Anyone know about taking days off due to child sickness / parental days etc?

[mosschops30]

ds is sick, and I need to take him to the doctors tomorrow. Normally I would send him to the IL's but FIL has swine flu so not an option. CM would probably still have him, but I deffo need to take him to the docs first.

Can I take a days leave for this?
Is it paid? (I work for the NHS)

TIA

I believe you are entitled to 15 days unpaid leave for parental issues, but don't quote me on that!

You can take a 'reasonable' amount of unpaid time off to care for a dependant in an emergency (ie, childcare breaks down/sudden illness/problem at school/child taken into hospital). There is nothing to say what reasonable amount of time is though, an employment tribunal ruled that three weeks off to care for a child with chicken pox was unreasonable so I think it's just why you deal with the emergency and arrange alternative care.
Taking him to the doctors and having a couple of days off to care for him is reasonable IMO though.

here you go

as an nhs employee you may well get more than your statuatory entitlement.

It depends on the board you work for here in Scotland as to how many days of carers and parental leave, but you will definitely get one of the 2 leaves for taking a child to the doctor.

If your boss does get sticky (and there are still some dinosaurs in the NHS), then refer to HR for guidance.

Great thanks for all that, shouldnt be a problem then. My manager is very good and its unlikely he will mind, just wanted to know where Id be pay wise. I might try and make the hours up somewhere

Likely to be carers leave rather than parental leave. Parental leave is planned leave you take off with your kids- carer's leave tends to cover the emergencies. Both are usually paid

should have said - your terms and conditions are likely to be underAgenda for Change - if you googel agenda for change handbook you'll find details

" For example, if your child falls ill you can take enough time off to deal with their initial needs, such as taking them to the doctor and arranging for their care. However, you?ll need to make other arrangements if you want to stay off work longer to care for them yourself."

It's the above bit that always gets me - the last school I worked at were real sticklers for this and we were never allowed more than one day off but if you don't live near family, who else can care for them?

it's meant to give youu enough time to arrange alternative care - which would vary from person to person so cannot be a fixed rule. take what yu think is reasonable but try as hard as you can to come up with something so you can go back to work so you can show them you have tried.

But what exactly is alternative care? If you (and your dp/dh if you have one) do not have family that can help, then what?

NHS will generally give 5 days paid carers leave, plus further unpaid leave

There's also parental and special or compassionate leave, in addition to your annual leave.

i do understand your dilemna - it is meant to mean someone else to provide an alternative to the care you would provide if you were able to , ie not working.

if you do not have anyone else, like any relatives, friends, care giver you can pay(?) maybe you genuinely need unpaid leave?

Sounds harsh and personally I have been in your situation and it stinks

Unpaid leave is only used in exceptional circumstances afaik - carers, parental, special and then annual leave should all be used first. There are still some managers who make it very difficult for their staff, and this "at your managers discretion" should be abolished imo. You're right, Over, it stinks.