I’m in my final week of maternity leave and will be returning to work full-time next week. During my leave, my husband and I moved to a new town, so we couldn’t get on any daycare waiting lists early enough (all the reputable ones here required an in-person visit). As a result, daycare for our son won’t start for another six weeks when his spot opens up. Since we both work from home, have relatively flexible jobs, and have several family members nearby who can help for a few hours here and there, we’ve decided to manage without daycare for these six weeks.
My question is, should I inform my job about this temporary situation in hopes of getting some flexibility with meetings, etc., or keep it to myself to avoid raising any concerns? For context, my manager is very understanding and is a single mom who often needs to be flexible with her working hours for her child. However, other colleagues I work with (but don’t report to) are more traditional and believe work should be strictly 9-5 with no interruptions.
Nope! Definitely not. Work with your husband to handle the baby’s requirements so that you can both accept phone calls and attend meetings as needed.
Employer does not need to know, and you’ll be under a microscope if they do. It could destroy a lot of WFH trust if you have “one of those” bosses. Should I inform my job that my kid will remain at home with me for 6 weeks?
And if you really get in a pickle and someone notices one day, you can claim the baby got sick and wasn’t permitted to go to daycare that day - which occurs frequently!
I would not. Many WFH or remote work regulations specifically state that you cannot be a caretaker during work hours. Officially telling them could be a way for them to raise concerns about your employment.
I have no experience in this area, however if your goal is to keep it from interfering with your work, I would avoid discussing it with your manager. I wouldn’t lie, but I wouldn’t make it a problem. Good luck!
This! If you say you can do your job while having the baby with you, there’s no reason to tell them. It sounds like you want to notify them so you can adjust your employment to accommodate the care of the baby, which will not go down well.
I thought I had a super chill manager. She helped me get approved to work out of state while my grandfather was getting open heart surgery. She made sure to include me in opportunities that would lead to professional growth
But as soon as I informed her I was pregnant she did a 180 and I lost my job over my pregnancy
Never give an employer more ammo to fire you than necessary. She might seem cool but at the end of the day she’s answering to a business and businesses don’t like risks
If you’re in the United States, you’re probably aware that firing someone because they’re pregnant is quite unlawful. It may be worthwhile to consider bringing a claim against them for wrongful termination.