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.

I think it would be fair enough of you to explain this to her?

Sounds like she's taking the pi55

It is actually easily done hours-wise, depending on school distance, drop of times and working flexibly.

Primary school could be as close as the end of their street.

Making up time could include taking shorter lunch breaks, longer hours on the days the kids have activities or go home from school with a friend, evenings when they are in bed and even part of the weekend (get ahead of the week on Sunday).

The issue with your employee is they are not meeting their objectives and performing well in the role. I would focus on that.

Until this year my DC were in ASC until 6pm every day and that's how I managed - drop them at school, home and in front of my computer by 9, work through, leave at 5.35 to collect them. Now I get DD1 from secondary and collect DD2 on my way back - I'm out from about 2.50-3.40 but do it as my lunch break. They're 8 and 11, so perfectly capable of entertaining themselves for a couple of hours.

I have had to address this at work too, particularly when arranging in-office days. We nip it in the bud quite quickly; whilst we're flexible in an emergency (sick child for example), it's very clear from the outset that while people are being paid to work we expect them to be available to work - in the location of our choosing (we work on site a lot so it's reasonable that it could be anywhere in London). Annoying that it's been allowed to go on for so long unaddressed; I can't see how she's either working her hours or alternatively having any work life balance if she's also with her children from 3.30.

Then surely you need her to specifically outline her available hours. I work reasonably flexibly but it is clear from my email signature and diary when I am or am not working. When not meeting objectives, I would expect her hours to be specific and constant from week to week. That’s perfectly reasonable even for a performing colleague, a greater level of flexibility than that can surely only be afforded to those that meet objectives?

what reasons does she give for failing to meet objectives?

Is part time available to her if she cannot meet the committed hours?

I think it would be possible. School opens at 8.30 so I’m easily working by 9 and leave at 3 for collection which takes 30 mins round trip as staggered by age. So that’s 30 hours if I work through lunch and then 1 hour or so a night while the kids are at clubs or when they are in bed etc. However I don’t do this as I go to the gym at lunchtime and don’t want to have to work when they are in bed. I use after school club and share pick ups with their dad.

I can't see how she's either working her hours or alternatively having any work life balance if she's also with her children from 3.30.

Problem here is the lack of performance not she has children from 3.30. Yours must be very young to not see how you can work with children at home. DC1 comes home herself and won’t even speak to me until I call her down for dinner. The printer is in my home office and she lets herself in my office, takes her printout, closes the door again without saying a word. DC2 is 10 and I still pick her up at school. But I get back to my home office the moment we get home. She makes herself snacks and practices her instruments or does homework herself. Her instruments are also in my office and she comes in and takes them out without needing help. I have a background in teams so they don’t even appear on my screen if I have a teams meeting. They are old enough to know I’m working.

Some on here will make us believe they wake at the break of dawn and start working.
Their young kids fend for themselves, getting up, getting dressed, breakfast, brushing teeth and only need being dropped off 5 minutes away.
Get back to work 2 minutes after drop off.
Same for after school, pick up, kids fend for themselves quietly, homework, snacks, play time, tea time, bath time, bed time.....

Pull the other one!

@Treesandsheepeverywhere school run doesn’t mean the kids are young. I drop my 13yo in the morning at school to save £2 bus fee. It doesn’t cost me £2 petrol. I would be very worried if a 13yo isn’t able to do ‘getting up, getting dressed, breakfast, brushing teeth’

I do 30 hours and do all the school runs/after school activities and could easily fit in an extra 5 hours a week, I work 8.30 until 3. Drop DC off at breakfast club at 8 get to work for 8.30 then leave work at 3 most days and pick them up for 3.30. If I needed to do an extra 5 hours I could use after school club a few times a week or log in for an hour or so every evening or some weekends. It can work and many do make it work

@Treesandsheepeverywhere i wake at 6:30 and get myself dressed, (I prep a lot the night before).
I then log on at 7 o’clock, at 7:30 I wake up my kids. They are nine and 11. 10 to 15 minutes later they appear dressed and teeth brushed. Whilst I’m working in the kitchen because that’s where my desk is, I turn on the oven and put on croissants or I put waffles in the toaster or I set out the cereal. Depending on what they requested when I woke them up.
I keep working while they eat their breakfast and get whatever else they need to get ready for school. I have a meeting at 8:05. I log onto that meeting and at the same time I complete the lunchboxes (that were mostly done the night before) once my meeting is done at 8:20/8:25, I log off and I drop my kids to school. It’s not impossible and it works very well at my house.

