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Ask Employment Law |
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Remember: There is no substitute for legal advice on the actual
situation you find yourself in. The information posted on this site is for
general information only, is based on |
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Question: |
Can employees take time
off to deal with family emergencies? |
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Answer: |
Employees
do have the statutory right to take time off to deal with an emergency
involving a dependent. ·
This
is an unpaid right ·
Employees are
entitled to a reasonable period of
unpaid time off during working hours to deal with an emergency involving a dependent. ·
Normally, this
would be a maximum of one or two days. ·
This right does
not, for example, enable an employee to remain at home for the full duration
of a child’s illness. ·
The purpose of the
time off is to deal with the immediate problem and possibly make alternative
arrangements. The right is given to enable employees to deal with
an unexpected or sudden problem and to make any necessary longer term
arrangements normally: ·
To
assist an ill or injured dependant. ·
To
arrange care for an ill or injured dependant ·
For
unexpected disruption of care arrangements ·
To
deal with an unexpected problem at school ·
On the death of a dependant ·
The
employee should inform the line manager of the reason for the absence as soon
as is reasonably practicable and its expected length. ·
A
dependant will normally mean a
spouse, child, parent, co-habitee or any other person in the same household
(but not a tenant, lodger or boarder). In one
reported case called Qua v John Ford Morrison, Solicitors [2003] NLJ 95, EAT
an employee took 17 absences to look after his sick child & the employer
dismissed her, saying that she was not providing the reliable work required
of her. She had not been employed for a year, and claimed automatic unfair
dismissal under s57A. The EAT reiterated that: ·
The
purpose of the right is to enable the employee to arrange care, not
necessarily to provide it (other than possibly on the first day, eg when the
child contracts chickenpox). ·
Once
the initial notification has been done (with an estimate of likely period)
there is no continuing duty to keep the employer updated. ·
In
the vast majority of cases ‘reasonable time off’ will only mean hours, or a
day or two at most. Employees
are not entitled to unlimited amounts of time off work even if in each case
s/he complies with the notice requirements in section 57A(2) Employment
Rights Act 1996 and takes a reasonable amount of time off on each occasion.
Once it is known that the particular child is suffering from an underlying
medical condition then arguably the employee cannot rely on the right each
time the child falls ill as a result of that particular condition. See our
page on disciplinary procedures Last
reviewed: July 2010 |
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Employment
Solicitor Reculver Solicitors Tel
0207 324 6271 Regulated
by the Solicitors Regulation Authority ©
Reculver Solicitors. 2005- |
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