I know the answer to this question.
The law offers only 1 area of protection: Time Off For Dependents. The wording of the law is grey. Employees are allowed 'reasonable' unpaid time off for dependents in an emergency situation that could not be foreseen.
The definition of 'reasonable' is the grey area. ACAS have written a booklet for employers and employees, which states reasonable to be 24 hours - basically enough time for you to arrange alternative care - be that for an elderly parent, spouse or child. This booklet specifically uses chicken pox as the example, saying Time Off For Dependents would only cover the first 24 hours if a child has chicken pox. After that the employee would be expected to come back into work because during that 24 hours they would set up emergency childcare if their usual childcare arrangements break down.
Interestingly, ACAS do not offer advice on what emergency childcare an employee should use. There are emergency nanny agencies that you can register with for free and they send a nanny out very quickly but you pay at least £15/hour. I am unsure if the nanny will look after children with an infectious disease anyway!
The employment tribunal 'courts' use the ACAS booklet for guidance.
An additional grey area is the fact it must not be reasonably foreseen. The precedent for this was decided in the case where a woman took her employer to court for unfair dismissal, where the employer had fired the woman for taking too much time off to care for her son (primary school age). Her son was disabled/long term sick and the woman had taken off about 16 days over a period of a year. She felt Time Off For Dependents would protect her, however, because it was foreseeable that her disabled/ill son would be ill on and off her situation did not fall under Time Off For Dependents.
In terms of deciding what is 'reasonable' the tribunal also considers whether you are a single parent or joint parent. If you are a single parent the tribunal/court is more lenient in whether the amount of time you have off falls under Time Off For Dependents. So if you are a mum who is fired/put under pressure by an employer for having taken, say 10 days off at no notice due to your child being ill, the court may say that is 'reasonable' if you are a single parent. However, if you are a couple, the court is far more likley to say it is 'unreasonable' as your husband should have shared the burden equally.
This is not really looking at the reality of most couples I know, where the husband earns far more than the wife and it is his career that will keep the family afloat. Perhaps the husband is full time and the wife part time. Therefore, if the child is ill the wife takes the time off, not the husband. However, if it came to tribunal, the presiding view is that children's sickness should be shared equally no matter what the salary of each parent.
Many many companys offer far more than the 24 hours, I know that the NHS offer 5 days paid leave (on top of holiday) for emergency care for dependents. Then a further 3 months unpaid after that, should you need it.
Alternatively, there is also Parental Leave. This is about 6 weeks unpaid leave per parent per child under 6 (18 if registered disabled). These 6 weeks of Parental Leave are for the life of the child, not per year! However, you need to apply for parental leave and have it agreed by your employer before taking it. Applications have to be at least 1 week in advance and taken in weekly slots (not days). This may be good if your child is having an operation that you know about in advance and you need to care for the child afterwards.
Finally, of course, you have your holiday that you can use to care for your child. However, many companies have a strict holiday policy whereby holiday has to be booked and agreed at least 2 weeks in advance.
You may wonder how I know all this?
My company decided I was taking too much of my holiday to look after my dc when they were ill. Over a period of 8 months I had taken 9 days holiday (with no notice other than a quick phone call at 7.30 to my boss to say dc is ill I can't come in, can I take it as holiday?) They said that I could no longer take holiday with no notice and had to take Time Off For Dependents. My employer said that I was allowed a maximum of 24 hours to sort out alternative childcare. In writing, I was told that if I received a phone call from the nursery at 2pm I could leave and take unpaid leave, but I was still expected back into work at 9am the next day. If I was not back in work disciplinary action would be taken.
Fortunately for me, although ACAS guidance is 24 hours, the law states 'reasonable'. In addition, their staff handbook also stated 'reasonable'. I took them to tribunal for sexual discrimination and victimisation as they had not put the 24 hour rule on any other member of staff (of which there were over 10,000).
They settled 1 week before the date for the tribunal. I was relieved as I was not sure I would win at all. I think the publicity was their main concern.
At the time, no employee had won against an employer using the Time Off For Dependents protection. My personal opinion is that is is a crap benefit for employees. How the hell can you find alternative childcare for your dc if they are ill?
My advice to anyone is to work more than their hours. It is hard when you have to get back to nursery/child minder by a specific time. But if your contracted hours are 9-5 but you can get there slightly early or leave a bit later (even if only 10 mins either side), the employer tends to be far more flexible when you phone last minute saying you can't come in because your dc is ill - even if you are taking your holiday or unpaid.
I am not a stay at home mum.