Telework with a sick child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Telework is not a means of childcare. Yes a day here or there happens and it's doable but she seems excessive with it. It has nothing to do with her still be able to perform her work duties. That is not relevant. You need to explain to her that a day of telework for a sick child is ok with you but after two days, she needs to find alternative care.

OP here - this is my primary concern. She seems to be working most of the time, but it's the frequency that it's happening that isn't reasonable. I just checked my calendar and she has teleworked 7 times in the past month due to a sick child. I don't even see how her child can reasonably miss that much school, even in kindergarten. She has complained about her commute in the past, and I'm starting to wonder if she is saying she has a sick child to get out of coming to the office.

Would you let her telework 7 times in a month if her child wasn't sick? If she gets her work done while teleworking (without a sick child), maybe the policy should allow that frequency and then she wouldn't have to make up excuses (if that's what she's doing). I don't condone abusing the system, but it may be worth exploring if the system could or should change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Telework is not a means of childcare. Yes a day here or there happens and it's doable but she seems excessive with it. It has nothing to do with her still be able to perform her work duties. That is not relevant. You need to explain to her that a day of telework for a sick child is ok with you but after two days, she needs to find alternative care.

OP here - this is my primary concern. She seems to be working most of the time, but it's the frequency that it's happening that isn't reasonable. I just checked my calendar and she has teleworked 7 times in the past month due to a sick child. I don't even see how her child can reasonably miss that much school, even in kindergarten. She has complained about her commute in the past, and I'm starting to wonder if she is saying she has a sick child to get out of coming to the office.

7 days is a lot in one month. I would have a conversation with her about it and let her know you are willing to be flexible but there is also fairness to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally the law is an 8 year old can stay home alone.

But we are not talking about a law, she legally can not leave the child alone, but the question is, can she work.

I always let my staff work at home with a sick child and I ask that they only log the hours they actually work.

My sick 6 year old would sleep until 9, then lay on the couch all day. So I would get a lot of work done.

Your problem is that you manage by hours and not by productivity. It is an antiquated way to manage. What do you want done? Does she get that done on time?

If she is out all week work will not be done. If she can work most of the day, work will be done. The problem is you don't know how to manage work, you manage hours. You should take a management class on how to manage by deliverables and milestones instead of billable hours.

My thoughts exactly.

I also suspect that you dislike something more (which may or may not be valid) about this worker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Telework is not a means of childcare. Yes a day here or there happens and it's doable but she seems excessive with it. It has nothing to do with her still be able to perform her work duties. That is not relevant. You need to explain to her that a day of telework for a sick child is ok with you but after two days, she needs to find alternative care.

OP here - this is my primary concern. She seems to be working most of the time, but it's the frequency that it's happening that isn't reasonable. I just checked my calendar and she has teleworked 7 times in the past month due to a sick child. I don't even see how her child can reasonably miss that much school, even in kindergarten. She has complained about her commute in the past, and I'm starting to wonder if she is saying she has a sick child to get out of coming to the office.

Would you let her telework 7 times in a month if her child wasn't sick? If she gets her work done while teleworking (without a sick child), maybe the policy should allow that frequency and then she wouldn't have to make up excuses (if that's what she's doing). I don't condone abusing the system, but it may be worth exploring if the system could or should change.

+1 I bet OP is the boss that only allows telework in extreme situations and her employees want regular telework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you make the employee take sickleave, you cannot make her work on that day. Is that the situation you want? Or do you want her to at least get some work done on those days?

And you cannot dump on her a ton of work when she comes back, "because she was away"....

For those of you saying the worker is using the child as an excuse...wow...you might also conveniently forget that the federal government does not even have any maternity or paternity leave in place. I used 3 years of sick leave to come up with 12 weeks of maternity leave. During those times that I used said sick leave, I was still managing my files from home and answered emails and important phone calls. I did that while caring for a newborn, and up at night at 2 am. Did I give a sick leave request of 7 hours, 1 hour telework, no. I came in for 2 hours at the end of my leave, did i log that in? No. We're not children here.

So managers, listen up---> you want happy employees. Sticklers get back what they give

[Anonymous]

OP here - the telework policy specifically states that employees may not use telework to care for a dependent during their tour of duty.

However, the next sentence states that a dependent may be permitted in the home, provided they do not require constant supervision or care (i.e. Older child or adolescent) and their presence does not disrupt the ability to telework effectively.

