Re: - Hackettstown,NJ

I work from home occasionally and have a 3 year old son. I also allow some of my staff to telework. I think it is a reasonable question to ask about child care. At my company one would not be allowed to work from home if they did not have child care - it's unreasonable to expect someone to be able to work full-time from home while also taking care of a child. I think the manager should have come to you personally though and had that discussion.

Yep - legal. Working off-site is a privilege, not something you are entitled to. You are generally required to have childcare for your kids to work off-site and not be the full time babysitter for them....that way you can be available.

What would not have been legal would have been to ask about your work plans, returning to work, etc. BEFORE you left for leave (while pregnant).

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I telecommute full time and we are required to have alternative child care so no, I don't think it is unreasonable for them to ask about your childcare situation. I do think its odd that your direct manager didn't just talk to you directly.

As a business major I would say, no. This question crosses over into information your boss or prospective employer may not inquire about. I would look up the company policies for future reference, but information about your familial status (including your children) is strictly off limits in the work place. Familial status is protected under the anti discriminatory laws that protect your rights in the workplace.

The new manager had the right to make sure you were 'available' but not to inquire about your daycare arrangements. If he worded it correctly and just said something about your availability, you have no legal grounds. If you offered the information about your pregnancy, he had the legal right to ask followup questions.

For example, if the boss asks if there is anything holding you back from being available and you volunteered that you worked off site before pregnancy, s/he could ask as many questions about this as s/he wants. If you simply stated that this has always been the arrangement (or has been the arrangement since MM/DD/YYYY), then s/he could ask nothing about daycare or anything else.

I think this is normal. We had a manager that came back to work and planned on pumping.. Our business was VERY fast paced, many times, we work overtime, no breaks.. It is just the nature of business. We had to ask her if this is what we could still expect or were we going to need to make adjustments for her.. It was not a criticism, it was that we wanted to know what to expect with this huge change in her life..

She told us, she was going to pump, she would need to take a lunch and that she could be there as late as ever needed, but may have trouble being there super early in the mornings because of day care.. It was all fine..

She was just as productive as before and we were always pleased with her work..

Maybe I am missing something here but why wouldn't the 'higher-up" be able to ask you a question about your work "availabiity".....if they are running a company & wondering where the heck an employee is how does this drum up to a legalities issue? It doesn't seem to me that this question is out of bounds. Out of bounds to me would be him asking something like "you seem depressed is your marriage on the rocks".

Was he ok with your explanation that this was the set up before you were on maternity leave so you are resuming your job in the same fashion?

I don't agree with the manager going directly to the higher-up but oh well he did & perhaps you can mention that in the future you would appreciate him coming directly to you.