a question for those w/ offices closed due to the cold weather today

groovygrl · January 2014

assuming you don't have a huge deadline or something right now that is urgent and that you are not being required to use vacation/PTO today, will you spend the day working from home, part of it, or mostly just try to enjoy having an unplanned day at home w/ kids?

I'm curious b/c I am still having a phone meeting b/c it was so hard to schedule to begin with, and I am hoping to read a good portion of a book related to work that I just haven't been able to read, but otherwise was going to spend a low key day. MH on the other hand says, "it's a work day. Just because my office is closed, doesn't mean it isn't a work day" and he plans to work all day except for when I'm on my call and he has to be in charge of the kids. He wanted to split up the day wehre he works for two hrs then I do, then he does, etc. but the reality is that I know he will be working the whole time and be on his phone & whatever anyway so I don't know how much I'd get done w/ the kids around anyway. He was hoping to try to go into his office even though it is -10 and the office is officially closed, which I just think is ridiculous.

Where do you stand? I'm not really a person who blows off work and I typically am on email and responding to things at night, weekends, vacations & sick days but in this case, I'm not going to make being stuck inside even worse by both of us trying to work and whatnot while watching 2 kids. I will be checking email regularly & if things come to me to look at or do quickly, I will.

LoCarb · January 2014

My office was closed 2 days in December due to inclement weather. I did not work and enjoyed the 'days off'. I do not have a work laptop either.

In prior jobs, where a lap top was distributed it was mandatory we worked.

groovygrl · January 2014

The problem is child care as well as the vast majority at my workplace not having remote access- all schools, etc are closed as well, and most ppl do not have remote access (and are not actually permitted to work from home in general) so while everyone is being paid b/c it is closed (this is more than a 'snow day', it is very very unusual for everything to shut down like this), that would mean that most ppl wouldn't be expected to work. My staff will not be expected to work and I don't expect to hear from them today beyond checking in that they're ok & have power. I brought home some stuff suspecting that my meeting would turn into a phone call but someone has to watch the kids...?
I suppose MH's situation is different, pretty much everyone who works there has phones, laptops, etc so it wouldn't be a case of some 'have' to work and some don't.

I guess in the case of CA, to think of something that would actually happen... what if there were a disaster somewhere and it made commuting very difficult and your kid(s)' school was closed and employers closed so people didn't have to try to travel w/ all the different problems, would you work while watching your LOs?

*sparky* · January 2014

As others posted, it kind of depends on your job. My office has never been officially closed, but when DS has a snow day, I will work from home but realize there is only so much I can do with him there. I am definitely less productive than normal but make up for it the next day.

SO I would say do what you can, let your kids watch tv for a while if you have to, and it is okay if the time that your DH is iin charge of them he is doing some work and they entertain themselves. Unless, of course, we are talking about really little kids who can't be left unspervised, but I am not sure how old your LO's are.

dizzycooks · January 2014

I am off due to cold today and daycare was open, but DDs been home since Dec. 20 for winter break with me so I just couldn't bring myself to go out in the cold and bring her to daycare. I got up at 5:30 to work on some work stuff, certainly not required or expected, but with my leave coming up I do have things to plan for and lists to make for my sub (should they every hire someone!). I will putz with that while she plays and we'll do some activities. I have a few more chores I'd like to do and then I will nap when she naps.

jlaOK · January 2014

Is the office officially closed or are you supposed to work remotely? At my old job they close for 2 days or weather and I wouldn't work. Now I WFH and DH's office requires them to use PTO or WFH on bad weather days. We usually each work half a day or he'll work when he can and makes up the extra time in the evening throughout the week. I'm a little more liberal with my "working hours" when the kids are home but for the most part I'm working.

jennyelf · January 2014

I can't work from home (no remote access to my work computer) so snow days == no work!

groovygrl · January 2014

No, that is why it is different the employer is officially closed b/c of the weather, everyone is getting paid today if they were scheduled to work but there is no expectation of people to work (since many ppl who do non-desk type jobs obviously can't do their job from home and the majority don't have access to even if they could). Normally if ppl choose not to travel b/c of bad weather, they have to use PTO but this is not the same situation. (side note, my employer employs thousands of people in the area, it is not a small company.)

