School is in session and you need to know: do you have to adjust employee work schedules based on their childcare needs?
Does this sound familiar?
“I need to pick up my child from school starting next week – I need to leave early. Can we look at adjusting my schedule?”
This is a common issue amongst pretty much all practice owners and managers, especially when school is starting up in the fall, and then when kids’ schedules change over the summer. Your employee comes to you and says they need to adjust their work schedule to adjust for childcare. Perhaps you’re having several employees come to you with the same question. There are quite a few considerations you need to take into account before making a decision that may cause conflict around schedules.
Legally, there is nothing that requires you to make adjustments to your employees’ work schedules to accommodate for school or daycare schedule shifts (see below for a few exceptions). An employee wanting a particular work schedule based on school and daycare needs is not something that is legally protected which means these requests are purely personal requests for a schedule change and you can respond however you’d like.
While it may not be a legal requirement to accommodate, there are a few things to consider to avoid a sticky HR situation later:
As with most things, we do need to name some exceptions to the lack of legal protections.
Some states grant employees the legal right to take time off for school meetings or activities, meaning requests related to childcare may not be fully at your discretion to grant or deny. Additionally, state, county, or city sick leave laws often protect time off to care for a sick child, or if a school or daycare closes due to an emergency. These exceptions usually involve occasional parental obligations rather than ongoing schedule changes.
Because an ongoing schedule change for personal reasons is not something you are legally obligated to accept, you have a lot to consider.
You could simply say no to the request and leave things up to the employee to figure out. Bear in mind two main repercussions of doing this. One is that you lose the employee. You may be thinking that’s perfectly fine since they weren’t going to work the set schedule anyway, but there’s no guarantee your next hire isn’t going to have the same issue. And they may come with a host of other problems for you. So if this is a decent employee, retaining them if possible is likely a desired outcome.
Another possible downside of denying the request outright is the simple fact that this employee will be very unhappy and stressed about the situation. Even if they find a way to work their schedule and keep working, they’re going to have some resentment and there’s no way for you to prevent that from being shared with the rest of your team.
Because of these and other issues, we highly recommend at least considering the request for an adjusted schedule. This won’t mean you have to grant every request that comes to you for a schedule change, as long as you’re responding in a fair and objective way.
Some requests from employees are more reasonable and practical than others. Consider your business schedule, shift requirements, and meeting times. Allowing flexibility can be beneficial, but it shouldn’t negatively impact the practice. Weigh the pros and cons before deciding.
Imagine a front desk employee asks to arrive 15 minutes early and leave 15 minutes early to pick up their child from school. If team meetings are in the morning and multiple employees are available to help close things down at the end of the day, accommodating this request might be feasible and make the employee feel valued.
However, if a provider such as a hygienist or nurse practitioner is asking to arrive 30 minutes late and leave 30 minutes early, this may mean a total shift in scheduling of patient appointments. The impact may be on both new appointments and your existing patient schedule. It likely means seeing at least 1 less patient each day as well. This may be a lot harder to accommodate.
You may also have a medical assistant asking to take every Monday off because their daycare is closed. Missing an entire shift each week may change their status from full-time to part-time, resulting in a loss of benefits that your assistant may not have considered. This may also require others to work short handed every week or for you to hire another part-time employee, making it an unreasonable option.
If the request the employee made isn’t feasible, it’s a good idea to sit down with the employee to let them know what the problem is. Knowing that you at least considered their request may make them feel valued and in turn be willing to come up with a different solution to make things work with you.
Sometimes your employees do not have a choice when it comes to child care or pick up schedules and they truly don’t have another option. In other cases, especially if you are able to meet them in the middle somehow, they are able to find a way to make things work so your business isn’t so heavily impacted.
For example, if they can’t take Mondays off, perhaps they can leave early instead. If you could accommodate them arriving 30 minutes late but not leaving 30 minutes early, maybe they can find a friend who can pick up their kids at the end of the day.
It’s not your responsibility to resolve their childcare needs, but showing that you are respecting the difficult situation they are in and a willingness to at least consider some options can really go a long way with your team.
If you don’t have an updated handbook that meets your needs, consider talking with CEDR. We create custom handbooks and keep them current for you so you never have to worry about what may be missing from your handbook.
It can be hard to balance the needs of the business with the needs of your employees. You can’t always make everyone happy, and that’s okay. It may not be reasonable for the business or the staff schedule to accommodate this request and you have options. If you decide to decline their request, make sure you document why it was declined.
If you agree to adjust an employee’s schedule, it is okay to change your mind should you decide it’s not working for the business.
A great example of this is if multiple employees come to you to have similar flexible schedules, and you no longer have any employees who can open the practice on time. In this scenario, you can use an approach we’ve referred to as the “firing a shot across the bow” approach. Let all involved employees know that due to the business needs, these requests are no longer feasible.
You can ask for volunteers so employees can decide for themselves on which shifts they need to cover and how it works best for them, but if volunteering doesn’t meet all your needs, create a random rotating schedule. It helps if you can give them some sort of timeline before implementing so they can find after school care or extra accommodations for childcare in this instance.
Navigating employee schedule requests, especially those related to childcare, requires a balanced approach. While you’re not legally obligated to accommodate these requests, consider the feasibility and explore options that benefit both the employee and the practice. Collaborate with your employees, communicate openly, and be willing to test new arrangements. If changes impact an employee’s full-time status, be aware of the implications for benefits and consider the broader impact on your team. Document all decisions and their rationale to avoid future HR issues and ensure fairness. Remember, effective management of these requests can foster a supportive and productive workplace.
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Friendly Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and is not intended to provide legal advice or replace individual guidance about a specific issue with an attorney or HR expert. The information on this page is general human resources guidance based on applicable local, state, and/or federal U.S. employment law that is believed to be current as of the date of publication. Note that CEDR is not a law firm, and as the law is always changing, you should consult with a qualified attorney or HR expert who is familiar with all of the facts of your situation before making a decision about any human resources or employment law matter.
A Blog Written by CEDR, written by HR Experts to help you run your practice.
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