How do you fit in 35 hours of work if you do all school runs?

[Hillrunning]

I manage someone who doesn't appear to be doing anywhere near her 35 hours a week and have been advised to get her to confirm when she is completing thoes hours.

She does all school drop off and pick ups Tuesday to Friday and very often on Mondays too. She has also stated that her children have sports/activities 3 nights a week.

I just can't see how she has 35 hours spare to work with unless doing them at very unsociable hours. While she has a partner it's made very clear that he does not support and work out of the home 9 to 5.

It would be very useful to hear from others of thier patterns if they have similar demands please.

Purple, meet Patriarchy.

You have a choice: blue pill, or red.

7-8, 9-1pm 2-3pm, 4pm- 5:30pm …. Then sometimes extra after dinner. It’s possible. It’s hard and it’s a rush… I work from home but go into the office 9-1pm. Don’t assume she can’t do it… it’s hard but possible

If I was managing her, I'd ask her to explain when she's doing her 35 hours.

I'd probably blame "them" and say I'd been asked to explain it.

Ultimately though, us she getting a similar amount of work done to other FT staff?

I drop at breakfast club at 7.30 then I'm in the office between 8am and 3.30pm (pick the children up from after school club at 4.10)

I'm actually only contracted for 30 hours but get 35 In most weeks.

I'm sorry, but I don't like wasting time, so I am not going to read every single post.

I do school runs and after-school activities, and I work considerably more than a 35-hour week most weeks. Yes, I do unsociable hours. I work bloody hard. Many people do this.

You have cause to complain if someone is not achieving what they should be in their stated hours, and they can't explain why. Framing it this way - as an issue with when they work - strikes me as pretty crappy.

What? People get paid to work. Why would ab employer pay someone not to work?

No she's not

At societal level we’ve developed after school clubs, childminders and right to ask for flexible working arrangements (eg school time hours). All these are ways to allow parents (particularly mums) to work without trying to work all hours, not do their contracted work or neglect children

As for meetings outside 10-2, 1-2 hours of that is lost to lunch breaks. So that would only leave about 2-3 hours that she could ever go to a meeting in.

Blue it is, then. 🤦‍♀️

@Hillrunning while I have no idea how she managed to get away with this behaviour for all this time, I will say that thisis the exact reason why working from home is not for everyone. people take this piss about their true working hours!!

Someone in my office uses their lunch so works from 9 then has an hour between 2.45 and 3.45 to collect the kids. I have my doubts that she works much after that time but management seem OK with it, even though its a call centre!

🤨

Its possible. I work mostly from home and do about 60% of the school runs. School run takes about 20 mins. I usually start 7.30 and finish at 16.00. Stay logged in longer if needed. I’m on top of all my targets, don’t miss meetings etc

I'm surprised your DS school allowed this. Ours doesn't allow until at least Year 5.

I do, drop off at 8 and collect at 3.30. I get to work at 8.30 and leave at 3. It works out at around 7.5 a hours a day. I do an hour or two after the children go to bed, we just have to do our work between 6am and 8pm. No complaints, I get my work done over and above what they expect.

A friend works for a bank during lockdown they all worked from home so she managed her teams remotely. Post covid many of the offices had been mothballed so she had to hire rooms in hotels for ftf meetings.

Then she was told to check all these teams for productivity and produce reports. One team were absolutely taking the mick. This was
In a deprived area with very high unemployment. She was instructed to sack them all. Other teams she had to sack the slackers.

She was very upset by the whole business. But learnt that other team members were sick and tired of carrying the extra work that the shirkers had dodged.

So you will please some colleagues @Hillrunning

I work part time because I know I CAN'T work with my child in the same room as me. Someone on my team works full time and picks up their kid and works with their child, one year younger than mine. She is less productive (it's output based) and she's getting paid more than me. So yeah I'm annoyed.

My colleague works 6-7.30 then from 9-3.

She doesn't live far from the school or the office to be fair.

As you didn't read it, this isn't my starting point. I am interested in output and performance. Both are poor. I have tried to address both but progress just isn't happening and so I'm trying to determine is it because she is so under skilled that even in 35 hours she isn't producing enough (in which case significant support and training needs to happen) or is it that she actually isn't doing that many hours so her output is in line with nunber of hours (and so needs to go part time or actually do her full hours).

Our contract clearly states WFH is working at home and focused. Very flexible as to times so if you want to start and finish early or have a longer break in the middle then that’s all fine. Or leave to drop-off/pick-up, all good. Or work some hours in the evening etc. However, expected to accept that it may not be possible to schedule meetings avoiding pick up times and that in those cases, the person has to have other person picking up and so on.

Just want to wish you good luck got someone like that where I work. I keep having to pick up her work ever now and then as she gets behind. I started to get fed up so job hunting. States works till 3pn but never talked to her or had emails answered after 2.45 2.50 states does school run in morning and has no lunch break but has two 15 min breaks a day.

Are you a Civil Servant, OP? Three days in the office, hybrid, union rep - feels like a tale as old as time.

FWIW I am, and had this issue with multiple people in my team (particularly related to Fridays). One in particular now has to be in every Friday and Monday to stop them mucking around and I give them set ‘tasks’ each day to complete and we have a 9am check in and a 5pm check in, and if the tasks are not done and there’s no good reason, I make a note of it.

It’s insane but to show you’ve tried ‘everything’ to help is really difficult and takes an age - really hope your situation doesn’t get to the levels mine has!

I'm sorry; I wasn't clear. I had read your posts, but not the whole thread.

As I said, your framing is the issue. It is fine to be concerned with performance and output. But when you frame it in terms of querying whether someone can work their stated hours while doing school runs etc., then you put yourself in the wrong.

The issue isn't what she does with her time outside of work. If she were bunking off to do cocaine in the loos, or if she were slacking by taking hours gossiping with the mail delivery lady, it would make no difference. You shouldn't act as if this is a problem specific to parents.

I often start work very early and sometimes work in the evenings. Will also work on a Saturday or Sunday morning. My boss is great and as long as my work is done he’s fine with it!
Is there an issue with her work?

Which responses make you sad because too me most of them sound just like yours. That women work hard to demonstrate to thier employers that they can deliver high quality work and so employers are happy to award flexibility and trust bac albiet in different forms for different organisations. My situation is where this individual does not deliver high quality work.

Interesting. I do think it is different because to the other examples you give I could simply remind them of thier contra3s hour and tell them they need to stop chatting in the mail room for an hour every day. I can't tell her she can't pick up her children from school. I can understand if her specific set up outlined (no wrap around care, no partner support etc) physically allows for 35 hours a week of work. Many lovely yposter have taken the time to type out reassuring and varied different ways it could work. Something she has not yet even able to do.

It it is also very helpful to hear how you are viewing my need for understanding. I've put off it being about hours for as long as I feel I could.