Telework with a sick child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my 6 year old were really sick - like the flu - he would lay around and sleep all day or watch tv, and I could get work done. If he were just a bit under the weather, he would harass me constantly and I would get nothing done.

Yes. If my 6 year old was only mildly sick - but couldn't go to school - he would be very needy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Others on team are watching.

Our GSE has devolved to people working at home and having infants crying on the conf calls in background . everyone knows and many do it.

So if you want others to do same thing do nothing

And if people think they can work with a sick 6 year old you must have nothing to do. There is no way I could do my job with a small child in the house and no one else watching.

I'm curious what your sick 6 year old is doing. Mine literally will watch tv/movies all day, and occasionally moan. What type of at-home job can't you do while your kid watches tv?

Sure if your dc has a fever and sleeps it is possible but when the kid is getting sick or getting better it is an all day affair. Wanting to go for walk. Play with toys. Chase dog. Eat lunch turn on tv. Turn off music. Read a book. Chase squirrels. Go to cousins play football. You name it. A 6 year old craves attention. Anyone that says they work while watching a 6 year old is lying

Either you don't have a six year old or you treat your six year old like a two year old and that needs to stop. Chase squirrels? WTF? If your kid is healthy enough to want to chase squirrels, why isn't he or she in school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Others on team are watching.

Our GSE has devolved to people working at home and having infants crying on the conf calls in background . everyone knows and many do it.

So if you want others to do same thing do nothing

And if people think they can work with a sick 6 year old you must have nothing to do. There is no way I could do my job with a small child in the house and no one else watching.

I'm curious what your sick 6 year old is doing. Mine literally will watch tv/movies all day, and occasionally moan. What type of at-home job can't you do while your kid watches tv?

Sure if your dc has a fever and sleeps it is possible but when the kid is getting sick or getting better it is an all day affair. Wanting to go for walk. Play with toys. Chase dog. Eat lunch turn on tv. Turn off music. Read a book. Chase squirrels. Go to cousins play football. You name it. A 6 year old craves attention. Anyone that says they work while watching a 6 year old is lying

Either you don't have a six year old or you treat your six year old like a two year old and that needs to stop. Chase squirrels? WTF? If your kid is healthy enough to want to chase squirrels, why isn't he or she in school?

+1. If your 6 year old doesn't have a fever and is craving attention, send him to school. He's well enough to go.

[Anonymous]

My thoughts:

I have a 6 year old. To me, age isn't as relevant to this as type of sickness. If it's a stomach thing, I'm not getting anything done, because my kid is barfing every 10 minutes or running to the bathroom thinking she will. Then I'm cleaning it up, getting her settled back, giving her liquids, etc. Could I get some work done? Sure. Would I be as productive as on a regular work day? No.

The main reason I think she is taking advantage, and why I think if you enforced the policy it would clearly become obvious she was, is because there's no reason she should be the one who stays home with the kid every single time. In a family where the parents have to take leave if their kid is sick and stay home with them, the parents would switch off. If she's staying home 7 times in 7 times of her kid getting "sick" it's because there's a benefit for her to do so. If it was an enforced policy of having to take her own sick leave or vacation day to do it, I think you'd quickly find she would be in the office with her husband taking the hit from time to time. Because she wouldn't want to lose her PTO every single time her kid got sick.

I would explain you've been understanding, but that 7 times in a month is excessive and she's going to need to either start switching off with her husband or using PTO because you can't set that precedent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Others on team are watching.

Our GSE has devolved to people working at home and having infants crying on the conf calls in background . everyone knows and many do it.

So if you want others to do same thing do nothing

And if people think they can work with a sick 6 year old you must have nothing to do. There is no way I could do my job with a small child in the house and no one else watching.

I'm curious what your sick 6 year old is doing. Mine literally will watch tv/movies all day, and occasionally moan. What type of at-home job can't you do while your kid watches tv?

Sure if your dc has a fever and sleeps it is possible but when the kid is getting sick or getting better it is an all day affair. Wanting to go for walk. Play with toys. Chase dog. Eat lunch turn on tv. Turn off music. Read a book. Chase squirrels. Go to cousins play football. You name it. A 6 year old craves attention. Anyone that says they work while watching a 6 year old is lying

Either you don't have a six year old or you treat your six year old like a two year old and that needs to stop. Chase squirrels? WTF? If your kid is healthy enough to want to chase squirrels, why isn't he or she in school?

Agree! Your 6 yr old must be really immature. My six your old is more than capable of entertaining herself while I work!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My thoughts:

I have a 6 year old. To me, age isn't as relevant to this as type of sickness. If it's a stomach thing, I'm not getting anything done, because my kid is barfing every 10 minutes or running to the bathroom thinking she will. Then I'm cleaning it up, getting her settled back, giving her liquids, etc. Could I get some work done? Sure. Would I be as productive as on a regular work day? No.

The main reason I think she is taking advantage, and why I think if you enforced the policy it would clearly become obvious she was, is because there's no reason she should be the one who stays home with the kid every single time. In a family where the parents have to take leave if their kid is sick and stay home with them, the parents would switch off. If she's staying home 7 times in 7 times of her kid getting "sick" it's because there's a benefit for her to do so. If it was an enforced policy of having to take her own sick leave or vacation day to do it, I think you'd quickly find she would be in the office with her husband taking the hit from time to time. Because she wouldn't want to lose her PTO every single time her kid got sick.

I would explain you've been understanding, but that 7 times in a month is excessive and she's going to need to either start switching off with her husband or using PTO because you can't set that precedent.

Did OP confirm that the teleworker isn't a single parent? Because this is a pretty awful assumption to make if you don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is one of the reasons I'll never work for the government - rigid rules reign over common sense. Progressive companies have caught onto the fact that we are actually human beings when we're not in the office.

As the baby boomers keep getting older, more and more people need to take time off to be with their families. And people have always needed occasional time off to stay with sick kids. That's not going to change.

I work for a company that allows liberal teleworking - you can take it whether you are single or married, have kids or not. Whether it's a sick pet or a grandmother who needs someone with her once a week, as long as you get your work done and don't inconvenience the rest of the team, you are allowed to be a responsible adult.

I'm not saying that this particular employee is not in the wrong; she seems like she is taking advantage. But life is hard for a lot of people. The OP sounds like she is married with only one child, and doesn't understand the juggling that many of us have to do. What happens when she has two or three, or her husband leaves her? Balancing work with the rest of your life becomes much more difficult. I agree with PPs that the OP should ask her if something serious is going on in her life - maybe her child has cancer or a serious illness.

When I worked for government, we were salaried, but treated more like hourly employees. They didn't allow telework, because they wouldn't have been able to keep tabs on how many hours you're actually working. Even if your sick kid is sleeping and watching tv, you're more likely to spend less time actually working (which i do agree with). And employees expect everything to be fair and even. So people would lose their minds if Susan was trusted to work from home with a sick 10 year old, but Janie was told she couldn't telework with her sick 5 year old.

I do agree with you that employees should be trusted to be responsible adults. But many offices (especially government ) have that "one bad apple' attitude: if one person takes advantage, they punish the entire office by canceling all telework for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Just throwing this out there as I do not work for the federal government......but OP, do you (or can you) flip on return receipt on e-mails? Sure, there is a work around, but most people don't know what it is.

That may be a way to tell whether your employee is working the hours that is being claimed.

[Anonymous]

Fed supervisor here. I tend to be very lenient and flexible as long as the work is getting done. As soon as the work slips or the quality is sacrificed, I crack the whip. Usually that doesn't happen.

If your employee is still submitting quality work on-time and not slacking, then I'd have no problem if she's home and occasionally has to tend to a sick child.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what agency you're at, but mine is very clear that if you're not coming in because you're not feeling well or because you need to take care of a family member who's not well - that's called sick leave, not telework.

