Working parent query

5ive

Hi, trying to keep this as short as possible.

I've looked through all the options available to accommodate famiIies and parents in the workplace but they all involve reducing hours and therefore income which is absolutely not an option for me as we're paying 2 mortgages and 75euro on childcare per week-I know this isn't much but we're struggling with it as I'm the main breadwinner and my husbands income is sporadic and unreliable because he's self employed.
Basically long story short, the childcare cost will go from 75 to 150 a week from November.

I work every 2nd weekend when my husband can take the kids so I briefly mentioned to my manager about taking one day annual leave per fortnight for 10 months which would alleviate the extra cost of childcare and ease some pressure. She said no it would be unfair on other employees and hard to cover but offered to print off part time forms and sign them if I needed them.

My next plan is to plead with management and HR by sending an email CC'd to everyone basically-outlining my work record and financial situation. It's a long shot and probably won't work but.... desperate times....

Just wondering if I possibly-hopefully missed anything that's available to accommodate families such as us that doesn't involve lack of income or reducing hours?

We don't qualify for any kind of social welfare assistance and I really don't know what else to do.
We're very much struggling as it is and every single penny goes on bills and basics. No luxuries or hobbies that we can cut back on.
I'm frightened for us to be honest.

lawred2

What does your husband do that means his income is so sporadic? This is obviously a bit of a trite thing to say but maybe he should look at doing something a little more reliable.

toadfly

Its at the companies discretion when you take your annual leave so they dont have to agree to your request. Personally I think they are being a little unfair so appealing might work. Best of luck.

Agree with other poster that your husband may need to get a more "real" job to ensure the income for your family.

Stheno

What you talked to your manager about would be the equivalent of parental leave.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/leave_and_holidays/parental_leave.html

However the format you want to take it in is at the discretion of your employer, as is annual leave and parental leave is unpaid.

There aren't any other options that I can think of for you to be honest, could you sell one of the properties?

I'd think twice before emailing everyone as you've mentioned above, perhaps start with talking to HR?

judeboy101

we're paying 2 mortgages

That's your problem right there.

toadfly

judeboy101 wrote: »

we're paying 2 mortgages

That's your problem right there.

Not necessarily, one could be rented out with the mortgage covered and possibly more.

Stheno wrote: »

What you talked to your manager about would be the equivalent of parental leave.

Parental leave is unpaid though - I thought the OP wanted to keep her salary and reduce by one day a fortnight for 10months which would be her 20 days annual leave.

judeboy101

toadfly wrote: »

Not necessarily, one could be rented out with the mortgage covered and possibly more.

Well then why reference 2 mortgages as if its part of the issue?

Stheno

toadfly wrote: »

Not necessarily, one could be rented out with the mortgage covered and possibly more.



Parental leave is unpaid though - I thought the OP wanted to keep her salary and reduce by one day a fortnight for 10months which would be her 20 days annual leave.

Yeah I copped that mid post

lawred2

judeboy101 wrote: »

we're paying 2 mortgages

That's your problem right there.

not sure how I missed that

How much is your husband earning - could he mind the children instead?
If not is there other more reliable paid income available that he could apply for?
Have you considered family income supplement?

I don't think asking for a day off every other week as holiday will be received very well - other than practical scheduling problems, your employer might be seen as not looking out for your welfare by not giving you time off in a block.

Finally - why are you paying two mortgages?
Have you considered selling one?
If you are in negative equity have you considered the insolvency options available including bankruptcy?

infogiver

Are you separated from your husband?
He needs to find paid employment to meet the needs of his family
Why 2 mortgages?
I would agree that you should appeal to your employer but as others have said, they don't want to set a precedent.
Just on the small amount of information you've provided it strikes me that you need to find solutions to your financial woes from inside your circumstances rather then looking for external help.
2 mortgages and a husband with a non productive career are lifestyle choices really

Dial Hard

If the childcare costs outweigh your husband's earnings then there's your answer right there, tbh.

Sebastian Dangerfield

toadfly wrote: »

Personally I think they are being a little unfair so appealing might work. .

With sympathy to the OPs plight, I don't. I manage a 3 person team and prior to my joining, one person had agreed with HR to take parental leave, on the basis of being off every Friday rather than taking it in a block. The other team members often want to take Fridays off, as people do, and I have to say no more than Id like to, due to that persons working arrangement.

lawred2

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

With sympathy to the OPs plight, I don't. I manage a 3 person team and prior to my joining, one person had agreed with HR to take parental leave, on the basis of being off every Friday rather than taking it in a block. The other team members often want to take Fridays off, as people do, and I have to say no more than Id like to, due to that persons working arrangement.

entirely depends on the workplace

some workplaces could easily facilitate it while others can't.

