Let's talk job flexibility

[Deleted]

Start and end time is flexible (to a degree, I don't think anyone comes in before 7). My boss's boss is always "late" and stays late. He does daycare drop-off.

No work from home. Only hours I can really flex are time-in-lieu if I have to do an evening public meeting.

They would technically make me take vacation time for a hospitalized child. It would be in my interest to be "sick". One of my friends actually made sure she got admitted for freaking out over her hospitalized child. Ativan+sick time. It was well played.

Appointments I fudge sick time for. Or my manager just ignores if I miss an hour or two. I am salaried, not hourly.

[turtlegirl]

The reason I keep my job despite the crappy commute is that it's super super flexible.

I generally set my own hours and work between 25-30 hours a week. 20 of them in the office over 3 days and the rest I make up at home during naps/bedtime.

I cam take time off for Dr's appts or anything that comes up basically no questions asked. Just as long as I make up the time and get my work done.

I work for a small non profit and we have 5 employees and I'm the one in the office the most. Almost everyone else works from home or is out at meetings at least 80% of the time.

[Deleted]

It's very flexible. It's the reason why I work a job for half of what I'm worth in something I'm pretty much overqualified for. At this stage in my life that's what I need since H's job is demanding.

I have to be in from 8-3pm but I can choose my days/make my own calendar as long as I get two days in.

I do some paperwork at home if I'm running behind. Not usually though but I have the option.

I try to schedule my time for appts. etc around the days I work but I can shift as necessary. Leave early. I can take an extended leave for things like hospital stays but I'm not going to get paid either.


As for my gig on the farm it's still flexible and I mainly do tasks with the kids and file paperwork/make calls at nap/early in the morning/the days they're at DC. As my kids get older and I take on more roles once again it'll be less flexible, but as my kids are older it will matter less too.

[bazinga]

How flexible is your job? Pretty flexible

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? I have set work hours, but if I need to modify them, it's not a big deal. Or if I have to come in late because of an appointment, I can stay late to make it up.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? I have the option to flex my hours, but don't. I only WFH occasionally, generally if the weather is bad. Or if I have a mid-day appointment or something where it wouldn't make sense to commute to work. There was one day last year when DH was home because of a surgery and I WFH to be there if he needed anything.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? I would be able to take time off for this. My boss and coworkers would be sending well wishes and offering to help. No one would hold it against me.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? Yes, this is very flexible and no big deal.

I just want to add that I love my job and realize how lucky I am to have this flexibility and a great boss and coworkers.

[hocus2]

Yes my job is flexible but it varies with specific managers.

I usually work 8:45 to 5:15 and extra hours at other times (nights, weekends etc). If I need to leave early or go in late it is not a problem. I can either make up the time or use PTO. My work week varies from 40 hours (light) to 55 hours (heavy) and is usually around 42 to 45 hours most weeks. 

If my child was sick I would off with him or her and there would never be an issue.

[ktw]

How flexible is your job? Very flexible - it's the number one reason why I stay at my job.

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? Sort of. Contractually, someone needs to be available to customers between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm. But, I work on a team of 4, so between all of us, someone is usually available during those times. I personally work 8-4 usually, one of my teammates rolls in around 10am every day, but works later, etc...

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? Yes. I can flex hours as needed (provided someone on the team is available when I'm not). Before G was born, I worked from home 1-2 days a week. Now, I only work 3 days a week, and typically only go into the office one day every other week, if at all. I WFH about 90% of the time right now.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? I can definitely take the time off and it won't be held against me.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? Yes. Right now while I'm working PT, I make a point to make G's appointments on my days off, but once I go back FT, I will be able to do taker her during working hours. When I was pregnant, all of my OB appts were during work hours.

[djc315]

Very flexible.

I tend to do 9-5 and don't leave for lunch. But I also will sign on from home at night to finish up a project if need be. I've been signed on from home for 13 hours on a WFH day, or been in the office 12+ hours, so it all evens out.

I tend to WFH 2-4 times a month. I had to WFH almost an entire week when N had a high fever.

We haven't had to take N to the hospital, but by holidng it against me do you mean count it against sick/vac days? If so, yes they would consider it paid leave.

For Dr. appts, I have medical hours I can use (2 hours per quarter) but most often I'm gone around an hour and count is as my lunch.

As long as my work is getting done, no one complains. I am remote from my boss, though we're all on a messenger program and he can see when I'm active or idle.

[londoncalling]

How flexible is your job?  It's very flexible and my pay reflects it.  I've brought my kids to work with me a handful of times when they've had daycare closures or sick days where they aren't really sick (like the second day of being 24 hours fever free, when their fever broke at 2 pm the day before).

