School closed....isolate..no pay

[swimmingc]

So had a message to say DS bubble at school has closed. Ds is 7. He has to isolate so I have to take 14 days off work unpaid. I have worked through lockdown and am lucky to have not been furloughed but AIBU to think now I have to take 14 days unpaid leave off work I should be entitled to some kind of pay. I can not afford to lose 14 days pay. No other childcare option. No annual leave as work term time. Feel like crying.
What are everyone else in same position doing?

Measles, chicken pox or mumps don't require 14 days off work plus they can be looked after by others if they have had the illness themselves in the past.

The great North/South divide myth strides on regardless
Being poor is shit wherever you are poor.

JS87

BoggledBudgie
@swimmingc the entire family has to isolate if your DS has been in contact with someone who’s tested positive now. You should be isolating too.
Where have you seen this?

Unsure if it’s possibly different in Scotland but when DS came into contact with someone infected the letter the school emailed from test and trace said the whole family had to isolate

@m0therofdragons

If you’re nhs you get paid parental leave of 10 days! Check with hr or see if there’s a role you can do from home over that period.

Not all NHS workplaces offer paid parental leave though. At my trust, if you take parental leave, it is always unpaid.

@BoggledBudgie

JS87

BoggledBudgie
@swimmingc the entire family has to isolate if your DS has been in contact with someone who’s tested positive now. You should be isolating too.
Where have you seen this?

Unsure if it’s possibly different in Scotland but when DS came into contact with someone infected the letter the school emailed from test and trace said the whole family had to isolate

must be different in Scotland. In England it is only the direct contacts who have to self-isolate.

@Char2015 that’s the national Guidance - for covid isolating dc it is paid up to 10 days!

@swimmingc

I don't have any holiday as work term time so holidays are included in this

Yes lone parent. Old parents who I wouldn't put at risk

I'm so sorry you're in this position OP, but you need to join the dots here.

If you want your elderly parents 'not put at risk' then there is a cost to this and I think its right that it falls on your shoulders.

The other option is that, as a nation, we abandon the current strategy of attempting to suppress the virus and accept that elderly parents will likely be put at risk.

People can't have their cake and eat it - This must be horrible for you, but if you want the upside of safe parents, then you need to accept the hardship this will cause to you and others in your shoes.

Continuing to raid our own children's futures in order to avoid having this admittedly uncomfortable discussion is just not a valid long-term strategy.

@NikeDeLaSwoosh my parents are unable to watch them they are shielding and my Ds has to isolate so shouldn't be going anywhere.

[quote m0therofdragons]@Char2015 that’s the national Guidance - for covid isolating dc it is paid up to 10 days![/quote]
This is definitely not national guidance for NHS.

The OP works for the NHS, only works term time, is unwilling to make up the hours at a later date, and still expects to be paid. It is cases like this where more personal responsibility is needed. The solution is clearly agreeing to work a number of days when the child is with their dad or can otherwise be in childcare in future after the period of isolation.

Thank you everyone for all replies.
My manager has just called and he is setting me up to do some work from home, limited to what I can do but will get a couple of days out of it. Ds dad is going to come over and watch him a couple of days and a couple of days carers leave. I am so relieved. to everyone in the same situation

@StatisticalSense how can I make hours up when every hour I am free I work

Good to hear you've got a plan sorted! It's not ideal but it sounds like you've made the best of a difficult situation.

I am pretty sure the NHS have given more carers leave. I would check with HR.

@StatisticalSense do you have children?

@swimmingc
By DS spending more time with Dad at weekends/school holidays if possible, or with friends or in organised childcare if not.

Re: whole house isolating if child has been in contact with a case - in local lockdown areas in Scotland then the whole house isolates. In areas with no local lockdown then just the child isolates

or can otherwise be in childcare in future after the period of isolation

I can’t speak for the OP’s trust but my department is very reluctant for hours to be made up in this way and if they do agree it has to be done within the same pay period. That doesn’t offer much room to rearrange things if you need to pay back a significant amount of hours. I’m not arguing that it’s not a good solution just not one that every workplace, NHS or not, will facilitate, much like working from home.

@managingmyaelf

I am pretty sure the NHS have given more carers leave. I would check with HR.

@StatisticalSense do you have children?

No, the NHS as a whole hasn't although some NHS settings may have done. My trust hasn't - carers leave is 6 days a year in my trust - but we can only take 2 paid days at a time - if you need 3 days or more than that in one episode, after day 2 it is unpaid. They have however given 1 day extra annual leave.

I’m pleased your employer is understanding.
However please email your mp. The more messages MPs get from parents about this the more likely something will get done about it.
And it disproportionately affects women, especially single parents. Without a doubt.

still expects to be paid
Expects not to be made homeless and / or starve.

One shocking thing on this forum is that some people have no idea how others live.

I got called Monday morning (10:30am) at work asking me to collect my 8yo immediately as someone had tested positive in his class. We've been told 7 days isolation, for him and his class, only 7 because there are no symptoms. The rest of the household can go about daily activities, ie younger brother is still going to school, dad can go to work.
14 days isolation is only if symptoms appear.
Seems everyone/school interprets the advice differently.
I'm lucky my boss is very understanding and although I can't work from home I will probably still get paid. If not, I will have to take unpaid parental leave. Ok maybe for a week, but any longer or if it keeps happening then I could be in trouble as financially it's already tight. Employers also need to help out their staff in these unprecedented times. If they don't lots of women are going to be a lot worse off.

I'm trying to work how what exactly is government mandated and what is school policy (with respect to year group isolation periods).

Are you in the UK? It used to be 7 days if you had symptoms and that got changed to 10 days. Other contacts need to isolate for 14 days as thats the incubation period

Yes I'm in the UK. I was thinking when driving to the school that I would have to collect my youngest, call my DP to get home for 14 days. Letter from school states he can return on 29/09 provided no symptoms. That's only 7 days. A class member tested positive and he had been in close contact.

Bizarre. That's incorrect info then.