Diziet

The OP has asked a specific work related question - I think responding in terms of 'sell one house' or 'get husband a different job' are out of order. If she wanted help with these, presumably she would have asked. We have no idea of the circumstances other than what we see here.
It may be worth thinking how your time off would impact the office, OP, and see if you can come up with a solution that would help alleviate your manager's concerns. Does this pattern of work exist for any other employees, fro family reasons or not? If there is precedent, it makes things easier.
Parental leave is unpaid, but another alternative is asking if you can use parental leave to cover your childcare gap. It will cost you less than you think, as you won't be paying tax on that money, so the end result on your salary won't be so bad.
Changing to a part time contract would be my least favoured option, as it may be hard to reverse. I suppose the other option is to look at cheaper childcare, but that may not be practical.
The employer cannot discriminate on family status, but i am not sure if they are doing that or not, it depends on what they do with other employees. Worth trying to find a solution that works without burning bridges. Best of luck.

Diziet

The OP has asked a specific work related question - I think responding in terms of 'sell one house' or 'get husband a different job' are out of order. If she wanted help with these, presumably she would have asked. We have no idea of the circumstances other than what we see here.
It may be worth thinking how your time off would impact the office, OP, and see if you can come up with a solution that would help alleviate your manager's concerns. Does this pattern of work exist for any other employees, fro family reasons or not? If there is precedent, it makes things easier.
Parental leave is unpaid, but another alternative is asking if you can use parental leave to cover your childcare gap. It will cost you less than you think, as you won't be paying tax on that money, so the end result on your salary won't be so bad.
Changing to a part time contract would be my least favoured option, as it may be hard to reverse. I suppose the other option is to look at cheaper childcare, but that may not be practical.
The employer cannot discriminate on family status, but i am not sure if they are doing that or not, it depends on what they do with other employees. Worth trying to find a solution that works without burning bridges. Best of luck.

5ive

Trust me when i say all of the options suggested have very much been dissected numerous times and please understand I don't want to divulge too much information suffice to say the 2nd property is tied to my husbands business and was handed down through generations-he developed it when business was booming and is very much a victim of the recession.

I just really hoped that I had missed something other than the 'term time' and 'flexitime'...etc options.
Unfortunately it seems not.

Thanks for your time ☺

Stheno

5ive wrote: »

Trust me when i say all of the options suggested have very much been dissected numerous times and please understand I don't want to divulge too much information suffice to say the 2nd property is tied to my husbands business and was handed down through generations-he developed it when business was booming and is very much a victim of the recession.

I just really hoped that I had missed something other than the 'term time' and 'flexitime'...etc options.
Unfortunately it seems not.

Thanks for your time ☺

Best of luck finding a solution

wendydoll

If your income is less than €612 per week you may be able to apply for family income supplement.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/family_income_supplement.html

Colser

Would it be possible to work every weekend instead of every second one?

5ive

Colser wrote: »

Would it be possible to work every weekend instead of every second one?

Manager said that's unfair to other staff too.

It's frustrating because they are happy for me to reduce my hours by one day a fortnight but not to use an annual leave day.
Either way they have to cover me-same impact on work for both options but huge impact on me for one option over the other.

Thanks for suggestion ☺

Colser

5ive wrote: »

Manager said that's unfair to other staff too.

It's frustrating because they are happy for me to reduce my hours by one day a fortnight but not to use an annual leave day.
Either way they have to cover me-same impact on work for both options but huge impact on me for one option over the other.

Thanks for suggestion ☺

I'm surprised at that.Are they sure other staff wouldn't prefer to work less weekends...are you allowed to swap days amongst each other?

Stheno

5ive wrote: »

Manager said that's unfair to other staff too.

It's frustrating because they are happy for me to reduce my hours by one day a fortnight but not to use an annual leave day.
Either way they have to cover me-same impact on work for both options but huge impact on me for one option over the other.

Thanks for suggestion ☺

In fairness if you do the annual leave option they've to pay you as well as whoever covers, which would not be the case if you reduced your hours

lawred2

Stheno wrote: »

In fairness if you do the annual leave option they've to pay you as well as whoever covers, which would not be the case if you reduced your hours

They will be paying her annual leave whenever she takes it so I'm not sure that that holds water.

stargazer 68

lawred2 wrote: »

They will be paying her annual leave whenever she takes it so I'm not sure that that holds water.

If she reduces her hours then her annual leave reduces too

Hannibal_Smith

If you work a day less, yes you'll miss out on a days pay, but equally you will save that expenditure on childcare, no?

Sorry I could be missing something from your original post, but can't click back to see it.

How old is your child? Will they be due to take part in the ECCE year soon? Could you grin and bear it until then? Employment wise, other than taking unpaid parental leave, I don't think there's much else you can do?

Hope you can work it out though.

Moonbeam

I presume it is for after school care rather then. Baby ?
Can you go job hunting and find something that would suit better ?
FIS is worth looking into .
I hope you find a solution

5ive

3 under 5-oldest missed out on 2nd ECCE year by a few days but definately isn't ready for school so that's what's bumping up the childcare until he starts school next September.