parental leave

[claremaree]

if i have to take my daughter to visit the G.P. do i have to use holiday entitlement or should i get paid leave. 

[Flanker8]

Holiday entitlement - why should your company pay for you to deal with your kids? Having kids is a personal choice, and as such should be dealt with on your own time.

 

I speak as a parent and an employer.

 

Obviously, if an employees child was very ill, I'd deal with that in a different manner and grant compassionate leave.

[Goldensmile]

I agree with Flanker8.  Your employer probably already grants you the time (if not excessive) to see your GP.  Why should they have to pay for your time away from work when it concerns someone else, i.e. your child?  Other employees may not have children, so why should you get something/time off that they don't?  At the end of the day, it is really up to your Employer, and I am sure they would be lenient if it was a one-off, but it is certainly not a "right" you have!  And where would the work place be if say, two or three people needed time off at the same time?

[Hammer]

Agree with the above. You won't get paid leave unless you have a very nice boss.

[OBonio]

If you're taking her to the doctors, will it take all day?  Could you offer to make up the hours lost?

[jills]

I think the guidelines are that if your child is ill, you should be allowed peridos of parental leave (tho this would usually be nunpaid, unless you have the loveliest of lovely employers), but for GP visits etc, you would have to take holiday or, as has been suggested, make up the time.  GPs usually have early morning or late evening appts which my friend finds very useful for her little one, as she works full time.

[jills]

sorry, you would not get paid in nuns as my last post may have suggested, you would be UNpaid. x

[Hgrove]

Contact ACAS.  You should not be discriminated against as a woman.  As the burden of childcare falls mainly on women, employers who are unsympathetic to female employees with children could be indirectly discriminating.  How many times do single employees come in late and hung over?  Remember you have a right to family life.  The replies you have received may be technically correct at the moment but keep monitoring the situation.  Employment laws in the UK are a long way behind the rest of the Union in that they are heavily stacked against parents, but there is hope for change in the right direction thanks to European Union law.

[pickle]

If your child is under 5 you have the right to 13 weeks of UNPAID leave for emergencies, including doctors and arranging childcare etc.

See www.dti.gov.uk/er/timeoff.htm