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)?  I'm expected to be in the office during the majority of office hours, but I am able to skip lunch to leave early to avoid traffic during my commute.  I leave at 4:20 and it means a 25 minute commute to daycare vs. 45 minutes if I leave later.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home?  I can take work home with me if needed.  The biggest expectation is that I will get my work done on deadline.  I accomplish that, then they don't really care HOW I do it.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you?  Not a problem.  I don't have a formal PTO bank, but again, I'm expected to get my work done.  A sick kid in the hospital would mean someone else would step in to take things off my plate.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments?  I schedule all appointments trying to be conscious of minimizing time out of the office - first or last appointments of the day.  However, sometimes it just doesn't work out that way and it's not a problem.

I'm incredibly lucky to have as much flexibility as I do.  It allows my husband to not use his formal PTO bank for most of these things.  I've definitely paid for it though in reduced earnings and reduced promotions.

[estrellita]

I work 8-4:30. I can be a little late here and there and they won't care. In the past I've come in a half hour early to leave a half hour early but it's been a while since I've done that. I am not able to work from home although I would love that option. I'm able to take off work using PTO for whatever assuming only one other person is off that day (if it's an emergency situation, they would be ok with that though). If I'm only leaving an hour early or something the 2 person rule doesn't necessarily apply, but I am still using PTO.

ETA: I am hourly, not salary, so I'm sure that makes a difference.

[cherry1111]

Very flexible, which is why I'm still here even though I am over it and hate my management.

No clocking in, I WFH 2 days a week and can other days as needed. I'm expected to generally be available from 9-4, but on my WFH days I'll go for a run in the middle of the day and I can go get lunch whenever as log as I'm not missing meetings. As long as I don't take too much advantage of their flexibility it is ok.

I would without a question be able to take off if my child was in the hospital, but I would have to bill my time to vacation or sick. Dr appts are the same way. I have a dentist appt today but I'm not billing to sick because I logged in yesterday and worked a few hours. I am salary but have to bill my time.

[cincodemayo]

Mar 16, 2015 10:05:51 GMT -5 @peggyolson said:

How flexible is your job? 

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? 

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? 

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? 

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? 

Flexible during non-peak season.  No set hours, can WFH, no need to ask for permission to take off for appts, etc.

If my child was in the hospital, they would expect me to be at the hospital.

[Deleted]

The most flexible I could imagine, and then some for an attorney.

I can start and stop anytime I want so long as I work the "core hours" of 9 to 2. But even that is flexible. I work 7 to 330 as my scheduled time each day.

I wfh nearly every day.

I can take time for an appt., run to the grocery store, etc. And make it up later at end of day, early morning, another day.

If my child were in the hospital I could work from there, take time off, take leave without pay, etc. It wouldn't be an issue.

Occasionally, I have meetings or other things that must be done in the office Or a deadline that must be met. During those times it's not as flexible because I need to do what I need to get things done. But, my job is very flexible and I am very thankful for that!



Eta: we also have the option to work 4 10 hr days, or 5/4/9 schedule with one day off every other week. We can also have different start and stop times on different days if we wanted.

[sunshine608]

Mar 16, 2015 10:05:51 GMT -5 @peggyolson said:

How flexible is your job? Pretty flexible

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? My work hours are 8-5, but as long as I put in 8 hours and let someone know, I can flex the time.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? I can WFH in rare circumstances. There isn't mich I can do from home, since I deal with students mostly. 

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? Yes and no.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? Yes. No problems.


Very thankful for my job b/c H's job is the complete opposite in terms of flexibility.

[water*drop]

How flexible is your job? It depends on how we define flexible. My schedule changes each semester, and I have a say in it, but once it's set, it's set in stone. I work an academic schedule, so I have summers off, spring break, etc. I do not technically have sick/vacation/personal time, and depending on the day, taking a day off to care for a sick child (or myself) would be a big deal.

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? I have to be at work during classes and office hours; outside of that, I can come and go as I please as long as I get my work done.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? I can't miss class except for emergencies. Anything else is at my discretion. Depending on the day, this either means that it's NBD for me to stay home or it's a really big deal.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? I could easily miss everything except actual class time. I could miss classes a couple of times without too much of an issue, probably, but eventually I'd have to work out arrangements to get my classes covered. Technically, I qualify for FMLA, so I'm ABLE to cancel stuff, but logistically it's difficult to get stuff covered, and not getting stuff covered would eventually come back to haunt me.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? No; I have to schedule them around classes. That's usually not a big deal except at my OB's office because my OB has super limited availability.

[SallySparrow]

Moderately flexible? The days I'm at work I'm there for 12 hours, but I only work three days a week. And we self-schedule, so I pick the days I work. I can schedule around whatever I need to. I do have to work every third weekend.