I started work at 5 the other morning, mine are older now so I don't need to take them anywhere but I don't know why you think people are lying about it .

As I mentioned in the body of my post, mine are 11 and 8, so can (and do) fend for themselves. But the OP said the person in question had three under 8 - who are presumably too young to be left alone for a long period.

And that's fair about lack of performance, although in some industries being present is a measurable metric also relevant to performance. My team are client facing, so not being available for a good proportion of the working day to their clients and wider user base would be extremely problematic in and of itself.

It sounds like she's running rings round you all and has been for a while.

If her output is low and she is missing meetings this should have been addressed - because it hasn't it's given her the go ahead to do what she wants. (I know she's new to you etc).
No respect from her at all.

It drives me mad, I work so bloody hard 5 days/ eves and some of that is wfh, managing kids home and work and some people like this woman just take the p*ss.

I have a friend who worked 25 hours a week and did about 10. We'd meet up in the half terms, me on AL and she'd be laughing about her 'working' and being paid while we out for a day.

She was tactfully sacked after 3 years which is no surprise.
She doesn't like her new job as they manage her well

You need to approach this from a supportive angle rather than questioning.

Oh shit! I’ve been rumbled!!

Do people actually sit at a desk for 35 hours and work? I've never managed it even when I was forced to go into an office five days a week. Always found some way to faff about for some of the time. As long as I get my work done, no-one cares how many hours I work to do it.

Just kidding… I only have the one, he’s a tot, but I am really worried about how I’m going to managed 35 hrs work week in the not too distant future - I hope I have decent evening clubs my kids actually interested in

I find I get lots more done at home when I’m in work people are constantly asking me questions. And then someone stops to talk to you and that leads to a conversation you could easily waste 10 minutes per hour talking to people about random stuff or answering their questions on things that have partly nothing to do with you but you’re just a person that seems to know the answers. When I’m at home, there are literally no interruptions except for when I have a meeting on zoom. I get way more done and I don’t feel any way guilty that I have to collect my children.

And I work 39 hours a week, not 35.

Sounds an absolutely awful way to live and work to me but you do you.

Hence saying young kids, not those who can look after themselves.

I say it as I've seen it. Used to live with one of these "super humans" who could juggle it all, except the reality was she really wasn't.

You can't look after kids and work effectively.

Working from 6am or earlier, using breaks for pick ups, working till 10pm, when do you spend time with the kids/family then?

Lots kidding themselves to suit their agenda.

Why would you be working from 6am to 10pm? Even if you take an hour for school drop off and don't work between your children finishing school at 3 until the other parent gets home at 6, that's still a 12 hour work day. And you've had 3 uninterrupted hours with your kids.

This is why once the DC are at school pt hours are a bit of a swizz, thats before you get onto the whole pension/ career advancement debate.

I went ft when the DCs were in year 3 & 6, I was encourage to do so, my boss explicitly said that working ft gave greater flexibility. Pt is ok if you have a job share but just dropping hours especially if 4 days a week usually means same work for less pay.

So those of you saying you are logged on at X time are forgoing any time to make and eat breakfast and are working right through lunch and are not taking a lunch break so aren’t taking even taking 10 minutes out to make and eat lunch etc etc. We all know if you are eating a sandwich or a salad you can only type one handed and it takes twice as long to type an email etc.

Similarly school pick ups always run smoothly and exactly to time you don’t have to park up 15 mins early to get a space, you never get stuck in traffic, you never ever chat to another mum, your DC always leave school on the dot every day they never got held back for 5 or 10
mins, you or your DC never ever want something from the shop on the way, or to drop anything off, your DC never ever need or want your attention for anything ever once home etc.

Bad work habits developed during covid have continued and got worse.

You can see how much time from the working day is lost and why employers are cracking down on WFH.

Well they were young once! I start early and then obviously im finished early, so I'm done before end of school pick up.