Snow day, telework, and kids at home - why no policy yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kindergarten and up age kids don't really need that close of supervision.

If only that were true.

[Anonymous]

You can take liberal leave OP. One of you, the one with the most leave, can take care of the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What you really want is a paid day off because otherwise you would just not work today, right?

That’s what we got before telework was a common thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:our policies at my federal office is clear, you are expected to telework today for 8 hours. If you are unable to do that due to child care responsibilities you are required to take annual leave. This doesn't seem complicated.

What if you have no annual leave?

Take leave without pay.

lol, no one is going to take LWOP because of a snow day. It’s also privileged to think someone can just give up a day of pay. Also it’s unfair to workers in regions with bad weather, compared to those that never have snow days where schools are randomly closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our office says lists power outage and child care as examples of extenuating circumstances to receive paid time off.

Yup. You have to be ~able~ to telework.

Which is why unscheduled leave is approved.

It’s why admin leave is approved.

This. School closure is a reason. It applies to a huge portion of the workforce. It has to be approved but is perfectly appropriate in the random snow days we have here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems that there is no real policy in the federal government about how to handle this. Same thing at my spouse’s private sector company.

With the withspread adoption of hybrid telework, there is now an expectation that you work during snow days. However, with schools + daycares closed that means kids are home.

Why hasn’t the federal government clarified how to handle this? It seems that the “fairest” thing would be to allow people to dip into either annual or sick leave to care for their kids in the instance when a school district has closed their facilities.

Before COVID, a snow day was a snow day. Now? It’s a work from home day with the kids.

There is a policy. Why aren’t you aware of it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems that there is no real policy in the federal government about how to handle this. Same thing at my spouse’s private sector company.

With the withspread adoption of hybrid telework, there is now an expectation that you work during snow days. However, with schools + daycares closed that means kids are home.

Why hasn’t the federal government clarified how to handle this? It seems that the “fairest” thing would be to allow people to dip into either annual or sick leave to care for their kids in the instance when a school district has closed their facilities.

Before COVID, a snow day was a snow day. Now? It’s a work from home day with the kids.

There is a policy. Why aren’t you aware of it?

All of these posters are aware that the policy is that they take annual leave. They don't like that policy so they are complaining or feigning ignorance, but it's not complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What you really want is a paid day off because otherwise you would just not work today, right?

That’s what we got before telework was a common thing.

True! But only when federal offices were closed, not because schools were closed.

Would you like to go back to when teleworking was not a common thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our office says lists power outage and child care as examples of extenuating circumstances to receive paid time off.

Yup. You have to be ~able~ to telework.

Which is why unscheduled leave is approved.

It’s why admin leave is approved.

This. School closure is a reason. It applies to a huge portion of the workforce. It has to be approved but is perfectly appropriate in the random snow days we have here.

I'm not saying it is wrong, but it is not required. It is like the few hours of admin before a holiday...nice perk, but shouldn't be expected or required as necessary.

And since it is a perk, it DOES become inequitable when given only to those with children. It makes absolutely no sense that I should get admin leave because I have two tweens but my coworker doesn't.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago the policy at my agency was you could take admin leave if your children were younger than elementary school age. I looked and can't find the policy now so hard to tell if they changed it. It's kind of annoying that there is no good way to know if some of these policies are still in place or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kindergarten and up age kids don't really need that close of supervision.

NP here. You are so wrong!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems that there is no real policy in the federal government about how to handle this. Same thing at my spouse’s private sector company.

With the withspread adoption of hybrid telework, there is now an expectation that you work during snow days. However, with schools + daycares closed that means kids are home.

Why hasn’t the federal government clarified how to handle this? It seems that the “fairest” thing would be to allow people to dip into either annual or sick leave to care for their kids in the instance when a school district has closed their facilities.

Before COVID, a snow day was a snow day. Now? It’s a work from home day with the kids.

There is a policy. Why aren’t you aware of it?

All of these posters are aware that the policy is that they take annual leave. They don't like that policy so they are complaining or feigning ignorance, but it's not complicated.

Nope. OPM has said they won't make a blanket policy it is up to each agency.

[Anonymous]

Half of your government jobs are complete waste of taxpayer money. Please don’t bleed us any further dry by complaining about stuff like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our office says lists power outage and child care as examples of extenuating circumstances to receive paid time off.

Yup. You have to be ~able~ to telework.

Which is why unscheduled leave is approved.

It’s why admin leave is approved.

This. School closure is a reason. It applies to a huge portion of the workforce. It has to be approved but is perfectly appropriate in the random snow days we have here.

I'm not saying it is wrong, but it is not required. It is like the few hours of admin before a holiday...nice perk, but shouldn't be expected or required as necessary.

And since it is a perk, it DOES become inequitable when given only to those with children. It makes absolutely no sense that I should get admin leave because I have two tweens but my coworker doesn't.

For our agency the age of the child has to be less than or equal to 8 years old, not tweens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems that there is no real policy in the federal government about how to handle this. Same thing at my spouse’s private sector company.

With the withspread adoption of hybrid telework, there is now an expectation that you work during snow days. However, with schools + daycares closed that means kids are home.

Why hasn’t the federal government clarified how to handle this? It seems that the “fairest” thing would be to allow people to dip into either annual or sick leave to care for their kids in the instance when a school district has closed their facilities.

Before COVID, a snow day was a snow day. Now? It’s a work from home day with the kids.

There is a policy. Why aren’t you aware of it?

All of these posters are aware that the policy is that they take annual leave. They don't like that policy so they are complaining or feigning ignorance, but it's not complicated.

Nope. OPM has said they won't make a blanket policy it is up to each agency.

I think the point is that there IS a blanket policy that covers situations when somebody cannot work....it is to take leave.

People are asking for a very discreet policy to cover a very specific situation. It isn't needed. Where does that end? A policy to cover when a private school is closed due to power outage? A policy that covers when your washing machine leaks and you need to deal with it? A policy that applies when your dog is really sick and won't let you work?

Some agencies have authority and certainly can create more specific policies and give admin leave. But it isn't needed.