If I had to take off because A was in the hospital, they would be understanding.

[SJ]

How flexible is your job?

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? We don't clock in, but I am expected to be at my desk from 7am-4pm each day.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? Not really. I check email from home, but generally do not need to reply.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you?  Yes, of course!

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments?  I can, but I try to minimize it. We do most well visits on the weekends, and DH often will do sick days or early pick-ups since he owns his own firm.

[leonard131]

I think people's answers will differ if you are exempt vs. nonexempt. Sometimes nonexempt jobs may be more flexible but then there may be the understanding that your day is more then 8 hours and you may have take care of things outside of the traditional work hours without additional compensation.  That is just my experience. 

I guess my job is flexible.  I need to get the work done. My boss isn't looking over my shoulder.   How I do that is up to me and if have to be out then I know I need to figure out what needs to be done to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. I am always 100% accessible to my staff not matter what.  I do WFH one day a week.

Of course there are general work guidelines - can't come rolling in consistently at 11am :-)  But also means I tend to work some on vacations, weekends and evenings.  The expectations of my company work for me but we do have some employees leave  because they feel the work life balance doesn't work for them.

[jessnpaul]

Extremely flexible. I've had to take a ton of time off for DS's doctors appointments and surgeries. While I've taken PTO for all his surgeries, there's been many a doctor's appointment I've been out for where my boss said not to worry about it.

I don't even know what my real hours are anymore. They used to be 8:30-5:30 but then we merged with another company that does 9-5. So I usually work like 9-5/5:30 now. But I came in at 10:30 on Friday for one of DS's evaluations and still only worked until 5pm-ish.

Previous jobs were not flexible at all, so I'm extremely happy to be where I'm at since I became a working mom.

[shamrockshake]

How flexible is your job?

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? 8-5, hour lunch

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? I CAN work from home, but there are only 3 of us here and I am the low man so I have to be here to pick up the phone, which is very frustrating. But if a child is sick or something like that I can do 95% of my job from home, which actually may end up happening tomorrow as DD4 is sick and H was home with her Friday and today

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? yes, and no it would not be held against me. They would be very flexible for things like that, we're a smaller company, I've been here 15 years, and my boss/ owner is a very fair and decent guy and has 4 kids of his own so he understands and is accommodating for things like that

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? yes, I try not to abuse it because they are very flexible for things like that, but I can do it when I need to

[egishere]

How flexible is your job? pretty flexible

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? I don't clock in-just try to make sure I get in 40 hours a week. My boss isn't even in the office I work in.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? yes and I work from home on Fridays. Eventually I may ask for an additional WFH day because we have a new policy where you can do that if your boss is in agreement. I just don't want to do it now because my kids are home with a nanny.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? yes, I don't think they would hold it against me..they are a pretty family friendly company.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? Yes, I just use sick time or make up my time.

[longtimenopost]

Very Flexible. One of the main reasons I am still here.

We have some autonomy. Most are here between 7:30-9 and leave between 4-6.

No working from home, but I rarely work a full 40 hour week.

Yes, I take time whenever I need and often on short notice.

DD has special needs and I am high risk pg. We have a LOT of appointments. I take the time, and only report it if I miss 4 hours or more. No one cares!

[litasail]

How flexible is your job? Extremely flexible. That's the main reason I continue to work here. That flexibility is invaluable with a little kiddo.

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D) Lots of flexibility, as long as you keep your billable #s up.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? I'm proud of myself when I manage to make it into the office three days in a week

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? Absolutely would be able to take time off and not have it cause problems.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments Yep, have not had a problem with this. Exception would be if I had a major client event that day or something.

[linz]

I'm salary so don't clock in but are expected to be on time. If for some reason I was late I'd text my supervisor and do a short lunch or stay late. Or pto. I was lucky when pg I would come in early and work thru lunch days I had appointments.

If our kids got sick I could take pto. I can't work from home. I can log in but the type of work I do there isn't much I can do at home. I would try to make up the hours if I can or work a half day and see if FIL or my dad could watch babies.

And pto I can take 1 hour at a time so I took off 1 hr early for their 4m appt.

It's a family business so if there was an emergency they for sure would understand and let me leave instantly.

[Velar Fricative]

How flexible is your job?
I've only been here for 2 weeks so far but it's overall more flexible than my last jobs were, so that's nice.


Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)?
Some flexibility, but not a lot. I make sure to stay here 8 hours from the time I come in, at least. I expect all of my staff to do the same. I wouldn't tolerate excessive lateness so I expect everyone here to be here by 9:00 am when the office is officially open. No problems yet.


Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home?
If I'm not in the office or at another work-related location, I have to use up my leave. Beyond checking my phone for e-mails when I'm not at work, I don't do any other work at home so far. I possibly could but I would not want to - as nice as it would be to save on gas and tolls and commute time, I would prefer to keep home life and work life as separate as possible.


Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you?
Yes, of course. I'm in charge anyway so tough shit if they don't like it. Likewise, if anyone here has an emergency, they are welcome to take off and I would not hold it against them.


What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments?
I have my first one since I started here today. Again, I'm in charge so tough shit if they don't like it but I like to lead by example so I try to schedule as many appointments as I can after-hours. Our office does have a policy that even if you schedule an appointment at, like, 4:30, you still have to take a half-day's worth of leave (it's either a half day or a full day) even if you only leave an hour early. So in this respect, it's still okay to take off for appointments but it does encourage you to make after-hours or Saturday appointments if at all possible.

[starlily]

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? There is an expectation that we be in the office before 8:30am, in order to make it to court for any 8:30 hearings, or in case there is an unexpected need for back up in a courtroom. Departure time is a bit more flexible, usually falling between 4 and 5pm for most attorneys. We don't have to clock in.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? No.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? Yes you can take the time off. No, it's not held against you.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? I can use up to 40hrs annually of my accumulated sick leave for family members' medical or dental appointments. No issue with using however much time for my own appointments. As a courtesy to CWers, we're asked to try to schedule appointments at a time of day when we're least likely to need someone to cover us.

[Deleted]

Mine is very flexible in all those areas. I have also been there 7 years and have butit a lot of goodwill. Other than mandatory travel totalling 12-15 days a year, I can do what I need to.

[charlotteandwilbur]

Mar 16, 2015 10:10:16 GMT -5 @pnkybrwstr said:

How flexible is your job? Super flexible.  I WFH full time.  I have a heavy workload and am absolutely to have childcare outside my home, but as long as I get my work done and am available for meetings, everyone is happy.

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? I'm expected to basically be available for the company's normal hours - 830-5pm.  There is some flexibility here though, as I start at 8 and usually end at 430pm to get O from daycare.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? I work 100% at home, as do most of my peers.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? Without question.  This would not be held against me.  When DH's appendix burst and I was stuck in St Croix for a week, I was able to use sick time to cover being OOO (I didn't have my laptop with me or would have worked some), and my boss sent me a $100 GC for grocery delivery (she's the best).

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? Absolutely.  I'm 9 months pregnant and no one bats an eye at the weekly appointments.

I'm incredibly lucky to have this job.

This is more or less my exact situation and why I stay in my job despite being underpaid.

[dottyblue]

How flexible is your job?  Extremely

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)?  As long as I get my work done and my start/end times are predictable the majority of the time, no one cares.  My hours are 8:30-5:30.  No one cares if I come in one day at 10 or leave early at 3 as long as I warn my team in advance.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? Not on an "official" basis, but it is understood that if I need to be home (work being done on the house, sick kid, waiting for deliveries, etc) I will be working.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you?  I would leave any company that held a child's hospital stay against me.  I wouldn't expect to be paid for entire days out of the office, outside of using my leave, but I would expect to be treated like a human being.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments?  Yes.  Without issue.  I am pregnant, the sole Dr. appointment handler for DS as well as attending some of DH's appointments.  No one has ever taken issue with how often I am out of the office for appointments.  They know my work will be complete.

[Purple]

How flexible is your job? Not much flexibility

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? I have to be here 9-5. I suppose if I wanted to adjust them say 8-4 I would need to ask and get approval for new times.

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? No; In the past during snowstorms I was able to WFH, but this past winter my boss is being such a stickler and says I'll need to use a personal or vacation day because he doesn't think what i do can be done from home. Yet others who do the same type of job as me can WFH and not get charged a day.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? I can take time off, but i'll need to use a personal/sick or vacation day. Mentally this will probably count against me.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? They realize that Dr appointments have to be done during business hours so I usually schedule them at the end of the day and just leave early. When I was pregnant they didn't charge the time against me. 

[hermione]

How flexible is your job?

Do you have to clock in/be at your desk from X-Y each day or is there a bit of flexibility (come in between A-B, leave between C-D)? We're expected to arrive and leave whenever the schedules says. 

Are you able to flex your hours or do any work from home? No.

Let's say your child is in the hospital - are you able to take time off to be with your child? Do they hold this against you? Yes and it would not be held against me. I would have to use PTO. MY supervisor would probably show up with food, offer to take care of the pets, etc.

What about doctor's appointments. Are you able to take time off to take yourself/child(ren) to various appointments? Yes but I would need to use PTO. Nobody would mind though.