Dependant and sick leave..

[RaginaPhalange]

Posting here for traffic.

I got a call from my sons school to come pick him up as he vomited in the class room, left work and collected him.

My question is my work place have been taken over by another company and they have a lot stricter absence/sick policy. Can I be disciplined for taking time off for my sick child?

I'm asking this as they asked another staff member if having a sick child was going to be a problem.

Thanks

You are entitled to reasonable unpaid time off to care for a dependent in an emergency which this is. In most companies, the day you leave to collect the child is an emergency but taking the next day off to care for the child if they can't go to school is not an emergency and would be classed as unauthorised absence. I should think it only becomes an issue if it is regular.

Did you speak to your manager? Also it can't be sick leave for you as you're not sick. But could be dependent's leave or unpaid. I do hope you didn't just up and go. That would be a disciplinary matter, even if not a formal one

@murasaki no I didn't just up and go I spoke to the new owner, she asked if I was able to come back, I said unfortunately no. She then said OK phone later and let me know how things are.

@Thinkitsrainingagain thanks! My kids aren't usually ill. I'm only off with them if they are v&d or really unwell.

What she says doesn’t sound like you’re going to be disciplined. It just means they need to know when you’ll be coming back, and in the meantime what arrangements you are making for childcare.

I think you’re entitled to unpaid time off for a reasonable amount of time to make other arrangements. You obviously can’t just not be there for however long they’re sick and expect to be paid for it.

@RaginaPhalange , thats good, sounds like she's ok with it, but might expect you back tomorrow.

Call workingfamilies for advice

https://workingfamilies.org.uk/

yes, you are legally allowed time off in such cases. It is unpaid though (unless you have a very kind employer). You mention sick leave and you really shouldn't take sick leave when your child is ill but not you.

I doubt you could be disciplined for looking after a sick dependant. If you think your new employers are going to be difficult then join a union for support.
Employers need to understand that parents cannot send children with v & d to school and not everyone has family able to help.

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing at no point did I say I wanted to be paid for taking time off.

@cestlavielife thanks for the link I didn't even know that was a thing.

Our school requires 48 hrs since last episode of D&V before being allowed back in school.

all about dependant's leave

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

God you people must work for really tight companies!! Most companies (big corporates that I work for) offer 5-10 days PAID leave for dependent emergencies. They'd also let us use annual leave if we ran out of those days or even PAID compassionate leave if the child was in hospital for example. I'd hate to work somewhere that acts like this! Must be really small or horrible companies that do this.

Might be just a language issue - sick leave is for when you are sick, taking it for an ill child could be gross misconduct. This would be compassionate/emergency/parental leave and unpaid, or you take AL for it.

Ok I didn’t say you did, I was just trying to give a full answer.

Sorry for confusion I meant could any dependent leave i take for my child and any sick leave I take (for myself) be used together for disciplinary? Hope that makes better sense.

@RightTimeRightPlace the place I work has 4 settings and are tight on staffing. Last year before my setting got taken over my child had open heart surgery and I had to use my AL in order to be paid during the time he spend in hospital and recovery.

Shocking. Honestly these sort of companies are places I could never work. I'd see this as an opportunity to look elsewhere. I can't imagine a manager ever asking me if I going to go back to work after picking up a vomiting child. Fucking hell where is the humanity in this world sometimes.

Sorry for confusion I meant could any dependent leave i take for my child and any sick leave I take (for myself) be used together for disciplinary?

eh? sick leave is for when you are ill and cannot work, nothing else.

She knows! She's asking if she takes 5 days dependent leave because her child is sick, and then 5 days sick leave if she is sick, can she be disciplined for taking 10 days leave.

@KrisAkabusi thank you! That's exactly what I'm asking.

That's lovely for you. Unfortunately many people work in the rest of the real world, where none of that happens. And not just "small or horrible companies". I am not sure that your contribution is helpful in any way other than to suggest you have very little awareness about the employment of very many people in the UK, for whom this is a perpetual problem.

I work for a university - there is no paid leave for emergencies such as this. DH, on the other hand, works for a major private company where he is allowed 5 days ‘ paid leave a year. Just one of the ways in which at least some private employers treat staff far more generously than public sector employers.

I suppose it depends on company policy.

Taking 5 days leave (in a row) wouldn’t likely fall under the statutory right to time off. It would probably be at the employers discretion. Taking 5 separate days for genuine emergencies though probably would fall into the statutory right to time off.

Sick leave - depends on policy.

I don’t think you’re quite there yet, but if absences become a problem then your employer could theoretically take disciplinary action.

I’m not sure you need to worry about that quite yet though.

The answer is potentially yes, but without knowing what their absence policy is, it's impossible for anyone to tell you. Such policies usually set down how much absence (other than annual leave) triggers a disciplinary - for example where I work it is 9.5 days or three occasions in any rolling year. We wouldn't count the first day of dependants leave (so to deal with an emergency or to arrange other care) but subsequent unpaid days would count (but you can take paid annual leave instead if you have it). Sick leave definitely counts and you cannot take sickl eave for sickness other than your own.

But what your employer does will depend on their policy. Most have one, but not all. If they don't have one it is harder to do anything about absences - but those kinds of employers may be more "creative" in getting to the same place.