Over the past couple of years Covid-19 has presented a unique set of challenges, even now they seem to continue evolving and shifting. It would be a safe bet to assume that in one way or another all of us have been affected by this pandemic, whether it was worrying about being able to find toilet paper and food or having family and friends catch Covid.
One of the hardest hit demographics through these tumultuous times have been those of us with families and children. When the schools went to remote learning and most daycares began to shut their doors a spotlight was shone upon the scheduling difficulties of families with school aged children. Thankfully through out much of that portion we had some protections to lean on. From remote working to flexible working hours, we managed to fumble through everything, until those protections began to wane.
When it was announced that the Child Care Flextime was not going to be renewed the MTC quickly set to work to find a way to extend those protections on a more permanent basis on the shipyard. As of January 11th, 2022, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Commander of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the Metal Trades Council. This MOA has been put into place to offer relief to those of us still struggling with scheduling issues with our school aged children and shall do so moving forward. This is a big win for the MTC and all shipyard employees with school aged children!
In essence Childcare Flextime are voluntary Alternative Work Schedules. They will contain 40hr work weeks made up of 5 consecutive workdays with start times. For 1st shift the times begin at 6am through 8am in 15minute intervals. 2nd shifts start times are from 1430pm to 1630pm in 15minute intervals. A 30minute lunch period can be requested, on 1st shift the lunch periods are 11-11:30, 12-12:30 or 12:30-1300. 2nd shift lunches to be requested are 1830-1900, 1930-2000, or 2000-2030.
The first thing to keep in mind with Childcare Flextime is that, like filing a hardship, this is meant as a temporary solution to be used when all other scheduling options within their regular working shift has been exhausted. This flexibility will be utilized for those with children under the age of 13 and/or non-adult dependents under the age of 21 with special needs.
The process is straight forward and begins with you and your supervisor. You will need to fill out the appropriate enclosure and move forward from there, further details can be received from your local union representative.
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