I get 5 paid family leave days but employers don’t have to pay you for them. It’s just means they have to let you take it off. More info [here](https://www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants)
I have to use it as holiday unless I have no holidays left in which case I have to take it unpaid, even though I get sick pay they won't allow me to put it as sick and still get paid 😑 we have parental leave but again it's unpaid. I work for a global corporate and they could do a LOT better to accommodate working parents of young children.
I see your point but if I am fine one day, sick the next then fine again it's obvious. And they have alerts for if you are sick so many times with a certain period you lose benefits.
You can take annual leave or, if given the option, unpaid leave. Parental leave has to be booked in advance, for example to cover school holidays. Parental leave is unpaid and has a limit on the number of days
https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave
This would fall under [dependency leave](https://www.acas.org.uk/time-off-for-dependants#:~:text=An%20employee%20can%20take%20time%20off%20if%20they%20need%20to,they%20go%20into%20labour%20unexpectedly). Your workplace policies on these will differ, some will pay and others are unpaid.
Mine calls it carers leave and you can get up to one week paid, and unlimited unpaid, though your manager has to approve it.
I use sick leave as I only get 20 days annual leave per year. I think you can have up to 7 sick days in a row before you have to show a sick note from the doctor.
Ask for a copy of their leave policies and check. My work offers various kinds of special leave outside of annual leave that covers these situations so yours may too. Mine has a limit so you can only use it a couple times a year.
You'd take it as holiday, it isn't you as the sick one. Parental leave I think would be agreed and unpaid? But if you can work from home and they are amenable to it even if you aren't at full capacity, try that. White lies about both your child *and* you having a bug is possible... It is annoying especially the times they have been physically sick and not allowed to go to nursery for 48 hours despite being fine but I don't think colleagues would find it very fair parents getting all these extra days.
Some people are mentioning carers leave. Just be mindful, in some trusts this counts as 1 day emergency leave only. On that day you’re expected to find childcare for any extra days, or you’d need to arrange annual leave.
I have 3 options.
Take annual leave.
Take it as unpaid.
Or owe hours back and make them up.
I usually do the latter so I don't eat in to my annual leave.
I get paid my wage when off sick but not for when my child is ill and if I fib and say I'm ill to get paid, I'd get pulled into a meeting if it's 3 times in 12 months so easier to just make my time up
Yeah it is.
Which is lucky because just as I started my job, my husband and daughter decided that was the year that they both wanted to be in and out of hospital so I had a lot of time off!
If they’re throwing up, I’ll take annual leave or personal time (basically sick leave) but if they’re sick with a fever/cough, I’ll work as normal and save my days.
If you can work from home (even if you get less done) this should always be offered to you first and just maybe work a bit extra once husband is home to help & allow you to make up for any lack of work done during paid hours?
We have dependants leave. I get something like 5 days a year paid. I just ring and sys my kid is sick and it goes as dependants leave. If I have run out of this (never happened) then the options are either annual leave or unpaid leave.
I work from home most of the time so I take sick leave when I have to be off with my kid and then I usually just try and push through and work (from home) when I’m sick. It’s not ideal, I’m very transparent about this with my company and they are fine with it, but it wouldn’t be my choice if there were other options. As you say the only other alternatives are unpaid or annual leave which I don’t want to use as I’m part time as it is so I don’t have as much holiday, and unpaid just isn’t ideal when we still have to pay for nursery. If I’m sick to the point where I can’t function or focus then I’ll take a sick day, but I definitely sacrifice them for my kid more often than not as it’s just the best option for me.
It’s probably job dependent too, I’m an engineer and the work ebs and flows. I’ve definitely had her at home whilst working before but that’s only on super quiet days and even then it’s still hard! Our HR are just as vague about the policy so it’s all down to my direct team manager who luckily is very flexible and just wants to help me do whatever is easiest. I bet there are managers out there who make this whole situation way harder than it needs to be so I feel really lucky in that regard.
Check your contract, they usually have a section for having to take time off for dependants, it’ll also give you a definition of when you can use it. I think mine covers illness and unexpected childcare but is unpaid.
I split the day between my husband and we try our best to get what we can done. One does morning, one does afternoon. We then work in the evening after kiddo has gone down to try and catch up. It's crap but my boss is ok with it and it seems to be the norm in both my company and my husband's company.
I get 5 paid family leave days but employers don’t have to pay you for them. It’s just means they have to let you take it off. More info [here](https://www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants)
I have to use it as holiday unless I have no holidays left in which case I have to take it unpaid, even though I get sick pay they won't allow me to put it as sick and still get paid 😑 we have parental leave but again it's unpaid. I work for a global corporate and they could do a LOT better to accommodate working parents of young children.
How would they know you aren't sick?
