to be p####d off about this?

[babyjane67]

im a school lunchbreak supervisor at my dds primary
shes5&a half so in reception
in early hrs of mon morn she woke with tummy ache&was sick
shes also had an awful barking productive cough for last wk or so
anyway shes been off school yest&today due to the sickness which has also turned to diarrhoea a few times since yest
I rang in yest saying she wouldnt be in&neither would I&cuz of the48hr 'law'the school has that the kids arent allowed back in til after last incidence of it didnt ribg in today as assumed theyd expect me to ring again tomorrow which I will
anyway school rang me this pm&asked when I'll be back in&i said well dds still not well
so she said well cant you arrange for someone to look after her?
I said no ive only got my ellderly mum whos got copd&has her good days&bad.plus I wouldnt want her to catch it
she said well isnt there anyone else?
no I said there isnt
so she said well can u ring in morn pls&let us know if youll be in
so I explained I will but didnt yoday cuza48hr thing to which she said yes for the children!
so it left me thinking wtf??
do they really want me to spread the germs around even if I did have someone to leave her with which I dont!
thought work place are sposed to be more flexible about this now?
especially as its a school!

Sure, but then the employer asking for further details is then turned into 'haranguing' her, for example. Is it surprising then to rush to defend their position somewhat? I don't think so. They have a right to enquire whether all avenues have been explored when you can't go in for whatever reason. We also lack a great deal of context, such as whether this sort of thing happens often, or what the general levels of absence are in her particular workplace, and so on.

as I mentioned before uncle t its the first time shes been off through illness

Noted, apologies for missing that.

Bit late for another reply now but yes I agree phoning each day is needed (unless you've been signed off)

Not having alternative child care can't be helped though. I'd guess even more tricky if they're poorly.

So if you have to take unpaid leave her dp is supposed to lose 9 hours pay to her hour and a half.

We wouldn't have a choice in That situation. I would have to take the time off

So if you have to take unpaid leave her dp is supposed to lose 9 hours pay to her hour and a half.

I thought that was an odd suggestion too - assuming the leave would be unpaid.

It defies common sense for the partner to take a day off in these circumstances just for the principle of sharing childcare. Unless you're well off maybe.

I think there's a few people from cuckoo land here usual
Miserable Po's so glad I don't work if it makes them like this.

OP, take no notice, there's some crazy shit comin at ya, just dodge it and walk away from the screen.

But waterlego, if you "rarely work" then you rarely have to find solutions.

It's one thing if you have a network of friends and / or family but if you don't have that luxury then, well, what do you do? Lunchtime supervision isn't well paid - a nanny? Really?

OP, YANBU though you should phone or contact work each day you are off, if you are able to do so.

All of the morons helpful people saying you are not allowed time off for childrens' illness are wrong. You are entitled to 2 weeks unpaid parental leave for precisely this. Obviously not everyone has magical 'alternative childcare' they can pull out of their arse when needed, and no nurseries or childminders take ill children, so employers do have to allow for this as most people (shocking, I know) have responsibilities outside work. God forbid any of you actually move more than 10 miles from your grandparents or lose your fucking au pairs.

I agree she should have phoned the employer.

I have friends as well - but I cannot think of any available to take a child, because they'd all be at work! I wouldn't be able to take a friend or neighbour's child for the same reason.

I am sorry about your parents - I lost mine at a very young age so do know what it is like, but the point is still that some people literally have NOBODY they can ask and then they are stuck, especially if their job is poorly paid.

My role is actually a fairly well-paid one, but I am nonetheless sympathetic to the juggling act working parents need to play with ill children.

And to be honest waterlego I can't see any bantering.

people saying you are not allowed time off for childrens' illness are wrong. You are entitled to 2 weeks unpaid parental leave for precisely this.

Really? Can you cite something to back up that factually incorrect statement?

I've been misquoted and arguably misrepresented on this thread but if you're going to start posting incorrect statements about people's entitlements I can't just ignore it.

Btw, hope your dd is feeling better op. While I might not agree with some of your actions I never wish sick children on anyone.

Oh gosh, wtf happened there? The thread has gone all Swiss cheese!

Ponkypink you are confusing parental leave and emergency leave.

The parental leave which you are referring to has to be applied for in advance (21 days notice) and is taken in periods of not less than a week, unless your employer agrees otherwise. It is therefore definitely NOT designed to deal with sudden illness or other unexpected situations. What is relevant when children are taken ill suddenly is emergency leave which entitles people to "reasonable" time off to deal with the emergency. There is no definition of what constitutes reasonable but it is generally expected to be no more than a day or two. Dealing with the emergency could just mean looking after your child for a day or two but if the illness is more serious, you are expected to also use that time to make alternative arrangements, request annual leave etc.

dd had a much better night last night thankfully!
shes just got up so will see if shes up to a bit of breakfast in a bit as no runs or sickness since5 yest
have rung school&told them we wont be in again today but hopefully will be bk tomorrow&apologised for not ringing them yest
thanks again to all those ppl who supported me

Oh come on.

I've been working full time since dd was 6 months old.
She's 16 now

I have never found a friend or neighbour willing to look after a child with D&v while I go to work.

In fact I would not even think of asking a friend or neighbour to look after any of my DCs when they are vomiting.
Has anyone ever done that?

Ok, the OP should have called in on the second day. She made a mistake. But I think it's a bit unrealistic for people to say she should have "found someone" to look after her child for 1.25 hours.

Glad to hear she's doing better.

This thread has made me realise how fortunate I am to have
a) an employer who is understanding of childcare issues and
b) a job I can sometimes do from home around an ill child
c) a dh who is willing & able to share care of ill dc's
d) between us to be well-paid enough to pay for emergency childcare if we both have deadlines & need to work
Of course it's not ideal that the op has no-one else to care for her ill dc. Of course it would be better if she and her dh could split the caring but he works much longer hours so unless he can work from home for the 1.25 hours it makes much more sense for him to work (& be paid for) his full day than her 1.25 hours. If she's at risk of losing her job over it, then it would make sense to pay for or beg emergency childcare. But otherwise, then all you can do is call the employer to let them know...