OP here. What I meant was inflexibility in regards to teleworking, not an inflexible job overall. Sorry- I should've been more clear. Yes I know I'm lucky to do it and have that option. I was just wondering for people who don't have he option of split shift sick kid duty, what do you do, if anything, to avoid taking sick leave. One of my kids has been very sick this past year with several surgeries so DH and I are trying to conserve sick leave (he is down to under 10 hours total).

I agree with PP-- your job doesn't sound inflexible to me. Neither DH or I can telework; we just take sick leave. We still email with the office and such, but we still have to use sick leave. It is what it is.

Oops--that's huge deadline or major meeting

What you describe is not an "inflexible" job. That would be a job where you did not have any paid sick days (or you did not have the economic means to take LWOP) and if you didn't come to work you would be fired. Or, you had a huge deadline or a major deadline on the day you child was sick.

Otherwise, just use your sick days. That's what they are there for. When I say I work from home it's because my work would rather that I be available by email/phone for urgent matters rather than just fall off the grid for the day and take sick leave.

My job is flexible in the sense that they don't necessarily care where I work or that I am in the office x days, but inflexible in the sense that deadlines are usually drop-dead. I am lucky to have a DH with ample sick leave and few strict deadlines, plus we have grandparents for emergency backup, but my firm does offer backup at-home care for "mildly ill" kids through Bright Horizons (who I think then contracts with nanny agencies?). I've never used it and would be nervous about having a total stranger come in for the day, but at least it's an option if everything else falls through and both parents absolutely positively must be elsewhere.

OP here. I never said I used telework to care for a sick child; that's a violation of your telework agreement and my kids are too young and need constant supervision anyway. I said my husband takes off sick for half a day to watch the kid while I telework upstairs and then we switch off in the afternoon. Or at least that's what I would like to do so that way an entire work day isn't lost. Also just to clear things up, I said I telework 3 days out of he pay period, not 3 days a week.

I cannot telework at all. If DD is too sick to go to daycare, we try my parents. If my parents are not available, one of us has to stay home. My DH's work does have some sort of back-up daycare thing thru Bright Horizons, that we are supposed to be able to use if our regular daycare doesn't work out for some reason, but I admit I haven't looked into it yet b/c I don't feel I should send her to another daycare (much less a brand new one, that she's not comfortable with) when she is sick.

I cannot telework at all. If DD is too sick to go to daycare, we try my parents. If my parents are not available, one of us has to stay home. My DH's work does have some sort of back-up daycare thing thru Bright Horizons, that we are supposed to be able to use if our regular daycare doesn't work out for some reason, but I admit I haven't looked into it yet b/c I don't feel I should send her to another daycare (much less a brand new one, that she's not comfortable with) when she is sick.

Some areas have sick child childcare (special programs just to care for sick kids so parents can get to work). Worth looking into. Like others we just alternate calling in sick, but we also have jobs that won't fire us for doing so, and I recognize that we're fortunate in that regard.

I wish my job would have allowed 3 telework days. My job would not allow us to work at home so I had to take sick days. Even with alternating with DH it was terrible. My child eventually stopped being sick all the time and I found a new job with flexibility. That was all I could do, I was miserable.

Yes, I would just call in sick at that point. By the way, your job isn't that inflexible if you can work from home three days a week, care for your sick child during that time, and take sick leave if necessary on the other two days.

Anonymous wrote:In the other thread, I keep reading about families who can share shifts of sick kid duty by teleworking from home while the other parent watches the kid, then switches off. What if your jobs are entirely inflexible when it comes to this? My job has 3 set days of telework a pay period, which is great, but if your kid is sick and you propose something like this, you get A LOT of grief b/c HR is very strict about only working 3 days from home. You can't exceed it. Does anyone have a job like this and if so, do you just call in sick completely and not try to work any amount?

I can't use telework to take care of my sick kiddo. Not that I don't work when I'm home with him. I do. I just have to use sick leave.

I can't telework at all. I just alternate calling in sick with DH.

I do have some flexibility to telework, but honestly if I've got a sick kid at home I'm lucky if I can get in 2-3 hours of work--nowhere near a full day. Telework was never meant to accommodate childcare anyway. Take a sick day.

In the other thread, I keep reading about families who can share shifts of sick kid duty by teleworking from home while the other parent watches the kid, then switches off. What if your jobs are entirely inflexible when it comes to this? My job has 3 set days of telework a pay period, which is great, but if your kid is sick and you propose something like this, you get A LOT of grief b/c HR is very strict about only working 3 days from home. You can't exceed it. Does anyone have a job like this and if so, do you just call in sick completely and not try to work any amount?