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?

In the circular discussion I’ll say again - organise in advance. The belittling of single parents ability to think further than the moment is surprising.

Not true, that’s just fear talking.. It also depends on what you class as ill and how often your child is ill. My son for example has had one day this year where he was sick ( vomit) and couldn’t go in, but other days when he wasn’t well but was well enough to go in, so I’ve taken one day off in a whole year. By contrast another Mum in the class who doesn’t work has kept her son off 28 days in a year, most of those times he wasn’t that ill so I would have sent him in. It all depends on your point of view and your individual circumstances.

It’s great that you have a support network. I’ve helped my friends during school holidays, but I have never looked after a sick child—and never will. Keep in mind, I work in a hospital with sick people. I can’t risk my job because of catching another bug from a friend’s child

Anyone suggesting a babysitter... how is OP expected to find one on such short notice, AND find one willing to look after a poorly child?? If you hire people with children, you have to expect that at some point those children will become ill and your employee will need to take time off. Totally unprofessional for her to sigh down the phone at you. It's not your fault other people are also off.

Luckily, DH and I work opposite shifts so don't need to take time off if one of our DC is poorly as there's always one of us at home with them. This is one of the reasons we chose those roles/shift patterns.

Wrong post I blame my stupid phone!

And equally, if you are an employee and you have children, you must realise this will happen and have a plan in place for when it does?
It's called planning and taking ownership of a problem.
Not expecting others to accommodate your problem, regardless of the impact on them.

Whatever your employer classes as reasonable. So most likely 1 day, 2 if you are really stuck. Any longer than that they are within their rights to ask her to come back to work and/or take unpaid leave or annual leave if they allow it to be taken at such short notice. As harsh as it may sound, by law, her childcare issues and personal situation are not her employers responsibility. As parents we are responsible for our children and our working commitments which includes finding alternative/emergency childcare if and when it’s needed. Parent or not, I think most people know little kids get sick from time to time and some catch everything going regularly. She should have thought about what would happen in this circumstance way before it became an issue, if she doesn’t have a support network of family and friends, she should have looked for alternatives so she had some kind of back up plan when needed. People can’t expect their employer to constantly pay them for a job they aren’t doing just because they have kids.

This is incorrect because “reasonable” is subjective. Initially, it’s whatever OP’s employer considers to be reasonable.

Plan in advance apparently. Theyre all willing to just wait for the call

And 2 days of unpaid leave is not reasonable when you have no one to look after a sick child?

That’s not what I’m saying. I’m stating the employment law position. It’s not what I or you think is reasonable at all, that’s irrelevant in terms of OP’s job security.

This link is useful.

https://www.acas.org.uk/time-off-for-dependants

Also, I think some people here are confusing dependants leave with parental leave. Both very different.

Its not just want the employer deems as reasonable. There are few ET rulings on that....

This is parental leave

https://www.acas.org.uk/parental-leave

On reading this thread I just remembered a breathy panicky call to my manager saying I was in A&E with DS as he had a fall and a head injury. She said oh that's no problem, do you think you'll be in by lunchtime??

parental leave needs to be applied for 3 weeks in advance and must be taken in full weeks. How is this going to help a parent with a ad hoc issue where they only need a couple of days off?

For emergency care (which this is), it’s a reasonable time frame, there is not set time in law, so depending on the reason for the time off it would normally be considered 1/2 days unless her employer is generous and allows more. If her kid ended up in hospital then obviously a bit longer, but for a cold, headache, sickness bug a couple of days would be considered reasonable to give her time to arrange suitable childcare, a week not so much. Not sure of the ET rulings you are referring to most but they likely don’t apply to the OP situation since she hasn’t made any reference to the fact her child is so poorly that she won’t be back at work for several days, and as I said before it’s not her employers responsibility to take the hit because of her poor planning. Just because she is a single mum doesn’t give her a free pass to not have to make arrangements for childcare.

Because if you actually read it, it says that within the parental leave guidance there is also a seperate policy which applies in the OP situation where there is an emergency. That’s where the reasonable time comes into effect.

Bring in agency staff for the day?
Just as OP is expected to bring in a random babysitter for the day who doesn't know her child, surely the workplace can just bring in random temps for the day?

Well indeed!

It isn’t.

So people on here should stop referring to it, is my point.

I hadn't thought of that, I'll just go and ask my DD when she's planning to get ill over the next 6 months so I can give my employer notice.

It is. It's pretty strictly regulated:

Yes but INITIALLY it’s what her employer deems reasonable.

Whether OP would hypothetically go on to win an ET 18 months down the line might not help her immediate financial situation.

Tbf i think the point is to establish a relationship with a babysitter/agency at a time when it's not an emergency... So that you have it ready lined up when you need it.
If you don't have a support network you have to try and put one in place yourself

The law does not say that. The law says that you are allowed a "reasonable amount of time" off to deal with an emergency. It places no time limit on that at all. What is reasonable is as long as a piece of string. Nowhere does the law say that you can definitely have a day or two if there are no other options. That is your opinion on what the law says, not what it says.