Leave without pay

[CrunchyNotMe]

Does anyone have any experience of leave without pay?

Someone has used up all their annual leave. For half-term, their childcare arrangement fell through.

If they request leave without pay, will their employer have to approve as it would be discriminatory not to?

They could request a block of parental leave in advance but the employer could defer the dates if it didn't suit

And no its not discrimination

No, they might get time off to arrange childcare but not to do it themselves. There may be a policy for absence.

Dependants leave. Parental leave needs 21 days notice.
workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/time-off-for-dependants-leave/#how-much

Dependents leave is for a day or so to sort other childcare not for the employee to look after the child themselves

You can get emergency dependants leave if your childcare arrangements have unexpectedly fallen through. However, this would not be for the whole half term - probably a half day/day at most while you organise alternative childcare.

If you give sufficient notice, you can also request unpaid parental leave, but the employer can delay this if they have a good reason to do so.

Most parents usually keep a few days of leave back for this kind of thing, I find. You shouldn't just assume that your employer will let you have the whole half term off unpaid if you haven't planned for it... though of course, some might.

@dementedpixie

Dependents leave is for a day or so to sort other childcare not for the employee to look after the child themselves

Yes the time off is ‘reasonable’ time off -ideally to arrange alternative child care but from the link I posted above:

“ What if it is not an emergency?
If you knew about a situation beforehand, this would not normally be covered by time off for dependants. You could request unpaid parental leave instead.

However, knowing in advance that something will happen does not mean that you definitely cannot take time off, so long as the time off is necessary. In the case of Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Harrison the Employment Appeal Tribunal found that a mother who had two weeks’ notice that her childminder would not be available, and who had tried but was unable to make alternative arrangements for her children, had taken time off for dependants when she was absent from work.”

You would have to prove that you had tried your upmost but didn’t have any alternative child care though.

I’m the employee’s line manager. She does not have childcare for half term. She requested leave without pay with literally no notice.

Check your work policy on emergency dependants' leave. Do you think employee will be off regardless of what you say? It may be at discretion of manager but your decision could be influenced by how reliable an employee they otherwise are.

How is it discriminatory not to approve it? Genuine question.

Personally if one of my team made this sort of short notice request I'd be sympathetic to it. So long as they don't make a habit of it though - can't be getting to the summer hols and there's a last minute request for 6 weeks off, paid or unpaid! I'd be very clear that it's a one off, and have a conversation to find out why no childcare ie was she relying on getting the time off or has childcare genuinely fallen through last minute. I know you said it's because it's fallen through, but I'd still have the conversation if you haven't already. I'd also have a conversation around whether it's possible for her to do some work from home around the kids, depending on her role and age of them etc, to see if you can come to some sort of accommodation that lets her work as much as poss and still be paid. But our policies are very flexible and allow this, your employer might not.

I think there’s a few things you could consider
If you were to let the employee have the time off would it have a direct impact on the business?
Does the employee make a habit out of this?
Other than the childcare issue, is the employee usually reliable?
I agree with another poster who said that maybe she should have kept annual leave in case of emergencies like this but sometimes you really do think you have everything arranged.
As a manager myself I really try to be fair and understanding of people’s personal circumstances and I truly believe that’s the way to a happy work place but of course you have to put the business first.

We are very flexible and are usually sympathetic to these requests. She says childcare fell through. I have a feeling she never organised in the first place.

Our policy for leave without pay says that you need to have been an employee for at least 1 year to be considered and you need to give 6 weeks notice and is ultimately at the discretion of your manager.

This employee has been with us for 6 months and literally gave a couple days of notice. It will impact on work generally.

If I don’t approve it, I feel that she will still not come
in. What a mess!

It's down to you. It happens but also people lie.

If you don’t approve it, and she doesn’t come in, I assume you won’t pay her. But will you fire her?

Ultimately, if what you suspect is true and she just hasn’t arranged it, she is betting you won’t fire her and by default she will get unpaid leave.

So, I guess it depends on how hard she would be to replace, and (for her) how much she wants the job.

I suggest you take advice from your HR Business Partner though.

When does your leave year finish? Are the Easter holidays going to create the same issue?
I think I'd refer her back to the policy about 1 years service. Does she have a husband who could ask for leave? Are there some days that woukdnt create staffing issues you couid give her?
In a past life i've granted occasional days of unpaid leave near the end of the year when something has cropped up, but never a whole week.

This is why we always planned to carry over holidays. Is that a possibility in your company? I can see it being difficult if no holiday can be saved, and then something happens, but that isnt your issue.

Be prepared for her to get covid next week!

For me it depends on a) can they work from home and therefore do some hours early morning/evening b) if not can they be covered or does it leave business exposed
c) why has childcare fallen through. If it was grandparents who have come down with covid for example I would be more lenient.
d) is there a 2nd parent who could share the emergency??
I would be inclined to allow 1 or 2 emergency days - plenty of holiday clubs open etc.

I am speaking to HR tomorrow morning. They encourage us to sort things out amicably without getting them involved as much as possible.

She is replaceable but not at such short notice. Her leave allowance is April to March. I am concerned that this will become a habit, and that we are in the same situation for other school holidays.

If you refuse she’ll probably ring in sick.

Thank you for taking the time to help yesterday. This is what we discussed this morning. She will just take sick leave if I don’t approve her request.

I had to grant her the leave without pay as we need her back in the office. We are advertising for her position in the next few days.

Once we’ve found her replacement, we will terminate her contract. She has not even been with us for that long.