BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids Your Particular Workplace and Parents

I'm interested in how everyone's workplace is with regards to parents abusing the kid card and how your employer treats parents as opposed to singles and non-parents. No company names is probably best!

I'm a archaeologist so I travel a lot. I dont see "Kids" or "No Kids" effecting my work at all. In fact people are very mature about it. The only thing I seen is one person who was on a dig with us tell another person (that was part of the staff) that they would save a animal's life over a child's and a lot of people got very offended. But thats not because of "no kids" it's because obviously human life is higher valued then animals in most places. And that person was not liked very much for the rest of the trip. It got everyone in a conversation on how some animal lovers take it to far.

But I work with parents and non-parents and I am totally fine with all of them. Most people I work with are amazing individuals and them having kid's doesnt effect me or me not having kids doesnt effect them. So everybody's happy. And a lot of the people I see on a day to day basis have much older children (Grown up children) so I hear more about grandkids. But that doesnt bother me either.

A lot of my co-workers get nasty with me because I have more sick time in my sick leave bank than they do because they have to use it for their kids. They also take more time off and leave me with more work to do. I always am the first one to get asked to work on holidays and work overtime because I "don't have kids". Where is it written that not having kids equals not having plans? I often get My really good friend (single mom of two) actually tries to argue with me on a regular basis that people who have children should accrue more sick time than people who don't. I refuse to even talk to her about this subject as it is the most assinine thing I have ever heard.

This is actually a topic that was just brought up on another board I visit because people were replying to the Desperate Housewive's show and how Lynette's boss gave her a hard time about wanting to take time off to take her kid to school. All the parents on that board think that all the rules should be broken for them and also that them being out of work consistently does not hurt anyone else. I have had extra work put on me, and I've also been given a hard time if I'm out sick two days in a row, but a parent with a sick child for the fourth day in a row, or a parent having to stay home because their child's school is closed for snow is okay.

My company is so screwed up in this policy. Not so much the sick time, but if you have a child, not only do you get your regular maternity leave, they also double the amount of vacation you accrue yearly for the first two years! So if you have five weeks of vacation yearly, the first year you get your maternity leave and your five weeks of vacation. When the child turns one they double your vacation so you can spend more time with the nuisance, I mean child, so you get ten weeks of vacation. This happens again when the child turns two. I told the HR person that I should get pregnant just for the extra vacation time, but she assured me that the extra vacation time is not a real vacation as you're taking care of the child. Please, I don't care what it is - I think it's totally absurd that only parents get double the vacation!

I'm picking my jaw up off the floor!!! How is it legal to allow a parent to get double the vacation time!!! I would make up a pregnancy, fake the kid being here and get my extra vacation time!!! Don't tell me that it's not vacation!! That's BS!

Here at work the boss does favor those with kids. So the few of us who don't have any "abuse" the system the same way. The moms here come in late, take longer lunches, leave early, take days off without notice, bring sick kids in with them etc... so we CF do the same occasionally. Like today, I'm leaving 30 mintues early. Why you ask? Because my office mate when shoe shopping for daughter for three hours the other day on company time. So I'm entitled to 30 minutes if I want! Fire me I'll complain to HR that parents get more flex time and that I'll be contacting a very explensive lawyer! No where in our "contracts" does it say you can take time like that. This is the same woman who works an average of about 20 hours a week and clocks in 35. It irks a lot of people here! Including the boss, but the boss won't say a thing to the woman!

Who are you to say that "is taking it too far"? My animals are the most important part of my life next to my husband. I would save a dog before a human, especially someone I did not know.

Oooo Caterpillar, I thought I was the only one who actually came out and said how I was feeling. I, too, would save an animal's life over a human's - especially someone I didn't know well or like much. Wow. Glad to see there are others on this earth who think like me! My animals (6 cats 1 dog) are the most important "people" in my life. People here at work like to tease me about it but it's all in fun. Luckily my workplace is really fair to everyone. Breeders can bring in their spawn on snow days and such but the breeders at my company are pretty respectable people - their kids are well-behaved and quiet while they are here. I feel bad for childfree employees at companies that are so obsessed with pleasing the breeders of the world. Something I don't get though, is these breeders are the ones costing the companies tons of money through healthcare benefits and lost work time. Breeders are the ones needing places of employment to build their daycare centers and have all kinds of extra benefits for FAMBLEES. I am so inexpensive for my company - a 38 year old, childfree, newly-single (divorced) female. If I were a business owner, I'd only want to hire childfree people!!!

This is kinda on the subject but here at my workplace they are always collecting money for this and that. So and so's spouse or kid or mom died or is sick in the hospital. Is it just me or do any of you feel like because we don't have kids that they think we can give every time and give more then the others with kids do because we can afford it? It just ercks me because half the time I don't even know so and so and they want me to give. I [censored] alot of people off by not giving and I'm sure they talk but let em I don't care cause when I get home in the afternoon it's nothing but peace and quiet at my clean house!

My line of work isn't exactly a 9 to 5 environment (I work in a museum), but I have always been permitted to take time off to take my kitties to the vet, just like others would take kids to the doctor's, stay home with them when they are sick, etc.

At my last job, my (child free) boss barely showed up for work because something was always going on with her pets at home! She bred dogs and had lots of other animals -- seemed like one was constantly pregnant or needing shots or surgery or whatever. When my cat accidentally swallowed a sewing needle, it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be allowed to stay home with her and watch her, as per the vet's advice. It was a given.

Having said that, now I mostly work with older people who don't have young kids, and actually some who don't have kids at all. So it isn't an issue here. But I'm not sure what would happen if someone had young kids or was pregnant.

BTW: Definitely UNFAIR to double someone's vacation time for two years just because they have kids!

Kim
MNK Editor

At one of my summer jobs, the boss was a total nut. Because of her number of employees, all of us had to work three Saturdays a month. There was me, another guy in college, a guy in high school, two women with older kids, and one with none.

After a time the college guy graduated and left, and the high school guy got a better job so left.

Then, re-enter someone who used to work there before I started. She had a young son. And suddenly, she gets two Saturdays a month off while the rest of us still have only one. "But she has to spend time with her son!"

Guh? How about me, who only got to see my practically-fiance one weekend a month (plus my mom liked to see me on weekends too)? How about one of the ladies I worked with who had older kids--a couple were still in high school, but this woman had almost died of cancer a couple years ago, shouldn't she get to spend time with her family? What about the lady whose son had autism and whose father was senile, she didn't deserve to spend time with them? And my other coworker didn't need to spend time with her husband?

Frankly, I think most of the privilege was because this chick was the boss's pet and not so much because she had a kid, but still....