After the announcement that face-to-face classes will not resume until September, parents have begun to think about how to deal with the new situation, when we can go out again to work with the children at home.
But the problems to reconcile will continue in summer, because this year we will surely not be able to count on summer camps or those grandparents who always come to the rescue during long periods of school holidays, since they must be protected as a population group most at risk of contagion.
In addition, we must rethink how to organize ourselves in September if, as the Minister of Education, Isabel Celaá, assured this week, half of the education will surely continue to be carried out at a distance for only 50 percent of the children occupy the classrooms and thus maintain the necessary safety distance to avoid Covid-19.
José Luis Casero Gimón, president of the National Commission for the Rationalization of Spanish Hours (ARHOE) explains to us what measures can be adopted in the coming months so that parents can reconcile family and work in the return to the ‘new’ normality .
“What we have done during confinement is neither telework nor conciliation”
Before talking about the new situation posed to us by Spaniards as of next Monday, when phase 1 of deconfinement will begin, the president of ARHOE wanted to talk about the current situation in homes so that “people do not confuse such terms important such as teleworking or conciliation “.
He assures that we have not experienced any of these situations since they have occurred under a situation that changes everything: obligation and deprivation of liberty .
“Teleworking must be planned, adapted to the Data Protection Law, agreed on schedules and form of organization with the company and with technology provided by it.”
And he adds that the same happens with conciliation, which is nothing like what we are doing now that we are all at home together.
“Compulsory conciliation is not conciliation, without fundamental rights, without the possibility of having leisure or free time to do what one wants with the children or outside working hours. Reconciliation cannot be imposed as an obligation to be at home with your partner and the children. That is not reconciling. “
José Luis Casero wants this to be clear because he defends teleworking and fears that these terms will be demonized after the quarantine.
Explains the expert, self-employed and father of two daughters aged six and ten, that you have to think about the conditions of all families, to check in which cases it is possible to telework and under what conditions: “you don’t just have to monitor the time but also the space, because a mother with two small children in a 40 m2 flat does not work in the same conditions, for example, as another who is single or lives in a large house “.
“Occupationally, the two will be able to achieve the same objectives, because the talent is there, although the availability is different.”
“But these are some of the circumstances that will have to be assessed in the face of the new reality. There are many more,” he explains.
“We will all have to be more understanding with new personal situations”
The president of ARHOE suggests that we carry out an empathy exercise to imagine how hard it has to be locked in a house, teleworking and taking care of the children and helping them with their homework, when you don’t get along with your partner: “if the weather Family is bad, spending a lot of time together can turn into a real hell, considering that even when you get along well, confrontations always arise although they are better overcome “.
He is of the opinion that the Government is not thinking about working parents when taking measures: “there is a lot of improvisation, it is not going down to the mini-society nor are there situations in the medium term.”
It should not be overlooked that although in Spain we are strong at a technological level compared to the rest of Europe, the Covid-19 crisis has shown us that we are at a user level but not for teleworking and studying from home:
“Now that we have learned our lesson, we have time to prepare well in a professional way in case we have a re-outbreak of the pandemic in the fall, as the experts predict and even if it does not happen, to change the way we reconcile.”
This requires a training effort on the part of companies, schools, public administrations and families. This understanding must, as he explains, also extend to the organization of work in the new situation that we are going to have. These are some of his ideas:
-
Parents’ priority to be able to choose working hours in the company and that can be combined with teleworking, shifts that correspond to the children’s class schedule … To be possible, it must have the approval of the company and the rest of co-workers who do not have small children.
-
September is just around the corner and the conciliation problem is already real, but “there is still time to prepare, so it is time for the Government to start working with experts to find solutions to a scenario that will arise. morning”.
-
If a family has several children in the same school and there are going to be different shifts to attend class in person, that the center places them at the same time to help parents reconcile.
-
Establish flexible hours according to needs so that telework does not extend 24 hours a day.
-
Readaptation of customs at home , because few (if not any) of us had a house ready to become an office and a classroom.
-
Train teachers, students and employees in the necessary technology. If we are going to continue with online classes, an evaluation system, classes and programs must be established that allow feedback that works. “Parents have to stop being the teachers of our children, do their homework with them. There are experts for that.” We are still in time to adapt platforms to be able to give face-to-face classes.
-
End the digital divide. Facilitate access to technology for all children, because not all parents have the means or are trained to help our children use it. This effort must be done by the Government, providing computers, software and Internet access to all families, so that no child is left behind due to their economic situation.
José Luis Casero points out how much it hurt him to hear a woman say that she was going to have to stop working in order to take care of her children, because this situation can arise quite often if companies do not seek solutions to make the working day more flexible.
- Train managers so that they know how to manage their employees remotely , that they learn to trust them and their responsibility without being on top.
How should telework be
The ARHOE president advocates adopting a 4D-based time organization model:
-
Availability (but not permanence in dedication)
-
Dedication to your job responsibility
-
Unhooking
-
Rest
And he adds that now we have added another D: “Duties of the children”
But, although he is in favor of companies promoting teleworking, he points out that this must be done in shifts and to achieve this, companies are key: “Until the quarantine crisis, only 3.5% were betting on allowing teleworking one day to the week. This situation will change from now on, but it has to be rational, not compulsory and not always opt for teleworking. “
“Telework has a very important personal relationship component, also psychological and helps to progress in the professional career. Hence, it is important that talent is prioritized over dedication, regardless of being a man or a woman.”
Alternatives to reconcile tomorrow
We are talking about September, but the reality is that parents are going to have trouble reconcile sooner. The Government is committed to continuing teleworking as long as possible, although not all jobs allow it and only those under six years of age are expected to return to classrooms at the end of May as long as their parents justify that they need it to reconcile. But what about older children?
Although opting for a person to take care of our children, with state aid or subsidies, or also organizing among families to take turns in caring for several children, is now seen as something unlikely due to the fear of contagion: house that can infect our children? Mix many children in tight spaces? They will be possibilities that are shuffled, admits the president of ARHOE.
Grandparents this summer are not an option, as they are the most vulnerable population and must be protected. There will be no camps either … So there remains the possibility of the schools open in summer that the Government has announced: “It is a possibility, if necessary, although it is not very well understood to gather many children in classrooms when in September control the capacity to respect the safety distance, nor will there be breaks. So we will have to take these solutions now and adapt the centers to withstand the high temperatures “.
It is clear, as the expert points out, that we are living in a stage of global uncertainty and that to overcome it and until ‘certainty’ arrives, we have to be flexible and all work together. “We must all contribute ideas, options, because all possibilities are open and we must find the best solutions, listening to the experts and those involved.”
Surely you also have an idea that could help us. We are looking forward to hearing it.
Photos | iStock
In Babies and More | Reconciling Work and Family Life: A Long Way To Go, Getting Organized and Being Flexible: Tips for Working From Home Moms with Babies and Young Children
