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We've had several instances of this at my job. One person would come in late, leave early, call in sick constantly, work from home all the time, etc. and the excuse was always "the kids." Those of us without kids started feeling really discouraged because it seemed like he was getting different treatment.

Currently there's a mom who stays on the phone ALL DAY LONG talking to her husband, who is a SAHD, making appointments, ordering things for her kid, etc. It's incredibly annoying. She also always gets out of early morning meetings "because of her kid" but her husband stays at home, soooo....?

So I've felt the backlash as kid-free and with kids. Because since some people take advantage, people think that parents don't work as hard, or will use their kids to get out of anything.

I am a NICU nurse, so we don't have the ability to come in late/leave early/work from home etc, but I did work a ton more overtime, stayed extra more often before we had kids. I am just way too tired to work 60+ hours a week anymore, and I would rather be home with my kids than work OT most of the time. The nurses that are younger/childless etc definitely end up pulling a bit more weight.

Since we have contractual hours, that doesn't happen. That doesn't mean people don't slack off in their classrooms, of course, but there isn't much to take advantage of.

We have lots of people who do this (including myself, and I'm not a parent quite yet, will be in September), but people generally stay out of each other's business, and as long as people are getting their work done, it's fine. Your work and schedule is between you and your boss. I plan to continue to use this flexibility when I'm a parent, but again, my boss knows whether I'm getting my work done and the value I bring to the company, so in general, I'm not worried how it is perceived, and I try not to judge whether others are / are not slacking. If I'm not directly reviewing someone's work, I can't really say whether they are worth their pay, etc.

To me, in this day and age, it is less about whether you regularly come in late, and more about the value you bring to the company and whether you are overall responsible with getting your work done and producing quality work.

There are some people who take advantage but its not necessarily the parents.

I worked with two longtime abusers but they got fired or laid off earlier this year. They were not parents.