Mirella,

Picking up children does not fall under the family accommodation regulations, and the fact that the employee has been doing this without notification or permission is definitely an issue that should be addressed. However, given he is 10.5 years in, you may not want to enforce discipline, considering he is an outside sales rep and working remote.

Hours of work and remote work are often areas for conflict. Let me ask you, is the rep hitting his quota? If the rep is only working 6 hours a day, maybe he needs his salary adjusted accordingly? If the rep is just taking a break at 3 to pick up his kids, that is a whole other discussion.

We wouldn’t recommend contacting the school or asking for proof. We would suggest you have a conversation about hours of work and salary, and if this is a good employee (10.5 years would suggest he is hitting targets), propose that he either start 2 hours earlier, take a reduced salary to reflect the hours worked, or work with you to come up with a modified schedule that makes everybody happy.

In addition, you should re-enforce that although you are amenable to work with him as a remote role, that doesn’t mean he can change his schedule whenever he wants – you are responsible for his health and well-being within the hours of work, his leaving while on the clock could pose an OHS liability if he were to get in an accident for example.

HR Insider staff