(this is a little long!)
I'm the full time working mother of a 6 month old (today!) little girl. We've had a very successful breastfeeding relationship, and pumping at work has gone really well, too. I have a really sweet manager who is quite supportive of me doing whatever I need to do to take care of my little one, including pumping and nursing on my lunch break. I'm currently working 4 days in the office, and one from home (unofficially)
We just acquired a company in Canada, and a couple of months ago, I ended up taking a 1 day business trip there, which went well. At the time, my manager mentioned that in May the whole team might go up to Canada for a few days, and he wanted to give me a heads up. I talked with my husband about this, and decided that if the trip came up, we would all go and make it a combined family vacation/business trip by going up a few days early.
Last Friday, we were told that we were definitely going on a 3 day trip, and that we needed to make reservations the same day, since the trip was only 10 days away. Unfortunately, in the intervening two months, my husband had agreed to go on a business trip to the West Coast for the exact same time frame so he could no longer go up to Canada with me and the nursling. As my collegaues were making their reservations, I found that by leaving 12 hours earlier than my colleagues on a Sunday, and staying an extra night, my ticket would be less than half of the cost of their ticket. All in, it would cost less for me to bring our nanny/nursling and stay an extra night in Canada than what my colleagues were paying for their plane ticket.
So, I happily printed out one of my colleague's reservation with cost, my proposed trip which cost less, the portion of the company's Travel Policy which states that if an employee needs a companion to travel on business, the company will pay for it (with VP approval), and the portion of the policy which states that changes to an employee's itinerary for personal reasons are allowed so long as it is cheaper than the originally proposed business trip.
My manager looked at everything I brought him, and said it looked fine to him, but had to be approved by his manager. His manager looked at it, and didn't want to make the decision, so took it to his manager, the CFO. An hour or so later, my manager called me into his office to tell me that due to the company-wide cost cutting measures that the CFO wouldn't approve my trip because travel costs under scrutiny. This made absolutely no sense, since my trip cost less than everyone else's, but I was so mad at this point I decided I better keep my mouth shut and not say something that I regretted.
About an hour after this, the CFO walked by my work station, and I asked him if he had a minute. I asked if he could please explain to me why I was not going to be able to join my colleagues on the trip. There was a lot of hemming and hawing, and requests for clarification from me, but his reasons went in this chronological order:
1. Cost of travel (we set this one straight quickly)
2. Liability (if the plane were to crash and my nanny and baby were on the trip, then the company would be liable, which would increase the company's insurance)
3. Precedent (wouldn't want employees to start thinking about ways to integrate home and personal life in cost-saving ways which follow compay policy)
4. He doesn't like to "mix" personal and business (the real reason)
I think this was one of the most ridiculous conversations I have ever had in my professional life, but I actually felt better after having it, because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt why my trip was being denied and that I had made my case as best I could.
Hence, I was left with three options - go on the trip without baby (really not an option for me), go on the trip, and pay for the nanny's plane ticket myself, or not go on the trip. I decided I just wouldn't go. I'm not sure if that was the right decision for my career or not. Part of me says I should have just sucked up the cost, because this situation wouldn't be an issue later on (I wouldn't mind leaving my nursling for 2-3 days in a few months if my husband were home) and that no workplace is going to be perfect. It took me a very long time to find a job that I really like with people I like.
So at this point, I am trying to figure out my next steps. Do I just let this one go and hope that my CFO's antiquated notions of business/personal don't affect me. SHould I start looking for a job at a family friendly company and hope that I like the work as much as I do here? Has anyone been in a situation similar to this and have any advice? I'm passed being really, really mad at the situation, and now just kind of sad, because I have liked working here a lot, but am not sure if this is the right place anymore.
Thanks for your feedback!
I'm the full time working mother of a 6 month old (today!) little girl. We've had a very successful breastfeeding relationship, and pumping at work has gone really well, too. I have a really sweet manager who is quite supportive of me doing whatever I need to do to take care of my little one, including pumping and nursing on my lunch break. I'm currently working 4 days in the office, and one from home (unofficially)
We just acquired a company in Canada, and a couple of months ago, I ended up taking a 1 day business trip there, which went well. At the time, my manager mentioned that in May the whole team might go up to Canada for a few days, and he wanted to give me a heads up. I talked with my husband about this, and decided that if the trip came up, we would all go and make it a combined family vacation/business trip by going up a few days early.
Last Friday, we were told that we were definitely going on a 3 day trip, and that we needed to make reservations the same day, since the trip was only 10 days away. Unfortunately, in the intervening two months, my husband had agreed to go on a business trip to the West Coast for the exact same time frame so he could no longer go up to Canada with me and the nursling. As my collegaues were making their reservations, I found that by leaving 12 hours earlier than my colleagues on a Sunday, and staying an extra night, my ticket would be less than half of the cost of their ticket. All in, it would cost less for me to bring our nanny/nursling and stay an extra night in Canada than what my colleagues were paying for their plane ticket.
So, I happily printed out one of my colleague's reservation with cost, my proposed trip which cost less, the portion of the company's Travel Policy which states that if an employee needs a companion to travel on business, the company will pay for it (with VP approval), and the portion of the policy which states that changes to an employee's itinerary for personal reasons are allowed so long as it is cheaper than the originally proposed business trip.
My manager looked at everything I brought him, and said it looked fine to him, but had to be approved by his manager. His manager looked at it, and didn't want to make the decision, so took it to his manager, the CFO. An hour or so later, my manager called me into his office to tell me that due to the company-wide cost cutting measures that the CFO wouldn't approve my trip because travel costs under scrutiny. This made absolutely no sense, since my trip cost less than everyone else's, but I was so mad at this point I decided I better keep my mouth shut and not say something that I regretted.
About an hour after this, the CFO walked by my work station, and I asked him if he had a minute. I asked if he could please explain to me why I was not going to be able to join my colleagues on the trip. There was a lot of hemming and hawing, and requests for clarification from me, but his reasons went in this chronological order:
1. Cost of travel (we set this one straight quickly)
2. Liability (if the plane were to crash and my nanny and baby were on the trip, then the company would be liable, which would increase the company's insurance)
3. Precedent (wouldn't want employees to start thinking about ways to integrate home and personal life in cost-saving ways which follow compay policy)
4. He doesn't like to "mix" personal and business (the real reason)
I think this was one of the most ridiculous conversations I have ever had in my professional life, but I actually felt better after having it, because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt why my trip was being denied and that I had made my case as best I could.
Hence, I was left with three options - go on the trip without baby (really not an option for me), go on the trip, and pay for the nanny's plane ticket myself, or not go on the trip. I decided I just wouldn't go. I'm not sure if that was the right decision for my career or not. Part of me says I should have just sucked up the cost, because this situation wouldn't be an issue later on (I wouldn't mind leaving my nursling for 2-3 days in a few months if my husband were home) and that no workplace is going to be perfect. It took me a very long time to find a job that I really like with people I like.
So at this point, I am trying to figure out my next steps. Do I just let this one go and hope that my CFO's antiquated notions of business/personal don't affect me. SHould I start looking for a job at a family friendly company and hope that I like the work as much as I do here? Has anyone been in a situation similar to this and have any advice? I'm passed being really, really mad at the situation, and now just kind of sad, because I have liked working here a lot, but am not sure if this is the right place anymore.
Thanks for your feedback!
