Furloughed - Partner in retail - no childcare

lincroft1710

ljm2105 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

ljm2105 said:

Just to point out Martin Lewis who is chair of MSE actually said workers with child care issues should be placed on furlough and should be able to request it is extended if they are still struggling so maybe want to bring that up with him see as you all think it’s so unreasonable?
Bye all 

If you know that already, why did you bother asking on here?

What and where is your job?  I am just wondering whether I can apply?

I’m a registered veterinary nurse so if working 11-12 hour days/nights with minimal breaks, covering weekends and bank holidays and being payed well below the average for the level of qualification held is for you then you might want to consider it as a job. 

So your job is fairly important, obviously can't be done from home, so it is understandable your employer needs you back at work

diggingdude

the problem you face is that you are asking tax payers to keep you at home with your children as well as your employer.  If we all demanded that then the system would stop overnight.  Either find someone to look after your children, take unpaid leave if possible or leave your job.  It doesn't matter if people have or haven't been through this before.  Your family and quality of life is not the problem of the person picking up your work whilst you are at home.  

Splatfoot

One of the issues we have here in this country, is the fact that the Government have actively pushed for years to have control over our children, whether that be at school, nursery, pre school. Most parents now have to use it as some form of childcare because they work as cost of living is so high. So the SHTF when something unexpected like this happens. 

ljm2105

I feel like everyone has totally missed the point.  I originally commented on here to show support to the original post and say I’m in a similar situation. 

Yes I did ask my employer if my furlough could be extended when they phoned me about returning to work (a totally reasonable request given that it was put in place to help those who couldn’t work due to lack of work available but also for those who can’t work due to lack of childcare) they declined because they need the staff which I understand but it doesn’t change the fact I’m still stuck for childcare so I offered to work weekends when my husband is home, which again they said not really because they need staff during the week. I have offered to help when I can and take unpaid leave for any days they ask me to work but I am unable to, but they sort of said this wouldn’t suit them as they still would be short staffed (again I understand but if I really can’t get the childcare what can I do?) Which is why I asked if an employer  can decline a request for unpaid leave, I wanted to know where I would go from there.  I have considered that if no compromise can be found and unpaid leave is not an option I may have to leave my job so that they can find a replacement who is available to work. 

What I was really hoping for was to see if anyone else had been in a similar situation and what the outcome was, whether they reached a compromise with their employer or ended up losing/giving up their job. 

I’m not a sponger who expects to sit around on my backside and get paid by the tax payer, I have put into the system since I was 16 and never claimed other benefits and now I’m being slated for using a scheme that was put in place to help people during this difficult situation.
My intentions were never to offend anyone, I honestly thought this was somewhere to come to share advice and see how others have dealt with situations. 

gary83

Nobody has “slated you for using a scheme” the majority of people have been critical of your self entitled attitude. How long you’ve paid tax for previously is entirely irrelevant, I’m sure Some people have only just started paying working & paying tax and have benefited from it, I’m also sure many other people have paid tax for many years and have received no extra benefits over this period. Furlough is a job retention scheme, the idea was to enable employers to keep their employees so the businesses could bounce straight back and not have to recruit new staff.

Your business has work for you to do, they expect you to do it, they don’t expect your colleagues that don’t have children to have to cover for you for 100% of their salary whilst you stay at home on a taxpayer funded 80%. 

ljm2105

Again you’ve missed my point, I’m not saying I SHOULD be entitled to anything but I’m not going to deny asking to use a scheme that was put in place to help thousands of people like me, the scheme wasn’t introduced  just to save businesses it was also to help save those who can’t work due to childcare from losing their jobs too.  And it’s not like I’m choosing to sit at home expecting my colleagues to cover for me, I said I’ve offered to take time off unpaid or work weekends whilst I’m in a situation where for reasons out of my control I’m unable to get childcare during the week. The reason I mentionEd how long I’ve put into the system was because l get the feeling people think I’m one of those who wants to take complete advantage and get away with sitting at home being paid for a long as I can but I’m not that type of person, if it was possible for me to go back to work and work my normal hours I would but in these current conditions it isn’t. 

Grumpy_chap

ljm2105 said:

I have offered to help when I can and take unpaid leave for any days they ask me to work but I am unable to, but they sort of said this wouldn’t suit them as they still would be short staffed (again I understand but if I really can’t get the childcare what can I do?) Which is why I asked if an employer  can decline a request for unpaid leave, I wanted to know where I would go from there.  

You may be entitled to parental leave:
https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/entitlement
Does your contract of employment give you any other entitlements?

Either way, as social distancing looks like it could be in place for a longer while than maybe any of us imagined, and there is no indication when that will mean relaxing grandparent ability to do child care, it would be sensible if you planned something for this going onto beyond when any parental leave has been exhausted.  I assume it is not viable long-term for you or the employer if you stay in a state of permanent flux between any viable state.  If you have a plan and then the magic wand is waived and we all just suddenly go back to how it was before, the plan does not need to be put into action.

Jonesy1977

ljm2105 said:

Again you’ve missed my point, I’m not saying I SHOULD be entitled to anything but I’m not going to deny asking to use a scheme that was put in place to help thousands of people like me, the scheme wasn’t introduced  just to save businesses it was also to help save those who can’t work due to childcare from losing their jobs too.  And it’s not like I’m choosing to sit at home expecting my colleagues to cover for me, I said I’ve offered to take time off unpaid or work weekends whilst I’m in a situation where for reasons out of my control I’m unable to get childcare during the week. The reason I mentionEd how long I’ve put into the system was because l get the feeling people think I’m one of those who wants to take complete advantage and get away with sitting at home being paid for a long as I can but I’m not that type of person, if it was possible for me to go back to work and work my normal hours I would but in these current conditions it isn’t. 

I know you don't not want sympathy (you stated this) but I genuinely do sympathise.  I do however understand that if the business needs you to supply your labour, then Furlough is not an option and you must return to work.  If you cant (for childcare reasons) then you will not be paid and the business will have to find alternative arrangements (to survive) and you may well not return to that job in the future.  Unfair...Yes but would it be fair for your practice to be unable to generate income because you cant work? putting the business at risk?  I hope you see that whilst its not your fault, it is hard and it is stressful........ it is ultimately your responsibility.

LilElvis

Yes, an employer can decline a request for unpaid leave - otherwise there would be nothing to stop an employee accepting a full time job and then announcing that they were going to be taking every Monday and Friday as unpaid leave and therefore working part time.

Taking unpaid leave for childcare is generally taken as meaning that it is limited to a short period in order to make other arrangements. I wouldn't want to hazard a guess at how this could be realistic in the current situation, but nothing new has been written into legislation.

ljm2105

I could be entitled to the unpaid parental leave but it’s ultimately down to my employer, having spoken to a friend in management parental leave is usually in place for emergencies such as child being ill and unable to attend nursery or childminder being ill and unable to look after your child etc, she said they may allow it to be used under these circumstances occasionally but as you say it’s not viable long term and who knows how long the current restrictions on grandparents are going to be in place? Given that my employer also said ‘it wouldn’t really suit us you taking unpaid days off because it still leaves us without staff’ I’m guessing it’s probably not going to be an option. 

I will have to look into extended school hours and nursery provision as someone mentioned previously, try and work days when my husband is able to take time off and see what the situation is in a few weeks . .