jf198400 · January 2014

I have never worked anywhere that actually closed for a snow day. I have always had to either take PTO or Wfh. We had bad snow here on Friday and DH worked from home and I took a vacation day to watch the kids. It's really not possible for us to both Wfh and watch the kids. Also neither of us has a work laptop and we only have 1 home computer. I suppose we could have each took half a day but I really didn't have anything I needed to do so I took the kids this time. Next time we have bad weather, we'll switch.

caladpi02 · January 2014

groovygrl said:
The problem is child care as well as the vast majority at my workplace not having remote access- all schools, etc are closed as well, and most ppl do not have remote access (and are not actually permitted to work from home in general) so while everyone is being paid b/c it is closed (this is more than a 'snow day', it is very very unusual for everything to shut down like this), that would mean that most ppl wouldn't be expected to work. My staff will not be expected to work and I don't expect to hear from them today beyond checking in that they're ok & have power. I brought home some stuff suspecting that my meeting would turn into a phone call but someone has to watch the kids...?
I suppose MH's situation is different, pretty much everyone who works there has phones, laptops, etc so it wouldn't be a case of some 'have' to work and some don't.

I guess in the case of CA, to think of something that would actually happen... what if there were a disaster somewhere and it made commuting very difficult and your kid(s)' school was closed and employers closed so people didn't have to try to travel w/ all the different problems, would you work while watching your LOs?

Honestly, if things were closed in CA it would be a true disaster, earthquake, flooding, fire, massive blackouts- all situations where you could not work. Having lived here my whole life, earthquakes and a few days of the 1997 El Niño shut things down. Generally, if your office is closed for weather, it is a non functioning reason.

Maybride2 · January 2014

We're under a snow emergency - only essential personnel are to be on the roads, everyone else can/will be ticketed if caught driving. So yeah, our office is closed and we're not being made to take pto because its not by our fault or request that we're not coming in. I'm not working from home, mostly because with my job there's not much I can do from home. M husband, on the other hand, is on a conference call for work right now.

WBMom · January 2014

Our offices are never officially closed but we got an email from our mgrs on Friday to plan accordingly for Monday since many schools will be closed due to the extreme cold temps (Right now temp is -15 with wind chills of -25). We all have remote access. I am doing work but more interemittently than if I was in the office. I will probably finish up later tonight or just put in a little extra time on the other days this week. DH works for the same company but he went into the office.

thedash · January 2014

I have had jobs in the past where if the court was closed for snow/cold then our office was closed. I never felt that I needed to work from home or use PTO on those days. And that was before kids!

aibrean · January 2014

Mine wasn't closed but I worked from home today and will WFH tomorrow. I might have ventured out tomorrow but my LO is still finishing up antibiotics for strep and I don't want her outside at all to take her to daycare. Today is my husband's day off since he does 4/10s and he watched the LO.

rubber_chicken · January 2014

when our office is closed for weather, we are expected to work from home. the downside of flextime and being able to work remotely is having to work from home when daycare is closed :P

eyenigh · January 2014

I work at a university and when it shuts down, no one works except for the essential personnel that keep facilities and computing running (and even that is done remotely when possible). Those of us in marketing and communications are also responsible for updating websites and sending out messages regarding closures but that's literally about 10 minutes worth of work, maybe a phone call to a dean. As an interesting side note, though, if I had scheduled a day off ahead of time that ended up being a snow day, I would still have take it as a vacation day and have it docked from my bank even though everyone else who hadn't planned to take the day off would not. Everyone hates this rule.

CarrieB. · January 2014

What does your manager expect you to do? For us today was a work from home day for all nonessential enploees, so we worked from home.

groovygrl · January 2014

Eh, it is not really communicated, just that everything is shut down and everyone will be paid, etc. Since so many people are not allowed/cannot WFH generally I think they'd have trouble dictating that certain ppl have to WFH and no one else does, kwim? I did work yesterday a bit and today have just been checking email & whatnot (practically nothing has come in) but MH went to work today so I was home w/ 2 four yr olds so it is not really realistic to do a whole lot.

SLGILL1978 · January 2014

I work for the school district. Yesterday was supposed to be our first day back from winter break. I enjoyed my day with my baby.

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