how do you convince your boss to let you work from home?

sarelewis · October 2009

I'm in a small internet marketing firm and could easily do all of my job from home. I think my employer has had bad experiences with employee's working from hom in the past and hesitated when I asked him about this a month ago (I'm still well into my first tri and he does not yet know i'm preggo).

He said i'm such a positive person in the office he'd hate to lose my energy. How can I convince him to let me work from home a day or two a week after the baby is born? childcare costs and my general distate for being in the office are my main factors. The money isn't crucial...so I could cut back to 30 hours a week and work 3 days in the office, 1/2 day at home if he'd let me.

Any suggestions or experience?

vmm0016 · October 2009

Good luck! My company will not even let me work 1/2 a day a week at home. Sad

mrgn · October 2009

I think once you announce your pregnancy at work, it will be easier to discuss this with your boss. He may be more understanding to your situation once he knows the circumstances.

D*sMayBride · October 2009

I would be careful with this one. A lot of first time parents think it's easy to just work from home with kids, but let me tell you... while it might be manageable the first few months, it is not possible after that. They have needs and need attention, playing, feeding, changing around the clock. As they get older and can crawl/walk they'll be after you all the time, you won't get anything done at home. And kids won't just sit and watch TV or play independently until they are almost 3 for extended periods of time, so forget about trying to call into a meeting.

I worked from home on and off with one infant at a time, but once the kids got to be a certain age, I could no longer and when they were ill, I couldn't "Work from home", I had to take sick days because they take up all my time and it's not possible to actually work. Just something to keep in mind.

Jen&Louie · October 2009

You might try a "trial basis" approach. Ask to work 1-2 days a week from home for a few weeks to prove your productivity will remain the same as when you are in the office. Can't hurt to ask.

aliciamariel · October 2009

I started 'having' to work from home to show them that my job can be done easily and efficiently. Once, I had a repairman that had to do some work during the day, so I worked from home, and I've also worked from home once or twice when I haven't felt 100%. This has shown my boss that I can do my job, and when it came time to ask if I could work from home 2 days a week, he couldn't really argue that my job would suffer, because I've shown that it won't.

seepstei · October 2009

Approach your boss with a detailed plan. Try to think about scenarios/problems he may raise and have answers ready. Stress your willingness to be flexible when a real need arises (if this is possible). We have a number of people working part time from home at my office and I understand that asking in a way that shows you have given it a lot of thought and figured out how to be equally productive goes a long way towards reassuring a boss.

SymphonyGirl · October 2009

My situation is a little different because it's full-time working from home and I can't come to the office b/c I now live 2500 miles away. When I moved to working full-time from home, I provided a proposal that explained exactly how my work could be accomplished from home, alternatives for work that needed to be done in the office that I'd no longer be able to do while telecommuting, and exactly what they'd need to provide and I'd need to provide to make it work (e.g. internet access, phone, etc).

But, if you are wanting to do it because you think it will cut down your child care costs, I've gotta tell you, that's not the way to work from home. To really get work done at home, you still need childcare. We have a nanny during my workday and I don't think I'd accomplish anything without her.

littlemaybaby · October 2009

Well it depends on how much your boss really needs you and how much you really need the money. My boss has said he likes having me in the office and he'd be willing to talk about me working from home after LO arrives, but not until we get to that point. It's super frustrating for me because I need to make plans and need to know before LO gets here how much childcare I will need. So the plan DH and I have is this:

Go on mat leave. Towards the end of mat leave, ask boss if I can work from home instead of coming back to office. If he says yes, GREAT. He keeps me as an employee (which I really think he wants), I keep salary, and I get to stay home. If he says no, then I am not coming back . . . but obviously, we've worked the budget in a million different ways to make sure this is feasible for us - and it is.

Not the most ideal situation. I tried to talk to him about this starting at around 20 weeks and he insists he doesn't want to talk about it until after the baby gets here . . . so it's the corner I'm backed into.

Good luck to you and hopefully someone will have a more ideal suggestion than mine!!!!

bannedmonkey · October 2009

I asked to work from home once my baby was born. I explained to him how important family was.I also told him I would do absolutely anything to make it work, like go in early the other day, stay late....

I talked about quality of life and what I saw in my future. I told him I was extreemly committed to the company and I could see myself staying there long term.

I also suggested a trial period of 3 months.

We're supposed to meet soon for his decision...

madeleines_mommy · October 2009

D*sMayBride:

I would be careful with this one. A lot of first time parents think it's easy to just work from home with kids, but let me tell you... while it might be manageable the first few months, it is not possible after that. They have needs and need attention, playing, feeding, changing around the clock. As they get older and can crawl/walk they'll be after you all the time, you won't get anything done at home. And kids won't just sit and watch TV or play independently until they are almost 3 for extended periods of time, so forget about trying to call into a meeting.

I worked from home on and off with one infant at a time, but once the kids got to be a certain age, I could no longer and when they were ill, I couldn't "Work from home", I had to take sick days because they take up all my time and it's not possible to actually work. Just something to keep in mind.

this exactly

rcollier_17 · October 2009

Um...cookies?

MegDC · October 2009

madeleines_mommy:
D*sMayBride:

I would be careful with this one. A lot of first time parents think it's easy to just work from home with kids, but let me tell you... while it might be manageable the first few months, it is not possible after that. They have needs and need attention, playing, feeding, changing around the clock. As they get older and can crawl/walk they'll be after you all the time, you won't get anything done at home. And kids won't just sit and watch TV or play independently until they are almost 3 for extended periods of time, so forget about trying to call into a meeting.

I worked from home on and off with one infant at a time, but once the kids got to be a certain age, I could no longer and when they were ill, I couldn't "Work from home", I had to take sick days because they take up all my time and it's not possible to actually work. Just something to keep in mind.

this exactly

Agree! I tried it for a few weeks. It was awful. I did not get good work done and I felt like I was shortchanging my DD-- because I was. She was not getting the 24/7 attention she deserves. If you work from home you still need child care. And its way harder to figure that all out once you are stuck in the situation. I would suggest figuring it out now. Good luck! (PS. Once we got our nanny everything has been fantastic)

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