DD unwell, had to take a day off, works reaction..

[Raincloud997]

I am a single parent and have limited childcare. My DD is in reception and was unwell today so couldn't go back in to school today after the half term. I had to ring up. My manager sounded very annoyed on the phone and said they have other staff off too, said she is struggling for cover and that I really must try and make it in tomorrow and that someone else will have to look after my DD. She also sighed before putting down the phone. I don't have a lot of time off at all, this is the first time its happened and my contract states they allow for emergency parental leave but her reaction has got me worried and I don't think I have childcare for tomorrow if she is no better by morning. What would ou do?

It happens - don’t feel guilty! Work should have measured in place for anyone that can’t make it in. Unfortunately since Covid a lot of employers are down to the bare minimum of staff.

I had a male mgr who would whinge at me for similar situations. Thankfully he’s retired now and I’m a mgr instead and I would not make any team feel guilty if they had caring requirements at home - for any family member. It would be a shitty management style and make staff upset. They can cope for a few days as they’ll need time off at some point in their lives!

Do you think you would be the same if you owned the business?
Happy to pay someone to not do their work?

People need to be realistic about this. Telling her that her employer will just have to suck it up is simply untrue . They don’t have to accept unacceptable level of absence regardless of her personal circumstances. Some employers offer more leeway than others but in the real world very few would accept a staff member taking loads of time off.
They simply wouldn’t be kept on as businesses have a job to do as well.

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