Special
Parents
OFFERING HELP AND ACCOMMODATION ENABLES TOP PERFORMANCE
Darren and Mary are both parents of children with special
needs. Darren works for the professional services
firm KPMG in Canada. Mary – not her real name – also
worked for a global firm, “XYZ Company”. They faced
very similar struggles as working parents, but the impact of those
struggles on their professional lives has been quite different. In
fact, Darren Spreadbury has recently been promoted to partner
at KPMG in Canada, while Mary left XYZ Company after more
than 11 years to start her own business.
Mary was an experienced project manager who always exceeded
expectations on her performance reviews. After working for
XYZ Company for over two years, she got pregnant. During her
maternity leave, Mary’s daughter Tanya was diagnosed with a neurological
disorder. Tanya now uses a wheelchair as well as assistive
devices for communicating.
“At first, it was rather overwhelming,” said Mary. “Being a new
parent is challenging for anyone, but then you’re also faced with
the daunting situation of having a child that has needs you don’t
yet understand.”
XYZ Company had no supports for parents of special needs
children, nor any formal policies for flexible work. Thankfully,
Mary’s manager recognized that Mary could perform her job well
from anywhere – except when the job involved in-person meetings
– so Mary was allowed to work from home two days a week and
take her daughter to therapy on Friday afternoons.
This arrangement worked well for several years. Mary continued
to perform her job exceptionally well, and always received
excellent performance reviews. Then her manager left the company
and things started to change. The new manager was not fond
of telework and insisted that Mary come into the office every day.
She tried to discuss the situation, but the manager was uncompromising.
So, Mary discussed the issue with HR. Eventually, they
agreed to let her work from home on Fridays so that Mary could
take Tanya to therapy, but they asked her not to tell other employees
about her arrangement.
Given the circumstances, Mary would have had grounds for an
accommodation request and potentially a human rights complaint
based on family status. However, she did not want to pursue that
route and compromise her relationships at work. For over a year,
she tried hard to make it work, but eventually had to admit that
the situation was greatly impacting her ability to perform at her
job and care for her daughter.
“Ironically, I would spend less time actually working because of
the additional four hours I had to spend commuting,” she said.
Sean Gladwell/Shutterstock.com
By Cathy Gallagher-Louisy
28 ❚ FEBRUARY 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL