Mother of Two Children Demands Coworker's Work-From-Home Days To Spend Time With Her Children “Since [He] Doesn’t Have Any,” Her Escalation Gets Management Involved

• I don't think that, in life, everything is always going to be fair. From the moment each of our lives began, we were on completely different paths from the rest. 

  We can, however, be empathetic without insisting on fairness. But that doesn't mean we need to disadvantage ourselves to do so, especially when it comes to navigating strictly professional relationships in delicate workplace environments.

  This employee did his best but couldn't wrap his head around his coworker's demands.
  
  He explains the situation below. 

  "Been sitting on this for a while because I wanted to see how it played out, but here we go.

  So our team gets 3 WFH days a week. Everyone picks which days they want at the start of each month, first come, first served. Simple system, no complaints, been working fine for like 2 years.
  
  I always pick Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Always. It's my whole routine; I plan my whole week around it, I even structured my budget and saved money specifically to get a place closer to the office for the 2 days I do go in.

  A few months ago, a new woman joined our team. She also wants MWF. Fine, the system allows for overlap; multiple people can WFH same days. No issue."

• "My coworker believes she's entitled to my WFH days because she has kids and I don't"

  
  via TheStandingDesk

  Coworkers work together in an office.

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• "Except she comes to me privately and says she has two kids and school dropoff is on those days, and could I "be flexible" and swap to different days so she has a better chance of getting priority if conflicts ever come up.

  I said there's no conflict; we can both have MWF."

  When it comes to matters of the workplace, policies tend to function best when applied consistently. The moment employees begin deciding that their circumstances are more "important" than someone else's, as a manager, you're just begging for a tense meeting with HR.

  And that's because when it comes to work and the workplace, everyone has a job to do. Absolutely everyone should get a little flexibility and understanding for their individual circumstance

  But when you're being paid the same, and let's face it, probably even less, than your older team members who have grandfathered benefits that the organization has since realized they don't need to offer to attract talent, giving them your other benefits, too, leaves an especially unsavory taste in your mouth.

  The employee continued.

• 
  via Zest Tea

  This employee felt confronted when his coworker cornered him to discuss his work-from-home days.

• "She goes, "Yes, but if management ever changes the policy, it would be better if we weren't competing for the same days, and your situation is a bit more flexible than mine"

  my situation. she doesnt even know my situation lmao."
  
  "I said no and kind of dropped it. then about a month later she escalated it to our manager, basically implying I was being inconsiderate to a working mother by not moving my days.

  my manager, to her credit, shut it down immediately and said the system is equal for everyone.

  Some people really think not having kids means your time is just less valuable than theirs."

  Luckily, in this case, the manager was the voice of reason and shut the whole thing down.

  When it comes to kids, while it might feel like some sort of noble calling… to you. And while your kids might be the most important thing in the world… to you. You can't really expect others to feel the same and to go out of their way and give their perks and benefits... to you. 

  Many workplaces, in many places, in many different cultures, already allow a certain benefit to parents when it comes to their obligation to their children. Most coworkers are happy to accommodate those situations because they recognize that life happens and that helping each other occasionally contributes to a healthier workplace.

  But it becomes a problem when they have no problem letting Susan arrive 5 to 10 minutes late every day when she has to drop her kids off at school, but when you arrive late once because the bus drove right past your stop, you get a warning. 

  Striking a balance between empathy and fairness is extremely difficult to do for employers too. 

• 
  via Zest Tea

  A discussion is held in the office regarding work-from-home days. 

• 
  via Toa Heftiba

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