think it's unfair to say other people are paying for childcare and she isn't it, there could be several reasons why she's not.

It doesn’t matter why she’s not doing her work, she isn’t. Go at it from that perspective.

Well whatever her reasons she isnt doing her job properly so you can start there. You dont even have to mention childcare. Bring up her lack of responsiveness, lack of presence at her desk. Ask her why. Performance Manage her.

We have this issue and have had advice as above, managing the person out for performance issues and not mentioning childcare. Essentially so much money was saved during the lockdown that they decided not to return youngest into childcare.

I would

1. point out the performance issues
2. ask her outright if she has childcare.

Is there an option to make her come into the office?

You can manage the performance without speculating on the reasons for it.

I would be putting her on a PIP, clearly settling out expectations and pointing out where she falls short. You can ask her if she has everything she needs to do her job and what support she needs.

If she brings up childcare you can point out that this is a permanent WFH position and we are no longer in an emergency situation, she needs to arrange appropriate childcare to cover her work hours.

@FeatheredHope

If she’s not doing her job then you need to investigate the reason why and start from there

This. It should be treated as a performance issue - because it is. She’s not doing her job properly abs it therefore requires a performance review.
And let’s face it, no one really would care about any childcare issues if the work was being done in a timely fashion

I agree. No need to mention childcare. Some things can be done as and when you have time, other things need to be done NOW, and she has to understand that if she can't do that, then she is not doing her job.

Yes, I think the performance is poor in spite of lack of childcare but this compounds the issue. PIP is my next step but I was just concerned that her previous manager and my seniors are scared of touching the childcare issue as I would have thought it is obvious that it is a large factor in the underperformance. Thanks. All

There’s no need to tiptoe. Its perfectly acceptable to require an employee to have childcare in place.

If there is actual reason to think she hasn’t got childcare in place, ask her, as part of a conversation about her performance not being satisfactory. It’s a perfectly legitimate question.

It's a 9-5 desk based job so while I agree that as long as the job gets done it doesnt matter so much when it's done, there are Skype meetings etc within office hours. Also the work isnt getting done!

It’s fine to ask how the wfh arrangements are going

I have children hone this summer but still I do more than is expected in a pressurised job. They don’t impact on my performance but I have a strong work ethic. It doesn’t sound like she does?

Thanks Flowery. I'm just a bit spooked by my seniors bring so reticent on the matter. There have been a few grievances against managers here (I dont know the details) so they are very risk averse when it comes to pulling up employee performance and happier to let others pick up the extra work. I'm trying to undo this culture but dont really have my own manager on side.

Our company makes it categorically clear that you cannot work if you have young children (excluding during lockdown) and if you have a sick child you CANNOT be working. What is the issue your managers think might happen?

If you know that she doesn't have childcare in place, then I think it's perfectly OK to raise it. If you just suspect that this might be the case, I would focus on the issues with her performance and see what explanation she offers. Then address it from there.

@stillcrazyafterall

Our company makes it categorically clear that you cannot work if you have young children (excluding during lockdown) and if you have a sick child you CANNOT be working. What is the issue your managers think might happen?

How did they tackle the issue during the first lockdown when childcare was impossible? Did they furlough?

Sorry....I see you said excluding. I read including. Whoops!

I frequently find myself without childcare these either isolating for test results of the fact that breakfast clubs/after school clubs are restricted. Even though we are out of lockdown, where I am is def not back to normal.

However I make the time up elsewhere or my kids are on iPads/in front of a movie if I need to take a call/be in a meeting, they’ve gotten quite used to it. My work would rather I got some work done than just didn’t work at all tbh.

I work absolutely fine and meet my deadlines though. I suspect childcare is not the primary issue here, more of a red herring covering poor performance in general.

I don’t see how you can accuse her of having no childcare. It’s purely suspicion and hearsay.

But you CAN let her know her performance is not up to the level expected and you can ask her why / what she suggests would help her improve.

I’ve had a WFH team - well before the pandemic - that required the person to have childcare. It is allowed, and I’ve had to enquire about arrangements on occasion, too. Thankfully my team were pretty good and would let me know if something had happened that meant their child was at home, and we could see how it’d effect performance.

Our company makes it categorically clear that you cannot work if you have young children (excluding during lockdown) and if you have a sick child you CANNOT be working. What is the issue your managers think might happen?

That seems rather close to the line of them overstepping.

They can insist you do the work, they can insist you are available, they can insist you maintain professionalism in meetings, it really is bugger all to with them what your childcare arrangements are.