time off to look after my children

boltonangel

Hi

I am a mum of 2 young children, aged 2 and 7, the 7 year old has autism and we receive dla for him.

we are entitled to slide our shifts by three hours either side twice a month.

I have only ever used this benefit once for a gp's appointment, which i later found out that colleagues never have because they have always been able to just take paid time off for medical appointments.

This weekend I am struggling for childcare so managed to get the kids looked after on the friday,saturday and sunday daytime with relatives.

As I am working until 11pm I requested that I finish at 8pm in order to care for the kids but this was declined because my line manager has decided that only people who use public transport should be allowed to alter shifts this weekend.

I have never had to take time off work before and the one time i ask it is refused, i could understand if i was repeatedly asking for time off but i'm not.

another person on my team fakes phonecalls from his wife saying that he has to get home and look after his son and he is allowed to just go.

what are my options now? i was going to take parental unpaid leave but you have to work at the company for 12 months to get that.

please help

Mellowyellow_2

My first step would be asking how your manager has come up this decision? Are they entitled to make such decisions? On what basis has this been decided?

lucylucky

"we are entitled to slide our shifts by three hours either side twice a month"

"Entitled to" or "entitled to" ask to?

What reason did the manager give for not allowing you to alter the time?

Is there any "right of appeal"?

boltonangel

hi

thanks for your reply

i'm not sure if it's entitled to or not, i'd probably say not.

the email that was sent out states that as there had been a lot of demand for shift slides this weekend she was only allowing people who travelled onmpublic transport to slide their shifts.

if seems unfair that people who can get taxis or share lifts can alter their shifts time and time again yet the one time i ask it is declined.

i am not bothered about being paid as i will take it unpaid if necessary. I can't even ring in sick as the new policies state that 3 sicknesses in 1 year result in disciplinary and the year has only just started so i don't want to risk not being able to take time off if i'm at deaths door further into the year!!! :rotfl:

lucylucky

boltonangel wrote: »

hi

thanks for your reply

i'm not sure if it's entitled to or not, i'd probably say not.

the email that was sent out states that as there had been a lot of demand for shift slides this weekend she was only allowing people who travelled onmpublic transport to slide their shifts.

if seems unfair that people who can get taxis or share lifts can alter their shifts time and time again yet the one time i ask it is declined.

i am not bothered about being paid as i will take it unpaid if necessary. I can't even ring in sick as the new policies state that 3 sicknesses in 1 year result in disciplinary and the year has only just started so i don't want to risk not being able to take time off if i'm at deaths door further into the year!!! :rotfl:

Can people who travel on public transport not take a taxi, thereby negating their reason for being allowed to let their shifts slide.

I don't actually understand your manager's rationale

Zazen999

boltonangel wrote: »

hi

thanks for your reply

i'm not sure if it's entitled to or not, i'd probably say not.

the email that was sent out states that as there had been a lot of demand for shift slides this weekend she was only allowing people who travelled onmpublic transport to slide their shifts.

if seems unfair that people who can get taxis or share lifts can alter their shifts time and time again yet the one time i ask it is declined.

i am not bothered about being paid as i will take it unpaid if necessary. I can't even ring in sick as the new policies state that 3 sicknesses in 1 year result in disciplinary and the year has only just started so i don't want to risk not being able to take time off if i'm at deaths door further into the year!!! :rotfl:

I'd say - 'that's brilliant, as my car is in the garage this weekend and I will be taking the bus.....cheers boss'.

boltonangel

hi

i was considering saying that about my car but didn't want to be accused of being a troublemaker!

i am really very annoyed about it but can't see a way around it. my dh has advised me to email her back (so it's in writing) asking why she has come to the decision that the needs of those travelling on public transport outweigh mine.

what really gets me is that when i started the job i knew i wouldn't be able to travel on public transport on the late shifts so bought a car purely for work. I have always managed to balance the childcare so was expecting them to be reasonable when it came to this.

is there any way of taking the full day off unpaid legally?

liney

Parental leave has to be booked in 1 week blocks, and can be refused regardless so this would not have helped you.

Emergency Dependent Leave would be an option if this was an unforseen situation, but you have notice that your normal childcare is not available, so unapplicable.

Swap shifts with someone? Book holiday? Unpaid leave? These all have to be agreed by management however.

This job seems to have unsociable hours, so combining that with children, does this mean you will have an issue regularly in that you cannot work your contracted hours?

dmg24

Could your partner not change his commitments?

boltonangel

hi,

my dh has changed his shifts already to look after them during the day. we only work this late once a month and i usually have 2 childminders to choose from.....just not this week!!!

oh well, worth a shot!

lucylucky

Would be a pity if the car you bought specifically for work developed a fault and had to go into the garage and was unable for you to use. This would mean that you would have to rely on public transport.

I wonder what your manager would say then?