Child Sickness and time off

ali-t

mad_angler1 wrote: »

Company policy is 5 instances in a 12 month period rolling


I understand the caring for dependants states reasonable time. I would not say 2 x 4 hours was unreasonable this year

It may be only 2 x 4 hours as you say, but in terms of her work contract it is the equivalent of 2 days work which is excessive in my view. In my workplace if the child sickness was added to her sick time she would be on the brink of a 2nd period of monitoring and if another trigger was hit she would get a final opportunity to improve or would get sacked.

Where I work, it is at the discretion of the manager but your wife could have been entitled to 2 carers day in a rolling twelve month period. After that it would be annual leave, flexi or unpaid leave that would be used.

TBH I think you are over-reacting, the policy in your wifes workplace seems pretty standard and she will just have to go with it. Back up childcare would be helpful too in the form of a friend or neighbour who could help out for a few hours.

Uncertain

ali-t wrote: »

Where I work, it is at the discretion of the manager but your wife could have been entitled to 2 carers day in a rolling twelve month period. After that it would be annual leave, flexi or unpaid leave that would be used.

That might be their policy but I wonder if that would be held to be lawful if it was tested.

As stated there is a legal right short periods of unpaid leave to deal with emergencies. An employer may allow more flexibility but can't have policies that restrict that right.

As with so many such things ultimately only a tribunal can rule whether short and emergency have been interpreted correctly in a particular set of circumstances. However having time off every time a young child has a minor illness whilst the other parent has none would not be reasonable.

What does seem to be clear in this case is that the firm are muddling sick leave and unpaid emergency leave together which they should not do. They may (or may not) have valid concerns about the amount of either but they should not be added together.

marybelle01

ali-t wrote: »

TBH I think you are over-reacting, the policy in your wifes workplace seems pretty standard and she will just have to go with it. Back up childcare would be helpful too in the form of a friend or neighbour who could help out for a few hours.

Or possibly even a husband? If she "only" works for four hours then couldn't the father of the child take four hours and then go to work when she comes home at 10am? It is much easier to make time up in full-time employment, and many employers will permit employees to make up unpaid time off, especially if it is only a few hours here and there.

Sorry but I don't think the employer is being unreasonable at all. If she is absent then it doesn't matter that she only works four hours - you have already said that if she is absent there is nobody else to do her work so it remains undone. She is absent for an entire working day and the work doesn't get done.

You still haven't answered the question, why can't you share the childcare responsibilities here, especially now that you know that her job is going to be at risk if she continues to have this level of absence? Instead of getting unreasonably annoyed at the employer for not letting her have more absences from work than everyone else gets (which is discrimination, by the way - expecting her to get preferential treatment that others do not get), then you either need to find a solution that enables her reduce her absences (several of which have been suggested - you, friends, relatives, childcare or take annual leave if the employer permits it), or you need to decide togther that the job isn't that important in the context and you are willing to take the risk of her being dismissed.

liney

marybelle01 wrote: »

Or possibly even a husband? If she "only" works for four hours then couldn't the father of the child take four hours and then go to work when she comes home at 10am?
.

Because he works away from home from Monday to Friday.

If it is a large retailer, and this is becomming an issue, perhaps they would consider weekend work to reduce the affect on the business?

firesidemaid

was she paid for any of the absences?

have you now arranged a plan b so that when your child is sick again, this will not happen again?

Uncertain

liney wrote: »

Because he works away from home from Monday to Friday.

That is not the employer's problem.

Valli

liney wrote: »

Your wife must not call in sick. She must call to say is having to take emergency dependant leave because your child is sick. However, if this becomes regular, then the employer may question how unforseen the circumstance actually is and why there is no back up in place, because the time off is to arrange alternative care, not provide care.

Moreover if she is effectively 'leaving a message' with security the sensible thing for her to do would be to call again, later in the day, speak to a manager and inform the manager of the reason for her absence; and when she would expect to be back at work. So, at this point she would be clarifying whether it is sick leave for her or emergency leave for the child and/or whether she is taking unpaid leave.

liney

Uncertain wrote: »

That is not the employer's problem.

Do read again in context. marybelle01 wanted to know why Dad isn't sharing the childcare.

marybelle01

liney wrote: »

Do read again in context. marybelle01 wanted to know why Dad isn't sharing the childcare.

Do read it again in context. As Uncertain correctly stated, this is still not the employers problem. Employers quite unreasonably employ people to work, not to be off sick or looking after their children. I personally may not agree with that sort of attitude, but that's irrelevant. Anyone who doesn't realise that, in this day and age, there are consequences to being absent from work too often, isn't paying attention. The last public sector employer I worked for - and we all know what a pushover they are - went to second stage procedures after three sickness absences in twelve months ,and all childcare time off was annual leave or time that had to be made up unless there was a verifable emergency, in which case you got a few hours unpaid. And that is one of the largest councils in the country.

The OP may not like it, but they need to get real - there are plenty of unemployed people out there ready to step right into any job. It may not be palatable, but it's an employers world right now. A lot of absences from work has consequences, whatever the good reason.