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Urgent - Employment rights expert needed

ended 01. February 2023

Looking for an employment rights/legal expert to explain your rights if your child's school is closed today and you can't get into work.

Just a few lines needed, but ASAP please as this is for an article to be published this morning.

Short deadline, for the Mirror.

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Kate Underwood
Managing Director / HR Director at Kate Underwood HR and Training
It is all about communication - it is difficult for both employer and employee to not know until the morning of with regards to school closures.

There is emergency dependant leave however this is not helpful to businesses in order to plan if they are only told on the day. Look at options - could someone work from home? Could they swap hours?

At the end of the day, these strikes are not either party's fault but there has to be a plan.

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Michael Nadin
Partner - Employment Law at DFA Law LLP
The Employment Rights Act 1996 gives employees the right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work when it is necessary to deal with an unexpected breakdown in the arrangements for the care of a child. This would apply if a parent is given short notice that their child's school will be closed due to strike action. However, if an employee is informed in advance that the school will be closed it would be best for the employee to book (paid) annual leave or arrange to take (unpaid) parental leave. In all cases, communication with the employer is key and agreement should be sought wherever possible.
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Sarah Loates
Director at Loates HR Consultancy
There is a whole array of family-friendly legislation. There are two main ones which could apply. Time off for dependants is unpaid leave, for an unforeseen emergency. Whilst a school strike is not unexpected, case law has held that if it has been impossible to arrange alternative care, this will apply.

Likewise, parental leave is unpaid for employees with one year's service or more. The notification practicalities of this, 21 days, and the requirement to take this in blocks of one week or more do not make this a practical option.

Employers should adopt a common sense approach and either agree to annual leave, unauthorised paid leave, swapping working days, or working from home, if possible.

The employee should be proactive in letting their employer know if teacher strikes impact their ability to attend work.
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Ian Jones
Director and Principal Solicitor at Spencer Shaw Solicitors
Under the Employment Rights Act 1997, employees are entitled to take time off to deal with an unexpected incident involving a dependant child during the school day. The employee is permitted to take a reasonable period of time to resolve the situation, without pay.

With strike action, the date is given in advance so it is unlikely to be classed as an unexpected issue. If the parent is let down by childcare arrangements at the last minute, this may be a justifiable reason to take time.

We would expect that many employers will be flexible and offer unpaid leave or flexible working arrangements. However, they are not under a legal obligation to do so. The alternative is for the parent to take annual leave.