To have called in to work when child

[CheeseAndBeans]

Mum of two, youngest is 3 and goes to nursery 3 days a week. I have recently returned to work part time on her nursery days after a few years out so am doubting myself and unsure of what's right....

DD was sick all through the night Saturday night, as per 48 hour rule she couldn't go to nursery yesterday and couldn't get anyone else to have her. She still wasn't right in herself. Called work 1.5 hours before shift was due to start and explained I couldn't come in as had to look after sick child. They were not happy and tried to guilt me into coming in, apologized as nothing I could do but would be in tomorrow as she is on the mend. This morning, she seems ok and no more sick so we all get ready to go, as we walk out the door she throws up! Obviously can't send her again today so had to call work. Again, they made it clear they weren't happy, it's busy today and short staffed as it is. Apologized and explained I couldn't do anything else.

I work in a minimum wage job, 4 hours a day, it's a pain when someone can't come in as others have to pick up the slack and I feel terrible but what can I do?
OH works 12 hour shifts and is much better paid. We would be so much worse off if he didn't go in, my thoughts are we have to put our family income first and so it's me that should take the time off. Neither of us would get paid for the time we didn't work. A friend this morning mentioned she would have shared the days with her OH but they are both in similar paid jobs.

What would you have done? What do others do if their kids are sick? As I said, am new to being a working parent!

I'd love to know what 'emergency childcare' people expect you to arrange? No paid childcare provider wants sick children

At my place of work, one of our employee benefits

• though of course it's really for the benefit of our employer ! - is access to an agency that does precisely that. Yes, you pay through the nose to access the care - but essentially the service that is provided is that, if

Oops

I'd love to know what 'emergency childcare' people expect you to arrange? No paid childcare provider wants sick children

At my place of work, one of our employee benefits

• though of course it's really for the benefit of our employer ! - is access to an agency that does precisely that. Yes, you pay through the nose to access the care - but essentially the service that is provided is that, if Regular care arrangements fall through, or child cannot go to school through (non major!) sickness, emergency care will be provided.

A colleague used to use it when her father's care arrangements fell through

I am sure they can't just sack me... but am fully expecting my life to be made difficult.

Of course they can. If you’ve been there less than 12 months, you have very few rights.

What is your employers policy, and your dp employer.
Consult your union or acas

cupcup, what does dp contract say. Will he get paid if he doesn't go in?

Op look up parental rights laws on Google. They can't really sack you.

Yes they can. 30 seconds' googling confirms that parental rights to unpaid leave only apply if you've been in the job for a year.

Aridane ok you are very fortunate to be able to access paid childcare for a sick child even if it does mean paying through the nose for it.

Who on minimum wage could afford it and even if they could afford it. Who would leave a sick pre school child with somebody the child didn't know?

Those saying 12 months service is relevant, it really isn’t! Unfair dismissal rights apply after 2 years and parental leave after 1. But this isn’t either of those. The right to Time off for dependents starts from day one.

Of course they can. If you’ve been there less than 12 months, you have very few rights.

24 months

The right to time off for dependants allows for reasonable time off for emergencies. It's at best a grey area whether it counts as an emergency or is reasonable to fail to come in because your otherwise healthy child has vomited, you have decided you don't want the child's father to take time off and you haven't got any alternatives in place. Further, as people have pointed out, with employment under two years employers can sack employees without any reason at all.

Yes but if the employer gives no reason, then the employee makes their own judgment and raises a claim to a tribunal for being dismissed due to asserting a statutory right of time off for dependents

Which they then have to prove........

Indeed, but a lot of employers wouldn’t want to risk it. And giving no reason for dismissal opens an employer up to any discrimination claim an ex-employer wants to make. Tribunals can be time consuming and potentially costly in management time even if the employee doesn’t win. For the sake of a couple of days off it’s not worth it in my view. It costs an employee nothing to raise a claim.

Idontneeditatall No employer would give no reason. They can just use “it’s just not working out” and that’s perfectly valid.

It's really not difficult for an employer to get round this. It's not a statutory right to take time off whenever you feel your dependents need it, it's a right to reasonable time off for emergencies. Employers are entitled to expect their employees to have sensible childcare arrangements in place, including arrangements to cover minor illnesses - even if that just means sharing care with the child's other parent.

Employers are entitled to expect their employees to have sensible childcare arrangements in place, including arrangements to cover minor illnesses

I always wonder what that childcare is supposed to be? I mean who, without support network, can possibly arrange childcare for an ill child?

are there agencies who offer this service???

Yes, there are as I have posted above - but they are £££

I remember when DD was once ill I was ringing the council and all kinds of places as I was under pressure from work and couldn't find any such 'service'

Do you have links for groups that operate across England? I would find that useful. Thanks

If you look up something like “emergency nanny” you may find that kind of last minute cover, but it’s very expensive.

heartsonacake I’m an employment solicitor and you wouldn’t believe the times I’ve seen employers fall foul of saying “it hasn’t worked out”!

Well this caused more of a debate than I thought it would!!
DD is better and went back to nursery yesterday and I went into work. Had to complete a return to work form but I still have my job. Colleagues that had to take on extra work were lovely about it.
Thread has definitely given me food do thought though.

From a parents point of view you need to look after your child, but from the employers point of view they need you to work (even if it's unpaid leave they may struggle to get anyone to cover). If it's just occasionally then most employers are ok but the sort of jobs that pay minimum wage tend to be easier to replace you unfortunately. If I don't turn up nobody can do my job so I was fortunate to be able to take sick kids in with me but I didn't return to work until they were 6+ because of no childcare

I'd take a bet that Emergacy Nannies are only available in certain parts of the country. I also think it would be very stressful for a sick toddler to be cared for by a stranger.
An older child could probably understand why they've been left with a stranger but a toddler probably not.

The other thing is even using an emergency nanny how long does it take to call them and them arrive at the house? I'm guessing at least an hour. That's then a quarter of the way through the Ops 4hr shift.

It's difficult because as a parent, your priority is your children, but an employers' priority is having enough staff to operate their business successfully.

I've had members of staff who had difficult pregnancies/unwell children and it is difficult to manage. You have staff resentment (as they end up doing overtime/last minute shifts/changing their hours to suit), the cost (paying sick pay on top of someone to cover the shift) and those inevitable days where you can't get cover and you're running short-staffed.