Employment and time off for Child's Medical Appointments

sweetdaisy

I have been in my job for 7.5 years and looking to change jobs. I know that I am fortunate to be in a good job and I know that it is not a good time to look as there are not many jobs around (my Husband was made redundant last week so is looking for work), however I am not happy in my job and due to my Husband applying for jobs which are shift work, because of the nature of my job, which involves being 'on-call' and working until 10pm once a week, I think it will be better for me to try and find a job which doesn't involve evenings/on-call, so that I can manage childcare arrangement better as we both work full-time (we have 2 children), this will also mean that DH could work shifts. I earn a lot more than my Husband, however DH will be able to earn significantly more money than his previous job, if he works shifts.

Our youngest Son has a genetic condition which on average we have medical appointments for him approx every 6 weeks. I am lucky in my job that I am able to build up flexi time, by taking 30 min lunch break instead of 1 hour, so I use my flexi time and annual leave to attend medical appointments for our Son. It is likely that these appointments will be ongoing for the foreseeable future, due to his condition.

I feel that I am lucky in my job that I can use flexi/annual leave for these appointments and often after the appointments (unless I have booked the whole day off) I return to work, so only take a couple of hours off. I also tend to take my A/L days off during the year as individual days rather than take weeks off at a time, so nobody needs to cover my workload.

If I were to change job I am not really sure what other organisations are like when it comes to medical appointments for children. Just after some advice about this. Say I was offered a job interview, would you mention this at interview or not? I am worried that if I were to change jobs that I won't be able to take time off for his appointments and not sure that I should just persevere and stay where I am?

jobbingmusician

Try reading http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1362 (which I haven't had the time to read fully)

sweetdaisy

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Try reading http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1362 (which I haven't had the time to read fully)

Thanks for the info . From what I can see parents can take time off for 'unforseen matters' and 'emergencies', so not sure if routine medical appointments comes into that category. In work, if I had a personal medical appointment I can take paid time off to attend the appointment, but we have to use flexi/annual leave for dependants appointments.


Just wondering if another employer would be willing to allow me to use my annual leave to attend DS2's appointments and if other organisation allow this or is it frowned upon.

Sambucus_Nigra

Start applying for jobs and ask when in being interviewed.

You are not the only person to use flexitime for appointments! It's not an alien concept to most people.

sweetdaisy

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

You are not the only person to use flexitime for appointments! It's not an alien concept to most people.

I understand that and am perfectly happy to use my flexi/annual leave for these appointments. I will mention it if I get an interview, as I wouldn't want to be dishonest, so I would ask if I could use my A/L in 'days' rather than 'weeks'.

Sambucus_Nigra

Ok I'm not being funny, but that would come across as a little patronising.

sweetdaisy

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Ok I'm not being funny, but that would come across as a little patronising.

Ok, I won't ask them and just mention the medical appointments.

Judith_W

If you're going for a job, I would recommend only mentioning it when the bring it up, or if they don't bring it up, mention it before accepting their offer.

wrightk

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Try reading http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1362 (which I haven't had the time to read fully)

also worth looking up about unpaid parental leave. you can have up to 13 weeks unpaid parental leave if you have to take time off for dependants. although you can only take 4 weeks per year in blocks of a week or odd days. its a very strange arrangement. but i suppose if you have used all your annual leave and are happy to take the odd day/half day off unpaid.

thanks for that link. im just about to request my employer that i can no longer work on two specific days of the week so ill have a read through that

Sambucus_Nigra

sweetdaisy wrote: »

Ok, I won't ask them and just mention the medical appointments.

You don't even have to mention that - just ask about flexitime.

SueC_2

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

You don't even have to mention that - just ask about flexitime.

Technically correct, as the employer has no right to know why the OP wants the time off. But perhaps it's not the most persuasive way for OP to get what they want.

"Can I have flexitime?" - Could be interpreted as a candidate wanting to disregard what are quite possibly fixed working hours for other employees, and come and go at will. Which is not necessarily the way to get a job.

"I have a child with a genetical condition that requires me to take him/her for a medical appointment every 6 weeks. I would, of course, keep my time out of the workplace to an absolute minimum and make the hours up elsewhere. Would that be okay?" - Can't help but get a bit of a sympathy vote and a greater level of understanding from the employer.