The Teacher’s Strikes – What approach should you take to requests from staff for time off to look after dependants
It’s certainly strike season, isn’t it?! The latest strike action to be added to the agenda is the proposed walkout on seven days during February and March by teachers who are members of the National Education Union.
As teachers swap the classroom for the picket line, with school closures set to follow, what does this mean for your staff who are parents / caregivers and need to take time off work to look after dependants?
Can employees take time off to look after dependants?
Yes.
All employees (irrespective of their length of service or working arrangements) are entitled to Dependant Leave. Dependant Leave is a reasonable amount of time off work to look after dependants when, amongst other scenarios, an employee needs to deal with the unexpected disruption, termination, or breakdown of arrangements for the care of a dependant – clearly, strike action resulting in school / class closures fits the bill, if the employee is unable to make alternative arrangements for the dependant.
There is no right to be paid for Dependant Leave, but you may wish to exercise your discretion to provide pay during that period.
To be eligible for Dependant Leave, an employee must tell you the reason for their absence and the anticipated length of their absence, as soon as reasonably practicable. There’s no requirement for the notice to be in writing, however you must ensure you have enough information from the employee to make sure that the request is genuine (make sure you make and retain a note of any information given to you).
Given that we are aware of the dates of proposed strike action, you might wish to bring this to your employee’s attention and ask them to consider how they propose to deal with any disruption to their dependant’s schooling and, if necessary, speak to you as soon as possible about any requirement to take leave.
An employee who is refused permission to take time off in accordance with the right to take Dependant Leave or who is subjected to a detriment for taking it (or seeking to take it) may bring a claim in the employment tribunal. Further, an employee who is dismissed because they took or sought to take time off in accordance with the right will be able to claim unfair dismissal, whether or not they have the necessary qualifying service for an ordinary unfair dismissal claim
Note that Dependant Leave is a right afforded to employees only; workers and self-employed contractors are excluded. That said, if such individuals require time away from work as a result of the strike action, you may wish to exercise your discretion to allow unpaid leave or, in the case of a worker, use up some of their holiday entitlement.
Is there an alternative to the employee taking unpaid Dependant Leave?
Yes. As an alternative to unpaid Dependant Leave, employees could be permitted to use some of their holiday entitlement which will, of course, be paid.
Are there alternatives to staff taking time off?
Rather than taking time off, staff may suggest alternatives, which you should give proper consideration to. For example, staff might be able to work from home, start earlier / finish later, or change their working days to work around the disruption caused by the strikes.
What if an employee takes unauthorised absence?
If you refuse employees time off to look after dependants during the strike action, some may have no alternative but to take unauthorised absence. Given that employees have a statutory right to Dependant Leave (outlined above) which, if refused unreasonably could lead to legal action, we would suggest that you carefully consider all the circumstances and take legal advice before taking formal action.
If you would like to talk to us about the impact that upcoming strike action will have on your staff’s work arrangements, please do get in touch with us.