The Sunshine State is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but this time, don’t blame Florida Man… blame Florida State University!
The public research university up in Tallahassee, in the northern part of the state, is under fire on social media right now after announcing that as of early August, they will no longer continue to allow employees to simultaneously take care of their children while working from home. They had granted a temporary exception back in March amid the coronavirus pandemic, but as WCTV2 News reports, a university email to staff this week noted it was soon to expire.
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In part, it read that in just over a month from now, parents would once again have to find childcare options even while working remotely:
“In March 2020, the University communicated a temporary exception to policy which allowed employees to care for children at home while on the Temporary Remote Work agreement. Effective Aug. 7, 2020, the University will return to normal policy and will no longer allow employees to care for children while working remotely.”
Like… really?
So, parents are supposed to work in one room and hire a baby sitter for their kids in the other room, and the parent can’t take thirty seconds here and there to check up on ’em?! Like parenting during a pandemic amid children’s school closures and other child care issues isn’t already tough enough?! Is this really where we’re at as a society right now?? Oh, Florida…
For many, the initial reaction has been confusion and frustration. Dr. Jenny Root, an assistant professor of special education at the university, spoke to The Lily about her initial thoughts regarding the policy, saying:
“My initial thought was, ‘well, what am I supposed to do with [my kids]?’ None of us are enjoying this. It makes me feel like I’m failing at everything I do. [FSU is] acting like they gave us this privilege to watch our children while we worked — when that’s literally what I had to do.”
No kidding!
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FSU attempted to calm the controversy in a canned statement released to the media. Associate Vice President for Human Resources Renisha Gibbs said of the new rule:
“As FSU looks toward resuming normal campus operations — as conditions allow — we felt a responsibility to provide our employees notice of our intention to return to our standard telecommuting agreement that requires dependent or child-care arrangements while working remotely. If employees do not have day care options or choose not to send their children to school in the fall, they should work with their supervisors to identify a flexible work schedule that allows them to fulfill their work duties and their family responsibilities.”
Uh-huh… that sounds like a major headache for many who don’t have easy access to simple child care!
What do U make of this potentially problematic policy decision, Perezcious readers?! We get it, university officials want to make sure their employees are productive, and the school is hoping to get back to some kind of normalcy… but is this really the way to go about doing that??
Sound OFF down below with all your thoughts and opinions on the situation! We want to hear from you!
[Image via Florida State University]
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