Returning to work

[Ireland234]

Just after some advise really

I've been persistently asking for work to confirm my return to work off maternity, they have confirmed I can go part time hours and I'm due back 1st of may.

If I do return to work as normal this would mean sending my DD to another house hold, to my mum who is high risk and then my sister who is working in the public sector. They would share the time.

Is this even allowed? Is it against the rules?.

It also concerns me that I'm putting her at risk by doing this.

But will work think I'm a complete dickhead now after persistently asking to start back then saying actually can I not return because I dont have suitable child care when I've been asking for confirmation. I just wanted to know if my part time hours were confirmed.

What should I do? Thanks

Personally I think this would come under emergency dependents leave which cannot be refused.

www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants

It's not an emergency if you knew about the situation beforehand. I think unpaid leave is your likely option. It's a situation beyond your control.

You know what I'm gonna ask next week. If they say no then I will decide what to do then. Its really been stressing me out so all I can do is ask and see what they say. Thanks for the advise

From the above link - What is an emergency?

Disruption of care arrangements

You could get time off if:

a child minder or carer doesn’t turn up to look after a dependant

a nursing home or nursery closes unexpectedly

Usually the expectation is that you use the time to source alternative childcare but as this is now illegal, I think the op should be entitled to emergency leave.

If you know anyone else in the factory with young children it might be worth checking what they're doing op?

It's not an emergency if you've known about it for weeks. Leave is normally only for a short time to allow you to make other arrangements. It's not only key workers who are allowed to go out to work, it's anyone who can't do their job from home.

I know people with young children. They are fortunate enough to work around their partners with child care. And work has let them adjust their hours.

sorry I dont understand, can I just ask return at a later date when lockdown is relaxed?

You can ask but they have no obligation to give you that time as unpaid leave.

“If you aren't a keyworker then you should be working from home”

The two aren’t related

You can go out to work if you can’t do it from home key worker or not

It’s not just keyworkers who are allowed to work. Going to work is permissible if it cannot be done from home.

Seems to me the best thing to do if you want to be sure of keeping your job is to investigate whether local nurseries are open. Some may not be but others will be; eg a nursery local to me is open for children whose parents are still working and have space because some children are not attending. This arrangement is permissible: sending your child to someone else’s home is not. You could request unpaid leave but the employer doesn’t have to agree it. I’m not convinced the current situation would fall into the ‘emergency’ category because that’s for totally unexpected things - eg if your childminder had an accident etc - something unforeseen. You’ve had warning about this situation and also it’s likely to continue for some time which means it likely that an employer could reasonably expect alternative arrangements to be made.
If there is no regulated childcare open which you can use at the moment then obviously that’s different, but the expectation of an employer is that the employee will make use of whatever is available to them.

They shouldn't be pestering you for information when you're on maternity. When do you legally have to tell them? I assume they're expecting you back at the end of may so if your plans change you can tell them the week before? Don't do anything rash now, the situation may have changed quite a bit by May. Whatever you do though don't go getting your Mum to look after the baby. You'll get a nursery place if you're a keyworker, and if you're not then they should find you something to do from home.

They haven’t been pestering her for information. The OP was actually worried she had been pestering work. Her employer had confirmed that she can reduce to part time hours and her return to work is 1st May. It’s not the employers responsibility to chase her any further or organise childcare for her.. they will assume that as she’s got the part time hours she requested, she’ll return to work on 1st May. The company is still open and it’s not a job which can be done remotely.

The OPs best bet is to get in touch with local childcare providers. Many are still open and providing a service for working parents.

Yes it's me who pestered them because the time was getting close and still no answer.

I'm not going to do anything rash I'm gonna judge the situation at the time. I can't afford to pay for a nursery, especially on the part time hours I'll be going on so if at the time I can't go back to work I'll have to resign if they say no. My mum was always going to have my little one, going back to work was more for my sanity if that makes sense. Because the money is not great.

And then when this situation is all resolved my sister place is always employing.

But I hope it doesnt come to any of that because I do like my work.

Look at what financial help you can get with childcare since you’re on a low income (though of course the baby’s father’s income comes into this too.)

Going to work for your sanity is a totally valid reason. (Childcare bill was equal to my entire income for a time, so I hear you!) seems crazy to chuck in a job you want to do when there are probably solutions