How do I handle this?

[Aquestionofwork]

I work slightly different hours to my contracted hours in a small company where my boss is the owner. This was agreed with my boss from when I joined and is based on childcare arrangements (I'm single) and the length of my commute.

When remote working was introduced, so was a daily, compulsory video call involving the whole company, and that worked fine for me while I was wfh, but it was scheduled at a time that wouldn't have been possible for me to attend as a meeting if we were in the office.

We're now returning to the office (compulsory) and my boss wants this meeting to remain in place, at the same time of day, and expects me to find a solution.

His suggestion is that I dial in. I can't legally join a video link so would just have to be on speaker phone, whilst driving, while everyone else is there in person, and I won't be able to see any of the information they are all looking at on screen. This puts me at a huge disadvantage.

I accept if it happens at a different time of day that impacts on other people as the meeting relates to the day's work.

I'm not sure why it's my job to find a solution, or what that solution would be. Any tips on how I should handle this?

I have to do teleconferences. Couldn’t you drop off and then park somewhere with ok 4G phone signal, use your phone as a hot spot and dial in as a video participant. Then continue your commute to work.

It might be that delaying this meeting would delay everyone else’s work start so wouldn’t work for others.

When you started did you apply for flexible working through the official route? If not then I'd recommend doing that now, and either requesting WFH or adjustment to hours stating both these have worked in the past.

Alternatively could you suggest the meeting happen at the end of the previous day rather than the start of the current day? Or is it dependent on information that's not available until the morning?

That way everyone is involved in the meeting and able to come into work at whatever time suits and start straight away without waiting for the meeting to happen.

Beyond that all I can think of is a nanny, but that's going to be dependent on income.

@SeasonFinale

You're another one who has not read that case properly.

They were not ordered to pay compensation for refusing the flexible hours. They had to pay compensation for refusing to consider it, following the outline procedure for considering flexible working requests.
If they had followed procedure, and told her no then they would not have found themselves in a tribunal.

Employers can refuse flexible working if the business needs wont be covered. But they cannot refuse to consider a request properly.

That company also withheld commission the woman had earned by securing sales because she was on maternity leave when the sale actually completed. They also made derogatory remarks about her pregnancy, maternity leave and being a mother.

It is a totally different case with no relevance here.

Could you WFH in the morning and drive in on your lunch time?

Knackering but at least you would be suggesting a solution?

You need to get a nanny to come to your house and take your children to school.
As very few hours you will need to pay more than the normal rate.
A nanny job near me that is alternative weeks only is paying £25 per hour rather than the normal £12.50 for our area.
Being a single parent is hard and not fair but it seems to me you need to be at work for this meeting and not driving in. Alternative is to find another job.

Sorry just read again and not sure if you are a single parent? Can the other parent do the morning school run ?

OP, I take a pair of siblings once a week at 7.30 and drop them at school with my 2. The oldest sibling is in the same class as my oldest, that's how I met the parents. We live in a very small town with absolutely no before school clubs or childcare and childminders are limited so getting one just for a before school slot is not possible. Once a week, their parents are both needed at work and there was no way round it. So they kids get dropped with me. I'm happy to do it; it has no affect on my life at all.
Do you have anyone who would do that? Without thinking you were being cheeky for asking?

Fuck me, what sort of company needs this. The staff must be sick of it.

so was a daily, compulsory video call involving the whole company

It is hard to make suggestions without knowing what the timings are and what you mean by contracted hours and standard hours and what hours you are doing. I think you need to explain the timeline, when you drop off, when the meeting is, what hours you would normally work.

It the meeting is falling within the hours you normally work, then it does sound like this if for you to solve, your employer has already offered the option of dialing in, why can’t you make that work?

Not RTFT

Could the meeting be rearranged so that it occurs when everyone attend?

or
Could you attend the meeting via teams/zoom then go into the office (e.g. stop the car and do it on your laptop/device)?

@GillBiggeloesHair

Fuck me, what sort of company needs this. The staff must be sick of it.

so was a daily, compulsory video call involving the whole company

You'd hate my company then. We do a daily call (it's only about 10 minutes) per team. I work with 4 different teams. It's actually a really useful way (particularly if people are not co-located) to have a quick catch up to understand what everyone is doing and for people to raise any problems/questions that they have. I wouldn't have said daily meetings were particularly unusual?

(OP has said she works for a small company so I'm assuming it's a pretty small number of staff in her call).

I don't think you doing it while you drive is a solution - as you say you'll be at a disadvantage and come across as really unprofessional if this is how you do it daily, entirely unfairly. I agree with you that moving the meeting seems the only reasonable solution if you're a key contributor. But also, if you're senior, can you push on whether you really need this daily meeting at all? What is actually supposed to achieve and is a daily meeting really necessary to do that?

No way should you be calling in whilst you're driving. That's not safe.

Honestly if you've already suggested the meeting is moved then at this point I'd just say that you can't make the meeting at that time in the office, it falls outside of your agreed working hours, so you won't be attending. If it was possible for you to be there at that time, you wouldn't have needed to agree the change to working hours that you did.

If they want you there they'll change the time 🤷‍♀️

For those saying "why should they change it to accommodate you" - when I went part time, my department moved their weekly standup to a Tuesday morning instead of a Monday, just to accommodate me. It's obviously not quite so logical having your weekly briefing midweek rather than at the start of the week, and I was only a junior member of staff, but you know, we're a team so...

I have daily standup meetings and think they are a great idea.
Any issues are made visible first thing.

If you don't get in until 10 or 9.30, it would make sense to hold the meeting then

In our place meetings are held after the latest person's start time - I think they should be changing their timings especially as you are a main contributor.

We also have daily team meetings at 8.30am (for one team) and 9am (for another). I need to attend both. Depending on the nature of the work you do, meetings like these can be vital at the start of the day. Moving them to later in the morning can impact other people's deliverables so it's not always as straightforward as moving the meeting because someone starts later.

OP hasn't said what time this meeting is and what her hours are so hard to help without that.

I'm not sure why it's my job to find a solution, or what that solution would be. Any tips on how I should handle this?
Because you are the one who has difficulties in getting to the office for that time.

How old is your DC?

I know I am rejecting all suggestions put forward but it's because they aren't workable solutions and not because I'm being difficult. My boss doesn't actually question my work ethic and knows I'm a hard and dedicated worker.

As happens quite a lot on mumsnet, lots of suggestions, and OP doesn;t like any of them

Your choices are
a) they change the meeting time
b) you wfh for the meeting and then go in - either do an extra 45 in the morning to cover the commute, or work in the evenings/weekends
c) you get an early morning childminder/nanny
d) you move closer to work, and have your dc go to a closer school