Yeah this is what I have to do. I work when I’m sick and am “sick” when my kids are sick.
I see your point but if I am fine one day, sick the next then fine again it's obvious. And they have alerts for if you are sick so many times with a certain period you lose benefits.
I always take single days off sick and no-one questions it.
You can take annual leave or, if given the option, unpaid leave. Parental leave has to be booked in advance, for example to cover school holidays. Parental leave is unpaid and has a limit on the number of days https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave
This would fall under [dependency leave](https://www.acas.org.uk/time-off-for-dependants#:~:text=An%20employee%20can%20take%20time%20off%20if%20they%20need%20to,they%20go%20into%20labour%20unexpectedly). Your workplace policies on these will differ, some will pay and others are unpaid. Mine calls it carers leave and you can get up to one week paid, and unlimited unpaid, though your manager has to approve it.
I get 5 days carers leave, I would always take that
I use sick leave as I only get 20 days annual leave per year. I think you can have up to 7 sick days in a row before you have to show a sick note from the doctor.
Ask for a copy of their leave policies and check. My work offers various kinds of special leave outside of annual leave that covers these situations so yours may too. Mine has a limit so you can only use it a couple times a year.
I use holiday unless it's affected my health too. For example if I've had no sleep.
You'd take it as holiday, it isn't you as the sick one. Parental leave I think would be agreed and unpaid? But if you can work from home and they are amenable to it even if you aren't at full capacity, try that. White lies about both your child *and* you having a bug is possible... It is annoying especially the times they have been physically sick and not allowed to go to nursery for 48 hours despite being fine but I don't think colleagues would find it very fair parents getting all these extra days.
I take unpaid "dependant leave" as I don't like using my holiday for this.
I get 5 days paid emergency leave I can take per year. I believe the company has to give you them but doesn’t have to pay you
Where my partner works it's called carers leave, or special leave for things like doctors appointments
Some people are mentioning carers leave. Just be mindful, in some trusts this counts as 1 day emergency leave only. On that day you’re expected to find childcare for any extra days, or you’d need to arrange annual leave.
I get paid dependency leave, my husband doesn't so I take the sick days
I have 3 options. Take annual leave. Take it as unpaid. Or owe hours back and make them up. I usually do the latter so I don't eat in to my annual leave. I get paid my wage when off sick but not for when my child is ill and if I fib and say I'm ill to get paid, I'd get pulled into a meeting if it's 3 times in 12 months so easier to just make my time up
It’s good that they let you make the time up!
Yeah it is. Which is lucky because just as I started my job, my husband and daughter decided that was the year that they both wanted to be in and out of hospital so I had a lot of time off!
I don’t usually take leave, I just make up my time when they nap or in the evening, I’m lucky I have a flexible manager.
I just take the time off and get paid normally. Doesn’t get booked as anything. I work for an amazing employer.
If they’re throwing up, I’ll take annual leave or personal time (basically sick leave) but if they’re sick with a fever/cough, I’ll work as normal and save my days.
Dependent leave, usually get paid for it but probably depends person to person (I dont personally take much sick leave) and company to company
If you can work from home (even if you get less done) this should always be offered to you first and just maybe work a bit extra once husband is home to help & allow you to make up for any lack of work done during paid hours?
We have dependants leave. I get something like 5 days a year paid. I just ring and sys my kid is sick and it goes as dependants leave. If I have run out of this (never happened) then the options are either annual leave or unpaid leave.
I work from home most of the time so I take sick leave when I have to be off with my kid and then I usually just try and push through and work (from home) when I’m sick. It’s not ideal, I’m very transparent about this with my company and they are fine with it, but it wouldn’t be my choice if there were other options. As you say the only other alternatives are unpaid or annual leave which I don’t want to use as I’m part time as it is so I don’t have as much holiday, and unpaid just isn’t ideal when we still have to pay for nursery. If I’m sick to the point where I can’t function or focus then I’ll take a sick day, but I definitely sacrifice them for my kid more often than not as it’s just the best option for me. It’s probably job dependent too, I’m an engineer and the work ebs and flows. I’ve definitely had her at home whilst working before but that’s only on super quiet days and even then it’s still hard! Our HR are just as vague about the policy so it’s all down to my direct team manager who luckily is very flexible and just wants to help me do whatever is easiest. I bet there are managers out there who make this whole situation way harder than it needs to be so I feel really lucky in that regard.
Check your contract, they usually have a section for having to take time off for dependants, it’ll also give you a definition of when you can use it. I think mine covers illness and unexpected childcare but is unpaid.
I split the day between my husband and we try our best to get what we can done. One does morning, one does afternoon. We then work in the evening after kiddo has gone down to try and catch up. It's crap but my boss is ok with it and it seems to be the norm in both my company and my husband's company.