To next time just throw a sickie?

[TotalCarCrash]

A few weeks ago I had to take emergency parental leave from work. My DC was really sick, and I had to take them the hospital and stay home with them the few days after. I was honest with work, and my last pay slip shows I was docked quite a bit for unpaid leave, leaving me short this month.

At my workplace, I know for a fact that I have the least sickness. Some of my colleagues are off for months, with sick notes, and paid. The last time I was off was in, and with Covid.

AIBU that next time I have an emergency, I’m just going to tell them I’m sick. I have an issue with my car at the moment and it’ll mean me taking a days holiday to fix, and I’ve used up most of my holiday. I’m really tempted to call in sick.

well done gold star.

Any need to be so snide? That poster was simply replying to a point made upthread. It's not as if she made the point independently.

Who will even know , if you're at home with your sick child you won't be spotted out so no one will be any the wiser.
If its once in a while i'd do it , i'd probably feel a bit of guilt but kids come 1st.

I called in sick before and we had parental leave. However we got so much shit for taking PL it wasn’t worth it.
I once had to stay at home because baby had S&D and I got told off when I went back because, I didn’t ask permission to stay off and it needed to be approved before,even the day before! I should have rang around all the nurseries/CMs to find somewhere to put my sick 1 year old?!
I was never off sick so next time I had to be off I just rang and said I had S&D instead.

How is it selfish for her to NEED to care for her child? Ffs

She isn't! I totally agree she should get more support with time off for childcare.

But she is talking about taking a day off to sort out her car not to care for her child.

I would and have for a sick child.

Not for getting the car fixed though.

The cars fixed so no need to throw sickie now.

If my DC is ever sick again I will be saying I’m ill though and taking the day off.

I’ve never once been off with a sick child as DH and I have our work sorted so either of us was here. Now my DC are teens. I had to take my teen to the hospital they were so ill and my DH was away.

I usually traipse in because I think if I’ve got bad flu in the winter I need to save sick days for then, but so far not needed.

@Growlybear83 well you're a better woman than I! Haha.
I didn't pull sickies for absolutely no reason, but I would sometimes if I was hung over or a bit queasy and was miraculously better after sleeping till midday!? Don't blame me, blame society innit? Lol

@TotalCarCrash totally agree it’s ridiculous and yes you may as well pull a sickie. It’s true that it’s the easiest way to get rid of you though if they found out. But if they can’t find out with any certainty then I say go for it. Not having paid leave to look after a child is just another way the uk shits on women.

In situations like this, we have to take ‘emergency annual leave’, so comes off of our AL days

I would pull a sickie.

As if everyone's saying you're going to get sacked for fraud for pulling a sickie 🤣🤣🤣.

Look up Carers Leave Act 2023 which came into force in April 2024. Ask your HR department if they are abiding by this policy which is now part of employment law.

Plenty of my colleagues have (teachers and other education professionals) if I needed to, and I'd do the same.

This is massively unfair to OP

Of all the things I don’t miss about working in an office, the worst were the martyrs who “struggle in” when they’re ill, whine about how awful they feel, and usually end up infecting half their colleagues. Just stay at home if you’re ill next time - then you won’t feel so resentful of others taking sick leave!

Hope your DC is ok now though — hospital visits are never fun.

Hi

I am not sure if Force Majeure is available in the UK, or the country you live in OP, but look into it and see if it is

I have no idea what the relevance of your response is to my comment.

@moorin you can loose your job for lying about sickness.

That said, if you know they won’t know, go for it OP.

Is Force Majeure to care for a sick relative not a thing in the UK?

Irelands Force Majeure policy::

If you have a family crisis, you have a right to limited time off work. This is called force majeure leave.
You may need to take force majeure leave for an urgent family reason, such as the unexpected injury or illness of a ‘close family member’.

You can take force majeure leave of one or more days up to a maximum of:

• 3 days in 12 consecutive months, or
• A total of 5 days in 36 consecutive months (3 years)

This is standard @TotalCarCrash . I've had the same, 3 days off with Covid in 2021 and then my DD had to go to hospital and have surgery. I took a mixture of A/L and unpaid parental leave.

I also work with many people that are off sick at the drop of a hat, but I don't feel it's unfair, I'm happy with my work ethic and my standing with my employer.

that's not unfair. colleague gets pay because she is ill. I presume it's on your contract. you haven't been ill. It really is that simple..

Why should your employer pay for you to be off for your child being ill?

Carers leave is for carers of someone with a long term condition (>3 months), someone with a disability, or for a reason connected to being elderly.