Tactical parents may save up some, or all, of their paid annual leave for the school holiday period, but with most full-time employees averaging 4.6 weeks’ holiday per year (the minimum under UK law), paid annual leave only covers a fraction of the school break. So what childcare options are available to working parents?
Parenting on Female First
Childcare options
The recent BBC2 “Babies in the Office” programme saw mini-cab firm, Addison Lee, piloting a “bring your baby to work” scheme, during which employees were invited to bring children aged 3 and under to the office, while the Addison Lee management team monitored each parent’s productivity. While it is certainly refreshing to see employers thinking creatively about childcare, bringing one’s baby to work is unlikely to take on a widespread UK presence anytime soon.
Workplace nurseries and childcare vouchers are two ways that employers can support their employees with childcare. Both ease the financial burden for working parents and can offer peace of mind to parents at work, as they can focus their attention on the business tasks in hand, safe in knowledge that their children are being cared for.
For employees with a child under the age of 5 (under 18 if a child is disabled), there is also a legal right to unpaid parental leave, as, by law, each parent may take a total of 13 weeks’ unpaid leave for each child up to their 5th birthday. This is certainly useful for those parents who can afford to take time off unpaid but, clearly, is not a viable option for everyone.
As a result, “flexible working” is proving increasingly popular for working parents, who are keen to manage a sensible work-life balance while grappling with the ever increasing costs of childcare. Flexible working can come in many guises, including flexitime, home-working, part-time working, term-time working, compressed hours, staggered hours and job-shares. Any “employee” has a right to ask their employer for permission to work flexibly, provided that he or she has worked continuously for the same employer for over 26 weeks.
How to request flexible working
To make a flexible working request, an employee must follow a strict procedure:
1. Written application: The employee must submit a written application explaining the proposed work pattern and any effect that it might have on the employer’s business.2. Meeting: Within 28 days, the employer must arrange a meeting with the employee to discuss the request. The employer must consider the request seriously.
3. Decision: Within 14 days after the meeting, the employer must tell the employee the outcome i.e. either agree to the new work pattern, or explain the reason for rejection. There are eight reasons why an employer might reject a request, which include costs and impact on quality/performance.
4. Appeal: If an employer rejects a proposal, the employee has right to appeal (within 14 days). The employer must arrange another meeting to discuss the appeal and decide on the final outcome.
An employee can make one formal request to work flexibly within a 12-month period. In practice, however many employees choose to make an informal approach to their line manager, rather than follow this formal route.
Dealing with a flexible working request
Employers consider flexible working requests fully and openly. They should deal with all requests consistently and should not reject proposals off-hand; instead, an employer must consider any alternative options to enable the employee to work flexibly. If an employer appears to be unsupportive or makes assumptions about who is likely to bear greater childcare responsibilities, not only is this negative for workplace relations, but, depending on the employer’s approach and reasons for rejecting the application, there is also a risk that the employee could bring a sex discrimination claim and claim compensation.
Time off for dependents
It is worth noting that all employees have a right to unpaid time off work to deal with emergencies involving a “dependent” e.g. an employee’s husband, wife, partner, child, parent or anyone who lives in the employee’s house as a member of their family. An “emergency” might include a dependent falling ill or having a baby. Similarly, employees may take unpaid time off to make funeral arrangements, or to deal with an unexpected incident involving their child during school hours. Provided that an employee’s reasons are genuine, the employer must accommodate the employee’s request and must not penalise him or her for taking time off.
FemaleFirst @FemaleFirst_UK
Artcile by Gagandeep Prasad (Senior Associate) and Felicity Staff (Trainee Solicitor) - Charles Russell LLP.