Time off work to look after sick child

[sassypants72]

Hi, just wondering if any of you lovely mumsnetters have any advice on this.

I got a call from dd's school today asking if I would go and get her as she'd been sick. I was at work and immediately went to talk to my line manager and explain situation, she was really understanding of the fact that there's not much can be done in this situation, but management overheard us talking and called me into the office saying that I will probably get a disciplinary for time off as we are only allowed 3 child sick days a year and I've had a few over last 12 month (dd had flu)

I was a bit like wtf what am I meant to do with a sick child then ??? Both my patients and partners parents are in their 70s so wouldn't be fair to expect them to have her.

Tell me am I wrong in thinking this is outrageous only allowing 3 days a year for child sickness??

Does anybody know the law on this ??

Sorry about long rant / post

It's not just for children, it's for dependents, so can be for elderly parents, partner. But is at the discretion of your manager and may be unpaid

Are you in the UK? If so, I think parental leave applies. Though - unsure why you can't take leave IF you want to. It is surely your leave to take as you wish

Yes I took unpaid time off for relatives. I have never had any paid time off.

With regards to parental leave and being taken in weeks, if you agree you can take a day BUT it takes a week off your allowance. I have done this in work

Though - unsure why you can't take leave IF you want to. It is surely your leave to take as you wish

Nobody has the right to take annual leave as they wish. It has to be agreed with their employer.

I thought you can get 1 week unpaid parental leave . Tbh I've never asked for unpaid leave I've took annual leave or managed to sort out childcare .

www.gov.uk/parental-leave/entitlement

In our office allows a week for dependants but you really have to beg. Any additional we take out of holiday allowance or work the time back. When i was sick i had 5 days self cert and needed one more day that i had to take as hols as couldnt get a gp line for a day (no appointments)

When i was sick i had 5 days self cert and needed one more day that i had to take as hols as couldnt get a gp line for a day (no appointments)

Legally speaking you only need a fit note from a GP after 7 days

Pouty - I must have a very relaxed employer! I can always take annual leave when I need/want to.

This always interests me as generally people will take the employees side but how many would pay a childminder who was sick and couldn't look after your child? How often would you put up with your childminder being 'off' before you would start to consider looking for someone else or another option ?

The caring industry is on its knees in part because of sick leave and your manager is probably being grilled about staff absence hence the discipline ? It sounds harsh but will likely just be a formal reminder of the absence policy and checking to make sure you are making an effort to look for other options (which you obviously are but others might not)

The caring industry is on its knees in part because of sick leave

Really? I would've thought the low pay, bad conditions, hard work and long shifts is why the caring industry is on it's knees.

@thebadplace the OP has taken 3 days without pay, not paid. My CM doesn't charge if she is ill, that is her contract, I do pay if my child is ill.
Childminders are self employed. That is a completely different scenario.
I don't get paid if I am ill either.
But the OP's situation sounds very harsh. Disciplinary?!

@PoutySprout that's 7 calendar days. If you work Monday to Friday that means you can only self very for 5 days as the 6th day of sickness would be the 8th calendar day :)

(About 70% of my job is processing employees sickness pay and checking the correct certification - it's as boring as it sounds)

NHS is calculated on calendar days. So in your scenario it would count the weekend too.