Should single working parents get some sort of scheduling preferences?

No, they should not.

You like controversial questions don’t you??

I guess I don’t see how it’s controversial.

I was just thinking about my daughter. She had twins in January. She recently got a job at a fast food place. During the week she has an SRS contracted babysitter for them. However, she just called me and said the gal she had lined up to watch them tomorrow (Sunday) cancelled on her. I’m going to watch them, it’s not a problem. But I also remembered back when I was a single Mom, worried about applying for jobs that might put me on 2nd shift or weekend work (I had no family members around.) But, that was long ago. I got through it all OK.

I just think some people have strong feelings about this. I think I remember seeing some heated debates on the subject here.

I don’t remember seeing anything on it. Honestly, if I thought it was going to cause a train wreck like that other question did, I wouldn’t have posted it. I had enough train wreck for now.

We will see.

Uh oh. I don’t like what you just said!

Yes, they should.

Well, @Judi! That was short and sweet! :) The votes are in. Raggy wins by one. She’s just all full of being right and stuff lately, isn’t she!
I know. It’s not over until Ella Fitzgerald sings.

I think it was @tinyfairy that had very strong opinions on the subject. Is she still around? Haven’t seen her for a while.

Yeah, she’s here. Just curious…what were her thoughts?

No.

Got it! Thanks @tinyfaery! :)

Good to see you @tinyfaery . Sorry I spe;t your name wrong.

Do you mean should their employers give them special consideration? I don’t think they could do that without the situation being inequitable for non-single parents or singles. If you take a job that requires work at weekend or evenings, you have accepted you may have to work at those times and need to ensure you can organise child care. I don’t think your employer should be expected to change their schedules to suit your needs. If they choose to that’s nice, but it can’t be an expectation.

Right. That would be my argument too @Bellatrix. It wouldn’t be fair to couples or single people. It opens up the possibility of abuse, too. I just remember how many jobs I didn’t even apply for because of that. Good jobs, too, that I probably could have gotten.

If I was a boss, though, I’d do what I could to help them out (assuming they’re a good employee otherwise) just because I’ve been there.

I don’t think it can work if certain people get special consideration, however, it’s great if the team itself can work out some flexibility. Discussing your needs and sharing time off such as weekends and school holidays amongst the group is more beneficial than insisting on special consideration over someone else.

I needed to work school hours for a few years as I had no way of getting my kids to and from school. I went to my employer and negotiated a change in my hours which worked out fine. I am also the carer of my mother with Alzheimer’s and my employer is aware of this and understands I sometimes need to drop things and run to sort out her problems. A good workplace looks after its staff and thankfully I work in that place which is thoughtful and flexible. My employer is supportive and my colleagues are amazing people we all support each other both in and out of work. I’m really fortunate.

GA @Arewethereyet. You really couldn’t legislate something like that. You can only pray for a supportive work environment.

Aawww thanks @Dutchess III Yes I think supportive and understanding colleagues are the ultimate, we spend south time at work and we all are juggling so much, talking and knowing each other brings us better understanding and hopefully compassion:)

The Family Leave Act sort of does legislate it a bit.

In general, no. In special situations for example where the employee is long term and has proven themselves and it is only temporary especially, I don’t see why that’s an issue. But otherwise, your child and choice to reproduce while having a job should not become your coworkers problem.

Trouble is, @Deni, sometimes parents become single parents due to situations beyond their control. Divorce, death, whatever.

@Judi I just had leave under the FMLA….I believe it’s geared strictly for protected leave for medical issues.

No, but they’ll always get it anyway. Once someone has a kid, it’s not like you can keep them away. It’s the ultimate scapegoat because people will always have kids.

@Dutchess, I thought there was a provision for allowing parents to attend school conferences?

I don’t know. Never heard of one. I never had trouble taking off an hour for that, though.

What scapegoat are you referring to, @Blackberry?

I don’t think it should be legislated because there are too many what ifs. Because it really depends upon the job. Some jobs have to be performed within certain hours and that is that. Others can be less structured. If employers are forced into scheduling around children it will become even more difficult for women with children to find employment.

That said, in smaller businesses, a sympathetic boss would probably be willing to work with you if at all possible. But the problem is, if a child is sick, the mother must stay home and that makes it extremely difficult for an employer if it is a position where work is scheduled for each employee. If someone calls in at the last moment and says they can’t make their scheduled hours because of a sick child, it is no ones fault but the employer is the one with the headache. It is one reason why I tried not to hire women with children, but sometimes it happens and many is the time I have had to step in and do the work that was scheduled for someone else. If the employer cannot step in, then it falls upon other employees to increase their work load in order to compensate, that is not fair. Most will not complain if it happens infrequently but too often and you will have mutiny on your hands.

Not an easy question.

I can imagine situations where if an employer wants an employee bad enough, they would take the employee and work around that employee’s scheduling needs. Same thing would go for an established employee who the employer wants to keep and would adjust to the employee’s scheduling needs. Where I work (for the government) my hours are “office hours” so it’s predictable and therefore, my child care needs are predictable and this is not an issue. Also, our sick time is for illness of the employee and also for illness of a family member (meaning not just your child but also your parents, etc.) so it’s pretty liberal in that sense.

If I worked in the service industry (hotel, retail, customer service, etc.) I would have more of a problem. A friend of mine works for a hotel and she is older and kids are grown, so she works weekends, etc. New employees at that hotel have a “deal” where they have told the boss they’re not available on weekends because of child care issues. The hotel is desperate enough for good employees that they accomodate the new employees scheduling needs. This makes it tough on my friend, but the hotel is in need of help and so they deal with it best they can until they can hire and train more staff.

Yes, I can imagine there would be abuses of such a system.

Yes. We must decide if we are a socially responsible society or not. I mean, really, ultimately our real purpose here is to procreate, raise the children, and hopefully leave this a better place for our being here.

@Espiritus_Corvus – wow, you have solved the mystery of life in one sentence! For me, it is a tad simplistic, but hey, to each his own.