Give me work advice, please, re: homeschooling & leave time

[ohgillian]

This happened probably 2 months ago and sometimes I get enraged all over again about it. Tell me if I should pursue this with my boss or let it go. 

POOF


Opinions? Thanks, and PDQ. 

[VillainV]

Oh man. On one hand, it doesn’t sound like it really meets the intent of the policy. But on the other hand, worldwide pandemic and widespread virtual schooling are challenges nobody could have envisioned when the policy was written, and the policy sounds like a good way to use an existing system to help out employees who face COVID-related challenges. Your employer is a jerk for not being accommodating.

[cricketwife]

Yeah, this whole situation totally sucks and I wish they had approved this for you, Yet, I can see why they didn’t. Like pp said, it doesn’t sound like it meets the intent of the policy, though by the letter you would be “attending any function in which the child is participating” so I completely understand your frustration/anger/ fed-up-ness, whatever

It all just sucks and I’m really sorry.

NOTE- lmk if you want me to remove the quoted part of the policy.

ETA- in answer to your question, I would stew about it but I wouldn’t pursue it with HR.

[SusanBAnthony]

I would definitely not pursue it. Sorry.

[lilac05]

I’m sorry. I agree with the PPs. It’s definitely understandable why you’re unhappy with it, but I agree that it’s not the intent of that policy. In your situation, you were doing a service for your family, but not the community. If you’re helping at school, presumably you’re also helping the teacher and other children. Companies like these community service hours because they’re cheap advertising and foster goodwill in the community. They want someone to see that “State Bank employees packed 200 lunches Friday afternoon” or having their employees helping in a classroom with their lanyard or name tag on. They want to be known as a company that allows people those opportunities...and when you use that time to help your family, THEY aren’t benefitting.

I DO think, however, that you can go to HR and talk in hypotheticals about this year before school starts. What if kids are home? Are there any changes to the policy in a COVID world? Can that time count for this school year? I would think they’d be considering some changes, especially as a lot of volunteer opportunities are currently on hold. The likelihood that this entire school year goes by without some kind of alternative setup, even briefly, is slim. We have the opportunity now to think ahead about what that might mean and how we can work together to ease burdens.

[ellipses84]

I don’t think that is the intent of most policies like that at other companies, but yours specifically says it can be used for teacher meetings about your specific child (which makes it seem like it doesn’t need to benefit the whole class). I don’t see much difference in that compared to overseeing a zoom mtg or evaluating how your child is doing to know if they need more attention from the teacher (since the teacher can’t be in the room with your child, and more help a child can get at home, the more benefit it is for the teacher and class as a whole). For the new school year, you should email the teacher and ask if there’s ways you can be supporting the teacher at home in lieu of in-person volunteer work, if are doing virtual. Then take that to your HR and use the hours you need. I’m guessing in a normal year they aren’t asking for proof you attended a school performance. It sucks they aren’t accommodating and getting hung up on semantics during a pandemic. I wouldn’t complain though because I feel like working moms are already a target for lay-offs. Just work within the confines of the system.

[CloudBee]

Man, I hear your frustration. I think they don't want you to set the precedent. Companies are struggling, too. Not just financially, but with juggling the needs of employees, additional tech, etc. I see it with my husband's firm. He's working from home and the logistics involved with getting everyone setup to WFM, daily confirmation that employees are at their desks during market hours, etc. It's a mess.

If your company said yes to you, they would suddenly have to say yes to everyone who caught wind of your situation. 24 hrs of leave, where employees are completely unplugged, could hit a company hard if all employees with kids took that at once. Especially in this climate. Then there's the employees without kids who may not have the ability to use their 24 volunteer hours due to social distancing and there's a bit of inequality there.

I wouldn't challenge this with your boss. I would be disappointed and let it go.

I'm sorry. So many are struggling right now and I'm sorry you are overwhelmed as well.

[macmars45]

I'm sorry your employer wasn't interested in making the policy work for families during a global pandemic. Have you approached them in regards to this coming school year? It's not like this will be better by September.

[7costanza]

I’m an HR manager and would have denied the request too, sorry It’s just not the intent of the policy, but I 100% see why you are frustrated. My org actually created a separate leave code, no approval needed and no limit on hours, for employees to deal with anything covid related, including childcare. I wish more companies would do this to support their employees, but at some point the code will be retired because it’s a huge cost.

[ohgillian]

Thank you so much for the thoughtful replies. A lot of what you guys wrote helped me figure out why I was so angry, and helped me to look at this from different angles. At the end of the day, I still think they're being jerks about it, but I fully admit that's not the objective view. I will let go of this.

I also realized that another reason I'm mad is that I requested on June 5th to stop my daycare flex contribution, they took out another $416 on June 30th and told me they're still "waiting on approval" to stop the deduction. So if my kids' camp cancels, that's another $416 down the toilet, so I am already mad about that. Which is, I fully know, unrelated except that both involve HR.