Can you be fired for taking time off with poorly children?

[barbiedinosaur]

We've had a really bad few months for both Dc getting poorly constantly. I've shouldered most of the childcare as my work are pretty understanding about it all. However there have been odd occasions where DH has had to have days off. He's had one day off so far this year and probably a maximum of 7 days off the previous year. This has been when the little ones have been in hospital so pretty extreme cases where we've had no other choice. Youngest Dc is currently in hospital, due to go home tonight but obviously won't be well enough to go back to nursery for at least a few days. I'm able to have Tuesday off but asked DH to ask for tomorrow off. His work have basically said he's going to be fired if he takes tomorrow off. Is this legal?

He should be able to have unpaid parental leave if not emergency parental leave
he should call ACAS tomorrow

Thanks for replying. He has always stated that he hasn't expected to be paid for the leave but his employers are still threatening to fire him. I'm obviously going to have to take the hit with work and get the time off so he doesn't have to but he's now been called in to a meeting to "discuss his future at the company"

ACAS will be able to advise him and help before he has that meeting
make sure he documents everything
but no you can’t get fired for this
The company can speak to him about time off and look to understand what going on
They don’t sound very reasonable
how long has he worked for the company?

https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/time-off-for-dependants-leave/

How long has he worked there for?

Emergency dependant’s leave is really only for a day, though lots of companies will be more generous -mine would be. So if you know your child is going to need to be cared for for longer, you use that day to source help.

Parental leave often has to be approved in advance and in week-long blocks.

Are you saying he is not allowed to use his annual leave?

@Verylongtime he has worked there for about 18 months. I have always sorted the brunt of the childcare in these situations but I'm not able to have two days off this week, only one. Family who normally help out aren't available. So he literally just needed one day so that I could do the other. He's not allowed to take annual leave for it as he's only allowed annual leave between sept-April due to the nature of his work.

They could let him go, if they want, because he’s been there less than 2 years.

Dependants leave is for an emergency to get child care in place so that won’t help on this occasion.

Did you mean he can’t take leave between sept and April?

No, if the reason for your dismissal was connected to you exercising your statutory right to take time off for dependants (sometimes called emergency leave) then the two-year qualifying period no longer applies

They can let him go within 2 years. I'd look at who ever earns the least, and get them to step down from their job.

Does he have any female colleagues with children? If so, it would be a frigging miracle if they have all got partners who do 100% of the care when the kids are sick.

If his employer is treating him less favourably than a woman with kids, this is sex discrimination and he can take them to an ET regardless of how long he has worked there.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow he works in predominantly male industry so there is only men at his work. It has always been made very clear to him that as the male 'his wife should do the childcare' but unfortunately would be hard to prove as nothing has ever been put in writing about it

I'd love to tell you no but I've lost 3 jobs due to DD's disabilities and needing time off.

The reality is employers pay you to work, they don't want employees who are taking unpaid leave frequently because is disrupts the business - yes it lacks compassion but it's the way it is.

Sometimes it's not as easy as saying it's against the law etc because what will you actually do if they do sack him?! It's a long and expensive road to show them you're not going to allow them to do that even if you're within your rights too. Phone acas though because they may advise you of what's what so you can at least let them know the rules if they're in your favour

I would call in sick myself and let him off the hook. I've been there and my job was horrendously strict and male dominated.
I asked to go pt and was a flat no. I then moved jobs but the next one was just as bad and when dc started school they caught everything under the sun so it just wasn't feasible anymore to manage both of us working and taking time off for illness plus school holidays.

It is so hard when you have young DC, at the age when they are picking up everything, and both of you work. OTOH, I'd say 7 emergency leave days in a single year is quite a lot. It depends on the exact nature of his work, of course, but - in many jobs - you can't just postpone or rearrange work if you are suddenly short-staffed, so an unexpected absence has an impact on everyone. Lots of businesses are struggling right now, with tiny margins.

This may not help, depending on how his work operates, but does he ever offer to make up the missed time?

We have fired people before for taking too much leave. In our organisation you are entitled to one off day but the expectation is that parents organise cover in the event of multiple sickness days. Ie saying I won't be in tomorrow again as Johnny is sick wouldn't be tolerated on an ongoing basis.

Were the 7 days last year all emergency leave or were some/all annual leave?

The riues are all set out.You must take the unpaid parental leave as whole week blocks unless your child is disabled or your employer agrees otherwise, eighteem weeks for each child up to 18 years of age and maximum of 4 weeks per year.

@Viviennemary this isn’t planned unpaid parental leave, though.

Is there any flexibility to use unpaid parental leave for school holidays and keep annual leave for when your child is sick, as well as unpaid days? I had to juggle it that way when mine were little. It's a truly miserable time tbh, you have mh sympathy. I was in trouble for being off too much once. Either me or the dcs were sick.

I think Viviennemary was making the point because a previous poster had suggested parental leave as a solution, and she is right that it is not the answer in this case.
You could potentially use parental leave to cover caring for your child after a planned operation or something else where you have plenty of advance warning and you need at least a week off, but not for one off appointments or illness.
Is your DH in a union OP? That would be my first port of call. I'd also be asking for a copy of his employer's Emergency Leave policy - they shouldn't just be making it up as they go along.
I do sympathise as I have a child with a long term illness and whilst DH and I tried to share the absences as equally as possible we both came under pressure from employers and colleagues. But on the other hand I have been the head of dept tasked with finding last minute cover from an already stretched workforce so I can see the other side of things too. But I would start with ensuring the employers absence policy has been properly applied. If there are repeated absences certainly in the public sector there is a due process to follow - you cannot just sack someone with no warning or prior attempts to resolve the issue. I appreciate it may not be the same everywhere but that's where I would start.

Yes. So is it counted as emergency leave. In which case planned hospital appointments and planned hospital stays wouldn't qualify. That's
my understanding. If work is going to be unsympathetic and inflexible on this OP's DH needs to tread carefully especially if he has been there less than two years.