[V]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Maybe some of you guys are in a parenting situation that for whatever reason isn't difficult, but you are remiss in your responsibility as a member of society to think you are excused from the big-picture effort required from us all to raise and help raise the next generation.

As a boss, I feel it's incredibly discriminatory to set workplace rules based upon personal issues. I have the following examples in my workplace:

One of my guys has a wife who was recently diagnosed with cancer. This has obviously taken an enormous toll on him, and I've had to be flexible with his hours as his responsibilities at home (not kid-related) have severely impacted his performance at work. I fully expect that he'll make up some time when the worst of the storm has passed, but for the time being I've given him all the time he needs to work through things.

Another guy has a very sick mother, and he needs to take her to doctor appointments on a consistent basis, more than our standard allowance for medical leave. I could tell him to take personal time off, but I've decided to allow him to make up the time when he can.

Another guy loves to watch his English soccer in the middle of the night, so every once in a while I get an email from him telling me he won't be in the office until 9 in the morning. I don't have a problem with him making up his time. I'm fine as long as the work gets done.

There are more examples, because everyone is going through different experiences in their life, but I don't see the point of beating this dead horse.

Now, who the hell am I to judge which of these cases are noble enough for me to allow flexibility, and which aren't? My one question when evaluating these situations is this: Is their situation going to impact their workload to a point that I believe is unreasonable and will require additional resources to complete our projects?

The employees that don't have the responsibility of small kids? They better be on time or have a very good excuse.

I just can't get over the fact that you are so willing to blatantly discriminate in favour of those with children. I'm shocked that one of your non-child rearing employees hasn't contacted HR about you yet.