If you happen to put out some fires and your supervisor is okay with that, then you might note a few hours worked and the rest as sick leave, but the default assumption is that if illness is what's keeping you home, then you're on sick leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My thoughts:

I have a 6 year old. To me, age isn't as relevant to this as type of sickness. If it's a stomach thing, I'm not getting anything done, because my kid is barfing every 10 minutes or running to the bathroom thinking she will. Then I'm cleaning it up, getting her settled back, giving her liquids, etc. Could I get some work done? Sure. Would I be as productive as on a regular work day? No.

The main reason I think she is taking advantage, and why I think if you enforced the policy it would clearly become obvious she was, is because there's no reason she should be the one who stays home with the kid every single time. In a family where the parents have to take leave if their kid is sick and stay home with them, the parents would switch off. If she's staying home 7 times in 7 times of her kid getting "sick" it's because there's a benefit for her to do so. If it was an enforced policy of having to take her own sick leave or vacation day to do it, I think you'd quickly find she would be in the office with her husband taking the hit from time to time. Because she wouldn't want to lose her PTO every single time her kid got sick.

I would explain you've been understanding, but that 7 times in a month is excessive and she's going to need to either start switching off with her husband or using PTO because you can't set that precedent.

Did OP confirm that the teleworker isn't a single parent? Because this is a pretty awful assumption to make if you don't know.

She didn't but my guess is OP would not have nearly as big an issue with this as she does if she knew this was a struggling single mom trying to hold it all together herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My thoughts:

I have a 6 year old. To me, age isn't as relevant to this as type of sickness. If it's a stomach thing, I'm not getting anything done, because my kid is barfing every 10 minutes or running to the bathroom thinking she will. Then I'm cleaning it up, getting her settled back, giving her liquids, etc. Could I get some work done? Sure. Would I be as productive as on a regular work day? No.

The main reason I think she is taking advantage, and why I think if you enforced the policy it would clearly become obvious she was, is because there's no reason she should be the one who stays home with the kid every single time. In a family where the parents have to take leave if their kid is sick and stay home with them, the parents would switch off. If she's staying home 7 times in 7 times of her kid getting "sick" it's because there's a benefit for her to do so. If it was an enforced policy of having to take her own sick leave or vacation day to do it, I think you'd quickly find she would be in the office with her husband taking the hit from time to time. Because she wouldn't want to lose her PTO every single time her kid got sick.

I would explain you've been understanding, but that 7 times in a month is excessive and she's going to need to either start switching off with her husband or using PTO because you can't set that precedent.

Did OP confirm that the teleworker isn't a single parent? Because this is a pretty awful assumption to make if you don't know.

She didn't but my guess is OP would not have nearly as big an issue with this as she does if she knew this was a struggling single mom trying to hold it all together herself.

Struggling single mom is no excuse to abuse Telework.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't really matter why she is teleworking, whether she has kids or not, is married or not. If work isn't getting done, it is too much telework. It isn't up the federal manager's role to tell the employee whether she or her spouse should provide the care for a sick child. If it is occurring far too often, set clear expectations for the entire office as to how many days per month would seem to be an abuse of the policy, and if any employee hits that limit, let them know that annual or sick leave should be used.

I have staff who are parents and some who are not. It might be an interesting exercise to discuss TW policy at a staff meeting and get their input on what constitutes an overuse of the privilege. Of course, actual use is at the manager's discretion and some jobs require more of a physical presence, even within a team.

Finally, I had an employee (no kids) who would routinely put in for TW on Fridays and Mondays. It was a bad pattern and I told her so. After she stopped being able to get away with it, she eventually found a job working elsewhere. Or maybe she is teleworking...not my problem anymore.

[Anonymous]

And, let me add, people who don't have to care for other family members are significantly benefitted on snow days compared to those whose dependents' activities are cancelled and who must take leave to provide some or all of this care. I miss the old days of actual OPM-mandated closure for all. Now that was fair!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fed supervisor here. I tend to be very lenient and flexible as long as the work is getting done. As soon as the work slips or the quality is sacrificed, I crack the whip. Usually that doesn't happen.

If your employee is still submitting quality work on-time and not slacking, then I'd have no problem if she's home and occasionally has to tend to a sick child.

Fed regulation require childcare is in place, otherwise it is time card fraud.