S/O Telecommuting when your kids are sick

[Anonymous]

On another thread, people say that they telecommute when their kids are sick, as to avoid taking sick leave. How do people actually do this? Do you get work done? Do your kids have to be of a certain age for this? I cannot imagine telecommuting and also taking care of my 15 month old at the time. I recently took a sick leave to take care of her, and even though I was planning to make a work call during her nap time, I used those hours to do personal calls and clean up.

Perhaps, I am not seeing the obvious, and there is a way to get this done? I would love to save up my sick leave...

[Anonymous]

This is specifically prohibited by telework rules/regs at the Fed. agency where I work.... you can either work or take care of a sick child, you can't do both.

If you can work part of the day and care for the child part of the day you should take sick leave for the latter... if your supervisor will approve. Technically, child care is not a permissible reason for using telework.

[Anonymous]

You can't. People who claim to do it are just gaming the system.

[Anonymous]

I telecommute about 80% of the time and work when my kids are sick.

They are 14 and 12 and do not need hands-on care. I think I was able to start doing this when they were 7-8 or maybe a little older - sufficiently mature so as to be able to spend the day largely self-directed, reading, sleeping, watching movies.

No way I could have pulled it off when they were younger than that.

[Anonymous]

OP here. PP, Your point about the rules is exactly the root of my question...which is why a) I would never attempt to to do this and b) don't even see how I could be accountable to email etc while taking care of my daughter.

[Anonymous]

Oops, I just responded on this topic on the other thread.

I have reviewed many telework policies in both public and private sector. Every one I have seen specifically prohibits teleworking without childcare. I can imagine a policy that would allow for it when the child is older, but I have never seen one.

[Anonymous]

I usually charge 4hrs of sick and 4 hours of telework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

They are 14 and 12 and do not need hands-on care. I think I was able to start doing this when they were 7-8 or maybe a little older - sufficiently mature so as to be able to spend the day largely self-directed, reading, sleeping, watching movies.

No way I could have pulled it off when they were younger than that.

Same here. Not a fed, but our telecommute rules state it cannot be used for instances of care of a sick child, waiting around for a contractor to do work on a house, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I usually charge 4hrs of sick and 4 hours of telework.

Do you actually work 4 hours, that is the question. I have a 15 month old and I recently took off a few days while nanny was on vacation. A agree to telework "as possible" and between the hours of 9 and 7 (when other half got home) I was able to get only about 2 hours of real work done.

[Anonymous]

I also responded in the other thread. I couldn't do this until my kid was 2.5 or 3, partly because we were really strict on TV watching until them and partly because it he didn't have much of an attention span. Now, I can get in a good 3 hours of work at a time, take a break for a few hours, and then get in another block of work time. Somethings I'll get up and start early before my spouse leaves for work, and sometimes I'll have to finish up after he comes home. And sometimes I may not get a full 8 hours in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They are 14 and 12 and do not need hands-on care. I think I was able to start doing this when they were 7-8 or maybe a little older - sufficiently mature so as to be able to spend the day largely self-directed, reading, sleeping, watching movies.

No way I could have pulled it off when they were younger than that.

Same here. Not a fed, but our telecommute rules state it cannot be used for instances of care of a sick child, waiting around for a contractor to do work on a house, etc.

PP here with the 14 and 12yos. Our telework rules do not say that we cannot do this but we are accountable for our time, so as a practical matter, people with young children cannot do this.

We do have backup dependent care as a benefit and I used that when they were younger: a practical nurse/childcare worker would come to the house for 8 hours to care for them while they were sick, while I either worked at home or went to the office for that time. I paid a fraction of the cost (company paid the bulk).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On another thread, people say that they telecommute when their kids are sick, as to avoid taking sick leave. How do people actually do this? Do you get work done? Do your kids have to be of a certain age for this? I cannot imagine telecommuting and also taking care of my 15 month old at the time. I recently took a sick leave to take care of her, and even though I was planning to make a work call during her nap time, I used those hours to do personal calls and clean up.

Perhaps, I am not seeing the obvious, and there is a way to get this done? I would love to save up my sick leave...

Sick kids often sleep a lot - I have done work from home on sick days during long naps. In general, it is pretty hard to do much work when you're home with a sick kid - they tend to be home because they need you. I think it depends on the job and the office - I know when I've offered to do some work from home on a day when I've been home with a sick kid (or sick myself) it's been because of a deadline, and I think if there's a time crunch involved bosses may be willing to be more flexible.

[Anonymous]

I have an 8 year old who may have to stay home with a fever but doesn't need constant care the way an infant or toddler does.

I usually take sick leave but agree to be available for conference calls, responding to urgent emails, etc. so I end up working 2-3, maybe 4 hours.

Also, with an older child I find I'm not as short on sick leave as I used to be.

[Anonymous]

When I hear people say they telework when they are sick or telework when kids are sick, I dont understand it. When I take a sick day I'm sick....meaning I cant work (at home or at work). And I dont know about anyone else's kid but working from home when my 4 year old is sick is impossible, I just go ahead an use leave. I applaud the person who was able to do it when their child was 2.5 - 3 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I hear people say they telework when they are sick or telework when kids are sick, I dont understand it. When I take a sick day I'm sick....meaning I cant work (at home or at work). And I dont know about anyone else's kid but working from home when my 4 year old is sick is impossible, I just go ahead an use leave. I applaud the person who was able to do it when their child was 2.5 - 3 years old.

this is not necessarily the case always...

if I'm home sick w/ a lousy cold, the smart and considerate thing (for me & my co-workers) is to not go to the office and spread my germs around ... that doesn't mean that I can't get in anywhere from, e.g., 1-6 hrs. of work at home depending on how lousy I feel, if I choose to or have to. I may do neither and just take a full day of sick leave but it's not a foregone conclusion that I can't do any work.