missing meetings on days off

[twittergirl]

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone can advise me on where I stand legally on this issue.

I work 4 days a week, one of these is from home. Within the company that I work for I am a specialist in my subject and the only person who does what I do, so there is no one else who can pick things up when I'm not there.

Recently lots of meetings have been scheduled on my day off/working from home day that really it would have been very useful, arguably essential for me to have been in. When I question this I am told that meetings have to be scheduled to suit the majority of attendees/project timelines and if I can't make it I will just have to catch up later.

I guess what I want to know is where does the responsibility lie? Given that my employer has agreed to my p/t hours, do they have an obligation to ensure that meetings I need to be in happen when I am in the office?

Or, given that I have requested working hours that are unique to me, is it my responsibility to ensure that I can get my work done within these hours, and just put up with it if it means I miss some important meetings?

If anyone has any advice or is in a similar situation it would be great to hear about it.

Hi,

I'm not a HR person but I don't think legally you can do anything. If they are scheduling meeting to suit most people that would be there defense. However, if you feel they are treating you different due to your circumstances you can make complaint to HR.

Sorry not much help. I'm going back to work in June on a 4 day basis so I'll see how I get on too. Dreading it!

H

Who actually organises the meetings? It is worth impressing on PAs etc. what your working arrangements are. Often they are thoughtless, not doing it on purpose.

To be honest, twittergirl, I have to say that you should count yourself lucky. I work 3 days a week but am told that I must come in on days when meetings are scheduled. I have to pay a premium for childcare, and I don't get paid myself, though there is the promise of time-off-in-lieu (I have more of this than it will ever be possible to work). It is a monumental pain in the arse. I have found that managers don't much care, but a quiet word with the PAs is helpful.

I work a 4 day week and often find meetings happen on my day off. I go to them but I am always asked if I can make it. It is a small business though and a number of us do not work 5 days so others also take their turn to come on their day off.

I am not sure how you stand legally, but I know that the goodwill is more important to me than missing an occasional hour of a day off. I might well feel differently if it presented me with major childcare issues though.

Not a legal issue, I don't think. If you're the only expert, though, I'd wonder at a company taking decisions on your subject without you.

On your days off, nothing to be done, but even if you're working from home, you can still participate by phone: it's pretty easy, really.

I had an email today saying I was expected at a meeting out of my working hours.

I emailed back saying I couldn't make it - not being difficult but couldn't get childcare (I did explain that).

Count yourself lucky - I would find someone who'd been at the meetings you haven't attended and they'll probably sum up the important bits in a sentence or two

It's not clear whether you think the meetings would have been useful for you, or useful for the company in that they needed you there to conduct the meeting/make appropriate decisions effectively?

Scheduling meetings to suit as many people as possible rather than organising them round one person is fine. I'm assuming the meetings are arranged by a PA or someone, in which case I agree have a word with him/her and say that if at all possible, could they be on your working days at least some of the time. Most people try to be accommodating if possible. I always finding schmoozing much more effective than making any kind of fuss...!

It doesn't sound as though your manager or whoever actually thinks it's desperately urgent for you to be there, so it's more about you thinking it's a good idea and sorting it out. No one is trying to make you come in on your days off or anything. You could conference in as mentioned below if you feel it's important and schmooze whoever organises the meetings into arranging it round you where possible.