Well if I was in a job that paid enough that I had a 'cushion' of money that meant I could still pay to feed my DC's after taking a day off as unpaid leave, then there would be no need for me to lie about being sick when it is actually my DC that are sick.
If my employer wants to pay peanuts, then they have to expect no loyalty to the company.
It only takes £1.79 an hour over minimum wage to give that cushion, for me, at least.
This is only going to happen more and more often with the Government forcing Lone Parents into NMW jobs.
I have dragged myself into work with a broken leg, in a retail job, and just sat on a wheely chair behind the counter to serve customers. I have dosed myself up when I have raging temperatures of 101+ and done a full 8 hour shift on my feet. I go in to work when ill myself BECAUSE I know I need to use sick leave for when my DC are ill.
My finances and childcare may not be anything to do with my employer, but it's a bit obvious that as a Lone Parent, working for NMW, that I won't have ANY cushion financially to take unpaid leave, and are employers REALLY expecting you to leave an ill toddler at home alone? I guess I could bring the ill toddler into work with me - if they are ill, that would LITERALLY be the only way I could show my face at work.
And if the employer cares so little about their staff that there is no offer of paid dependants leave, and they can't see that the low wages they pay (especially for NMW staff) contribute to their staff taking sick leave to look after their ill DC's, then is it any wonder they get treated like this?
How do employers expect loyalty from staff if they pay them so little that they can't afford to take a single day off when their DC's are too ill for organised childcare?
I don't know of ONE Lone Parent that has 'back up' childcare if their child is ill. All of us have back up childcare for non pupil days, or if, say, our childminder is ill, but not one of us has ANYONE that will take an ILL child.
So that is just how RL is for quite a few people. Our parents all still work, our friends all have DC's of their own and couldn't take an ill child because they don't want their own DC's to get ill.
It would garner far more loyalty to employers that pay NMW if they had a scheme to have a small amount (a day here and there) of paid leave to look after sick dependants.
And as for the Bradford factor thing - I find that an awful way for employers to behave. Low paid, menial jobs, especially shift work, are likely to result in poor health, and therefore more odd days off sick, than an understanding employer that makes provision for the fact that, well, human beings get ill occasionally. Some more than others.
I wouldn't take a NMW job that uses Bradford scoring for sickness. I think it shows an employer that wants robots as staff, not humans, and that I would be unable to show any loyalty to that employer.
For most of the places I have worked, they have had my utmost loyalty and hard work, I drag myself in and do a productive day's work even when feeling like tripe. What I expect in return from the employer is a bit of understanding and flexibility.
The ones that haven't had my loyalty? The ones that made me leave early at the end of my shift rather than give me an actual break. The ones that refused to let me use AL when my DC's were sick (Actually very few employers allow you to do this, I have found. You take it off unpaid or you go into work, in their eyes). The ones that worked you HARD, physically, paying NMW, yet expecting both you AND your DC to never ever get ill!