Feeling Cornered

[BabeX2]

I am a single mother and I work as an RN on a med-surg floor. I have been employed for eight months at this facility and two times I have had issues with my childcare. Once, I had to be late because my child's daycare and school closed due to inclement weather and it took me some time to find back-up. The second time was also the same situation but had to leave early to get my children because I did not have a back-up sitter available. My administrator phoned me and informed me that this is becoming an "issue." Other than these two times, I am never late, have never called in, and perform very well at work. The administrator has threatened to write me up because child care issues are not considered a valid excuse. At this point I feel threatened and cornered. I don't know what my rights are as a parent in the workplace. Certainly there has to be some protection. Can anyone help me. I just want to be able to defend myself if the situation should arise that I have to. Thanks.

[caliotter3]

The best thing you can do is to get backup childcare. It doesn't matter if you are at this facility, or another, you are going to have a better time of it if you have your childcare covered, one way or the other.

[WhichWayIsUp?]

Georgia is a "right to work" state whch has the opposite meaning of what you think it does: they can fire at will and without cause. Firing for not coming to work due to childcare issues is common. First, get your childcare issues resolved. Second, advocate for a union in Georgia! We need one!

[reannen]

Employers and many others often use the fact that Georgia is a "right to work" state to mean that the employee has no rights. That is not true! In fact, a right to work state means simply that in this state you can't be compelled to join a union. In other words, you have the "right to work" regardless if you join a union or not. That being said, if you were fired due to lack of childcare, they would be justified in doing so. They will need to write you up and document the absences, however. It is you your responsibility to have back up child care in place in a pinch...especially as an hourly employee that is depended upon moreso than would be a salaried working parent in an corporate office setting.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

Hi! Not sure if you're still checking this thread, but my heart goes out to you. I want to offer you a little advice. I used to be a child care provider (over 7 yrs!!) and am now taking pre-reqs for nursing school.

I think that you might want to line up quality child care with a program or provider who can commit to letting you use care whenever you need it. Say to the provider/teacher, "I am a single mom and have no relatives to rely on (if that's the truth). I need to find a daycare that is open anytime I have to work- even if the weather is bad or my kids are sick."

If you cannot find a quality provider to do this, then line up a backup person who will commit to being there for you during emergencies. Actually, line up 2 back ups.

When I first opened, I did this kind of care for a mom who was a CNA. Later on, I stopped offering 24-7 care, BUT I worked with other child care programs who did offer it, that way, I could either refer the parent to the other program or they'd come to my program during traditional hours and I'd drop off the child to the other program during the non-traditional hours.

I'm in CA, and in my medium sized town, there are lots of providers who will work with you, it just might take 30 interviews to find a QUALITY child care program who will offer this. You might have to travel a little bit and you'll likely have to pay the higher end of normal to get this type of service.

Good Luck!

[Oceangel]

I am transitioning from 5 years in Human Resources to become a Nurse. And like others have said here, there is no "protection" against being reprimanded for not being at work on time due to childcare issues. Unfortunately, having family obligations can interfere with work, which is another reason I am transitioning. Maybe you could advocate to your employer to offer daycare on site? Many healthcare facilities offer this to help reduce such issues. Or like others have said, have a back up, and then another back up you can rely on. Bottom line is it is your responsibility to coordinate child care and be at work on time - not your bosses. I know that is harsh, but I am speaking from the other side, the HR side which sees the termination reasons - and there are many that have to do with family responsibilities that interfered with work and at some point the person was terminated because it interfered too much.

[Oceangel]

on another note, being a right-to-work state has nothing to do with whether she could be reprimanded or fired for being late to work. If it were a union state, which would cause as many problems as it would "solve", she could still be fired for being late - it would just have to be better documented so they could fire her "for cause" as required by the union. The only difference is in a right-to-work state there is less paperwork required, but we still do the paperwork for the most part just to show it was not in violation of Title VII.