Which is why I'm hung up on what defines an older child. To me a 6 year old is not an older child. I also have an entire team to take into consideration, and the rest of the team follows the rules regarding telework and leave - and when one does not, I'm setting myself up for complaints.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and everyone is allowed one day a week telework, so I'm not a stickler who doesn't allow regular telework. I do get pissed when I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

[Anonymous]

6 is pretty easy. It is light years away from 3. You haven't answered the real question, is she getting her work done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and everyone is allowed one day a week telework, so I'm not a stickler who doesn't allow regular telework. I do get pissed when I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

I hear you OP. So now this employee has effectively granted herself 1+ more telework days per week... not a problem if the work gets done, but definitely bad if you look at how the entire team operates.

I'd say that if a child is ill often, I'd expect at least some sick leave expended for doctor's visits. Does she ever mention taking her kid to the doctor? Does she ever mention the child getting sick on her "regular" telework day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are missing the point: You manage someone. You have a policy for a benefit, aka privilege. Employee is most likely abusing said privilege, and at best is in clear violation of the policy. Whether the kid can "watch himself" (doubtful!) all day is actually beside the point. Now if you telework 100% of the time as a requirement of the job etc. that's a different story.

OP focus on the policy and her violation of it. It is pretty simple from an outsider looking in.

+1000 People are missing the point. Too many teleworkers abuse the privilege and policies and it is the main reason why teleworking is frowned upon.

Telework is not frowned upon at my agency and we seem to be quite productive with it. I don't telework however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Telework is not frowned upon at my agency and we seem to be quite productive with it. I don't telework however.

Feds' productivity is a separate topic. Even if the Govvies do nothing on their telework days, at least they are not out on the roadways contributing to the gridlock!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are missing the point: You manage someone. You have a policy for a benefit, aka privilege. Employee is most likely abusing said privilege, and at best is in clear violation of the policy. Whether the kid can "watch himself" (doubtful!) all day is actually beside the point. Now if you telework 100% of the time as a requirement of the job etc. that's a different story.

OP focus on the policy and her violation of it. It is pretty simple from an outsider looking in.

+1000 People are missing the point. Too many teleworkers abuse the privilege and policies and it is the main reason why teleworking is frowned upon.

This. Also, believe it or not, it IS disruptive to coworkers if they never know when this person is going to be in the office or not. I HATE telework at my federal agency for this reason. I can't stand having to hunt someone down or figure out if they're randomly on telework that day because they're not answering my calls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - the telework policy specifically states that employees may not use telework to care for a dependent during their tour of duty.

However, the next sentence states that a dependent may be permitted in the home, provided they do not require constant supervision or care (i.e. Older child or adolescent) and their presence does not disrupt the ability to telework effectively.

Which is why I'm hung up on what defines an older child. To me a 6 year old is not an older child. I also have an entire team to take into consideration, and the rest of the team follows the rules regarding telework and leave - and when one does not, I'm setting myself up for complaints.

Yes, 6 years old is an older child. Bolded is your answer as to why it needs to be addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are missing the point: You manage someone. You have a policy for a benefit, aka privilege. Employee is most likely abusing said privilege, and at best is in clear violation of the policy. Whether the kid can "watch himself" (doubtful!) all day is actually beside the point. Now if you telework 100% of the time as a requirement of the job etc. that's a different story.

OP focus on the policy and her violation of it. It is pretty simple from an outsider looking in.

+1000 People are missing the point. Too many teleworkers abuse the privilege and policies and it is the main reason why teleworking is frowned upon.

This. Also, believe it or not, it IS disruptive to coworkers if they never know when this person is going to be in the office or not. I HATE telework at my federal agency for this reason. I can't stand having to hunt someone down or figure out if they're randomly on telework that day because they're not answering my calls.

That is a tech problem not a telework problem--get phone calls forwarded, VM sent to email so telework employees see calls, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are missing the point: You manage someone. You have a policy for a benefit, aka privilege. Employee is most likely abusing said privilege, and at best is in clear violation of the policy. Whether the kid can "watch himself" (doubtful!) all day is actually beside the point. Now if you telework 100% of the time as a requirement of the job etc. that's a different story.

OP focus on the policy and her violation of it. It is pretty simple from an outsider looking in.

+1000 People are missing the point. Too many teleworkers abuse the privilege and policies and it is the main reason why teleworking is frowned upon.

This. Also, believe it or not, it IS disruptive to coworkers if they never know when this person is going to be in the office or not. I HATE telework at my federal agency for this reason. I can't stand having to hunt someone down or figure out if they're randomly on telework that day because they're not answering my calls.

That is a tech problem not a telework problem--get phone calls forwarded, VM sent to email so telework employees see calls, etc.

+1. I work for a services (consulting) organization and our people are working at a different site every week. Instead of calling (which is disruptive anyways, since it assumes the other person can drop what they're doing and answer your call) we use IM and email. Somehow the world keeps on turning even though we don't know where someone is on a given day.