Ribena, I really don't understand. The right to time off is for an emergency situation - ie to make arrangements for care, not to provide care. But the reality for many is that if their child is sick, they need to take time off. Non-teaching staff can take annual leave at short notice (if their managers are helpful) and rearrange work. The reality for teachers or TAs is that their work time is fixed and so is their annual leave, which can't be taken at other times. So they only have the right to (unpaid) emergency leave. If those teaching staff members are taking a lot of leave for childcare reasons, that's illogical for the school and the parents (unless they are both teachers). But as Flowery said, spreading the problem across classes has to be better for the kids affected
Which bit don't you understand?
I've explained it several times, in different ways. We do not know that all teaching staff are women, and all management are men. That is just an assumption.
Too many women are taking emergency leave. So they need to address this.
Their solution is to suggest that more men take the leave instead. Which is great.
However. They are trying to implement a new policy. Which could end up in different scenarios.
Some of the scenarios could show the company to be unfair to women, some could end up with the company in court or being taken to a tribunal, some could end up with no real gain in finance or days lost; as we don't know the actual male to female ratio of teaching staff.
It is a statutory right to be able to take emergency dependents leave. More women than men traditionally take that leave. So it could automatically be unfair to have a policy where they will discipline anyone taking too much.
I am looking at this from a business owner and legal angle, I can see others are looking at it from a 'who covers the classes' angle. I also own a training company, as well as teach in college, and the practicalities are not easy to manage.
They want other companies to take up the slack by taking more dependents leave, however how do they know what the other companies' policies are and that they aren't taking up the slack already? How do they know whether their staff take all the days or only half of them? What about single mothers? Those with disabled families? Those with no other family? Those with a, b, c through to z... Any lawyer would have a field day with this one. And if a single mother isn't disciplined but a married one is? Ad infinitum...
Don't assume that a policy is there for any reason other than to confine people and to manage them if they stray - this policy is about disciplining people who take too much emergency leave. So someone with a very sick child then gets sick themselves worrying about the verbal and written warnings they are getting each time they have to take a day's emergency leave.
Seriously - this policy is wrong on so many levels; I'm sure it's been thought about many times but they could get into so much hot water for zero net gain that it just isn't worth it.