Feds: OPM policy on childcare and dependent care during work hours

[Anonymous]

Hi Feds! Where can I find OPM's policy on childcare and dependent care during work hours? I thought the Administration had ended the pandemic flexibilities.

[Anonymous]

Why? are you trying to rat someone out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why? are you trying to rat someone out?

+1 why do you care

You have to get your work done. Sometimes I have a sick kid at home and I try to get some things done and join calls, which is actually to the benefit of my team and my employer.

[Anonymous]

As I’m sure you saw via Google, the policies are agency specific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why? are you trying to rat someone out?

Exactly, stfu up you childless busybody.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? are you trying to rat someone out?

Exactly, stfu up you childless busybody.

+10000 if you ever have kids I hope it comes back to you ten fold, karma and kids is a b.

Btw I know the policy for OPM and my agency and sometimes I have sick kids or I have babysitters w the sick kids or I have grandparents and guess what I still want to work. So my children have dedicated childcare and they’ll still be screaming in background sometimes coming to give me a toy or a grandparent asking where the medicine is. And I still do my job wonderfully and on time and if it’s something where my butt isn’t at the desk for full time I take leave. So don’t be under impression we don’t know the policy or are taking advantage when you don’t have kids.

[Anonymous]

So now we see who the people that are cheating the system are. Ladies, we can hear your babies crying and kids whining in the background. I get that it's summer and I had my kids home for a week earlier this summer, but during the school year you have NO excuses. Nope, we know your kid is home full time and not "home sick". You can only get away with that excuse so many times before someone figures it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So now we see who the people that are cheating the system are. Ladies, we can hear your babies crying and kids whining in the background. I get that it's summer and I had my kids home for a week earlier this summer, but during the school year you have NO excuses. Nope, we know your kid is home full time and not "home sick". You can only get away with that excuse so many times before someone figures it out.

You must be a troll and a bad one at that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So now we see who the people that are cheating the system are. Ladies, we can hear your babies crying and kids whining in the background. I get that it's summer and I had my kids home for a week earlier this summer, but during the school year you have NO excuses. Nope, we know your kid is home full time and not "home sick". You can only get away with that excuse so many times before someone figures it out.

Love the "excuses for me but not for thee" example, nice. BTW a baby may cry audibly even when a nanny or other caregiver is present and dealing with it.

Anyway, OP, policies are set at the agency level and they usually just say that telework is not a substitute for childcare. Some agencies have a "kids under 8 require a separate caregiver" clause, but not all agencies do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So now we see who the people that are cheating the system are. Ladies, we can hear your babies crying and kids whining in the background. I get that it's summer and I had my kids home for a week earlier this summer, but during the school year you have NO excuses. Nope, we know your kid is home full time and not "home sick". You can only get away with that excuse so many times before someone figures it out.

This affects you how? Do you really think a boss would go out of their way to write this person up? The lawsuit that would be waiting to happen by the employee.

[Anonymous]

“Ladies” [insert eye roll]. It takes more than a LADY to produce a kid.

Anonymous wrote:So now we see who the people that are cheating the system are. Ladies, we can hear your babies crying and kids whining in the background. I get that it's summer and I had my kids home for a week earlier this summer, but during the school year you have NO excuses. Nope, we know your kid is home full time and not "home sick". You can only get away with that excuse so many times before someone figures it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So now we see who the people that are cheating the system are. Ladies, we can hear your babies crying and kids whining in the background. I get that it's summer and I had my kids home for a week earlier this summer, but during the school year you have NO excuses. Nope, we know your kid is home full time and not "home sick". You can only get away with that excuse so many times before someone figures it out.

Funny, most of the audible kids I hear are in the background of my male coworkers. And yet no one assume they are the primary caregiver somehow.

[Anonymous]

Hi! OP here. For what it's worth, I have four kids under the age of 10. They go to full time summer camp and they go to after care in the school year. Our telework forms used to say the language about childcare and dependent care. Unlike other agencies, we are required to be in the office 3x a week. I have an employee who does not have childcare. I told her she had six weeks to get a childcare for the days she is in the office. We do not offer remote or telework because of childcare. This is not a case of someone who doesn't have childcare in a one off situation, like a center that is closed or someone's kid is sick. This is someone who didn't get childcare because she didn't want to incur the cost and doesn't want to send her child to day care or hire a nanny or sitter. I tried to be flexible with the employee and I have addressed it with her re: her performance. Whose smart idea was it to not require childcare? This is a liability to the agency. All summer we've had people bringing in their school aged kids or preschoolers as a substitute for child care.

I don't make the rules and I would approve people for a fully remote position, but our leadership will not allow it so a lot of people are leaving. I had talked to this employee months ago about child care, but now it is just defying not coming in the office and/or bringing in her child and distracting other colleagues (child is an infant). I have other team members who live where there is a child care shortage in staffing but we have onsite, subsidized child care with available spots.

[Anonymous]

Wait you have people bringing their kids to work in a federal building on a regular basis?

[Anonymous]

Since you’ve now claimed to be a supervisor, why didn’t you direct your question to HR?