Need your support gals, work related! - Update!

OK - here's the deal.

I have been working for my boss (CEO of his own company) 7 years this coming August. He has two children of his own whom at one point I used to babysit! He attended my wedding, and even gets along great with my DH. With all that being said I think it's safe to say I have a pretty good relationship with him.

I already have been given the ability to work from home when on vacation, sick, or emergency situations. I can log into my work computer from home and get done most of my work without being in the office.

I need to discuss with him today the possibility of working from home after Baby P. is born and I'm freaking out! In reality there are only a couple of tasks I wouldn't be able to do from home and I figure if I pitch the idea with me coming in two days a week for about an hour or two to get that stuff done, meet with him, discuss upcoming events/projects etc.

I was planning on waiting until closer to my due date. But a coworker (in a diff dept, but has my old position so when she's not in I often cover for her) has to have surgery which will require her to be out 6 weeks. Now she is planning the surgery for May so in theory she'll be back before I leave, but I want to get to him first. She is picking her surgery date Wednesday, so that really only leaves me with today or tomorrow.

Any advice as to how to approach the situation, or just fingers crossed for me is much appreciated!

Update -

So, I had "the talk".....

He kinda blew me off about the whole thing. I started off with:

"I'd like to discuss me for a second" and he laughed (he knew what I was referring to). Then I said "I'm now over 6 months pregnant and just want to start talking about what we are going to do".

He said he needs to figure out what they will do for me with the time off. I said "I get 6 weeks of short term disability through FMLA and have no problem taking it if I can work from home after" (Said that to give him the impression that I'll waive my expectation of them paying me full pay if he'll let me work from home)

Then he was like "well i need to look into it". I said "well working from home would be a great option for me and I'd have no problem coming in a couple times a week to catch up, pick stuff up, drop off etc" and he kept changing the subject but I felt like I wasn't given the opportunity to get my point across. so I ended with 'well, you'd be able to use my desk for someone else" i laughed and he said "I'll get back to you"

I'm a little mad I was blown off. But nothing I can really do.

So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I told DH the whole thing and DH said he thinks my boss will let me do it. My boss isn't a very trusting person so hiring a replacement isn't really an option and there isn't anyone he'd promote from within.

We'll see.

*********** Update ****************

So, my boss told me yesterday working from home is not an option. He said he just can't set that precedence. I suppose he thinks if he allows it for me he'd have to for everyone. Meanwhile I am the employee that has been here the longest (7 years) and I am actually one of the few who has the flexibility of working from home already when needed.

Kind of aggravates me to be honest. He has no problem calling me on a Saturday afternoon to log in and do something work related. But now when the shoe is on the other foot its just not acceptable.

And, he wants to know exactly when I will be coming back to work - in his exact words - "Full time, Monday-Friday, 9-5".

So it's not even like part time is a possibility.

I told him possibly after 12 weeks. But DH and I discussed it and it looks as though I will be a SAHM for at least 6 months. Now just how to go about telling my boss so I'm not spiting myself is the next hurdle.

Message edited 3/25/2008 9:51:55 AM.

Re: Need your support gals!

i think it's a good idea for you to "go first" so to speak... that way when your co-worker tells him about her surgery he has the option of hiring a temp in case you are both out at the same time.

i think it would be a good idea if you had a set time frame in mind that you'd like to work from home. he might feel better about it if you said no longer than 6 months, 9 months, one year, or something like that, then indefinitely.

good luck!!!

Re: Need your support gals!

Ah, I have the same issue!

I was very scared to talk to my boss about working at home after the baby is born and when I had my talk with him, he was taken aback and I really didn't get a positive vibe from him (I did this around 31-32 weeks).

Now I'm 36 weeks and he hasn't come back to me with any kind of concrete answer. I hope to start working at home sporadically before the baby is born to prove that I can get most of my work done. I'm hoping if this goes well, that there should be no problems with me working from home afterwards.

I am also not taking the full 12 weeks, I plan to take 8, and I thought by doing that would make my demand to work at home afterwards look better, but who knows? If he doesn't give in, then I might take the full 12 just to stick it to them. Also, he is having a hard time finding a temp replacement for me while I'm gone, so I'm hoping he continues to have difficulty because then I think he would have to give in to my demands!

Re: Need your support gals!

good luck!

Re: Need your support gals! - Update!

Bumped for update.

Re: Need your support gals! - Update!

Good luck, I'm having the same issue. I really think that they (bosses) think we will be sitting around watching Oprah and eating bon-bons if we were to work from home.

Re: Need your support gals! - Update!

bump for update in OP

Re: Need your support gals! - Update!

Ugh, sorry that didn't work out better for you. I have a feeling he'll regret not offering you the option of working at home. Oh well. Mayb he'll change his mind.

Re: Need your support gals! - Update!

I am sorry that you didn't get the reaction that you were looking for from your boss. I hope that he will be understanding about you taking off the time that you would like

Re: Need your support gals, work related! - Update!

i'm sorry that your boss wouldnt agree to you working at home. he probably will regret not being more flexible later when he realizes how long u have been there and been a loyal and responsible worker for him.

Re: Need your support gals, work related! - Update!

I'm sorry you didn't hear what you wanted from your boss. It is such a shame in this day and age that a company can't be more accommodating, especially when you've worked at home before.

I am so sorry!