Will this work?!

[Kade's Mummy]

Hi everyone

I have agreed to work two days a week from home starting the end of the month and am already feeling quite anxious about it. My boss and I agreed two primary deliverables, and already he is emailing me tid bits of work outside of my agreed outputs.

I emailed him back to say I was already concerned about delivering the agreed work in the 16 hours per week, let alone these other bits and pieces. His response was 'Between the two of us we will ensure it is a reasonable two days work (not necessarily 16 hrs- we all work more than 8 hrs per day)'

Before I had DS I always worked reasonably long hours - is he expecting the same of me in this new capacity? Tearing myself away from playing with him to the computer for 16 hours will be hard enough...

Would love some advice - and hopefully reassurance! Is my boss already pushing the boundaries?!!

:confused:

[Sarie]

I would start by telling him that you will work the agreed hours and if anything is not done on the alotted days, or times then it will wait till the next day/week to complete.
Is he also paying you for the extra work or just slotting it in?
I think you need to put your foot down now or he will just keep sending you more and more.
Good luck!

[Kade's Mummy]

Thanks Sadie - I am on a salary as opposed to an hourly rate, so does that mean his expectation of overtime is warranted? I am so confused - it's leaving a really bad taste in my mouth before I've even begun!

[~Emmylou~]

It does sound to me like he's going to start pushing it.
My experience with companies where staff work long hours are that they are not very family-friendly and not particularly interested in any of your other priorities that don't include them.
The "we all work more than 8 hours a day" comment would have me worried.
I think it would be best to set the boundaries now, the more you let him get away with the more he will expect. If you are on salary the unpaid overtime expectation will continue by the sounds of it.
Sounds just like where I used to work actually!

[Sarie]

Thanks Sadie - I am on a salary as opposed to an hourly rate, so does that mean his expectation of overtime is warranted? I am so confused - it's leaving a really bad taste in my mouth before I've even begun!
I think if you guys have an agreement to certain hours then for him to send you anything outside that is unreasonable.

[Kade's Mummy]

Thanks Emmylou and congratulations on your impending arrival!

Luckily I had written into my contract that if working from home doesn't work out, the company will reinstate my leave without pay until next year when I can return to the office part time. I think it will be very interesting to see how it goes... you are right, it is all about what the company needs (not the individual).

My DS has also suffered bad reflux etc and it is really only now that it is all settling down and I am really starting to enjoy him. Suddenly the prospect of doing any work is not at all appealing!

I guess I can only try it and if it doesn't work out, then I can stop. Thanks for all your advice!

[elissas]

Hi Kade's Mummy,

I'm in a similar situation to you. I have an arrangement to work from home, doing overflow work. I'm also lucky that I'm on an hourly rate though, so they can't take advantage of me.

As much as I'd rather not work at all, I'm doing it to keep my foot in the door, as opportunities like this just don't come up very often.

With the hours you are doing, are they to be done in business hours, ie. do you have to do 2 entire days, or are you able to spread them out? I'm fortunate in that I can do my work at 3am or on the weekend, and can do an hour here, or 20mins there.

If that's the arrangement you have, I'd at least give it a go, and make sure you have people to support you if need be.

If not, then I'd probably talk to your boss, tell him that you feel you can do the work he needs, but that you need to build up to it over a month or so. So, start by doing the minimum work that you originally agreed on, then as you feel your getting things under control, do a little more, then a little more. That way your not shutting the door, but both you and your boss are working through it together and making sure the arrangement works as best as possible.

I'd also talk to boss about priority levels and arrange performance requirements around that. So, if he sends you something that is urgent, make sure you have a few hours to do it. If it's a lower priority but important, then arrange that you have 24-48 hours to do it. And for anything else maybe a 1 week deadline (or times that are appropriate to your duties). If you both agree on these response times first, then you both know where you stand, and you know that you can stop stressing about some of the work and do it at a more convenient time (like at night after bubs goes to sleep).

Do you have much support in the way of family or friends? I sometimes call on my mum or MIL to watch DS for a few hours, and they just come in and tell me when he's ready for a feed. It's been helpful when I need to catch up on work.

The other thing is to use a sling. For those days when DS is ratty or catnapping, I pop him in the sling when he's tired and he'll sleep there for about 2hrs, and I can work with him there in peace. He has had some belly problems, and sometimes his belly stops him from sleeping, or wakes him up. Keeping him upright helps, and being against me in the sling is soothing and allows closeness and bonding, while you can still do things that you need to do. If it wasn't for the sling I probably wouldn't have been able to keep up with the work.

Good luck, hope this helps.

[Kade's Mummy]

Hi Lis

What fantastic advice - thank you! Yes, I do have some support from mum and MIL so that will be helpful.

I just spoke to my old boss (and absolute mentor) about it - at 40, she had her first baby late last year and has managed to achieve work/life balance. Her advice was exactly the same as yours! Try it, make him clarify priorities and give him the impression you are working two full days (even though I will manage the workload throughout the week). And if it doesn't work out, don't beat yourself up about it.

Thanks so much for your advice! I took a peek at your online album... Will is just gorgeous :)

[elissas]

Glad I could help :D

Thanks for the feedback re Will ! Of course, we think he's gorgeous too, but I think we're probably biased :o

Good luck with work. I'm sure you'll do great. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions or need to vent about working from home. I know it's great to be able to do it, and most people would kill for the opportunity, but it does come with its own set of issues and sometimes you just want to have a whinge and the only person you can whinge to has no idea what you're talking about :p

[Kade's Mummy]

Thanks Lis - I amy just take you up on that! :yes:

Have a great Mothers Day tomorrow :)