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Leave in the instance of a sick relative

Beth

Hello,

An employee has been unable to come to work today as she has had to accompany her father to hospital with breathing problems. Her father has recently been in hospital which her line manager is aware of. Initially the employee hoped to come in to work later in the day but has since said she won't be able to make it in. How should this leave be recorded? We don't have a specific policy on carers leave and this is not a regular occurrence for this particular employee i.e. she is not considered a carer.

I believe it is up to company policy whether she is paid for the day and we wondered whether it would be appropriate to give the employee the option of taking it as annual leave or unpaid leave.

Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks,

Parents
  • In similar situations, I typically record such absence as unpaid leave until the employee returns to work, at which point the LM will have a conversation with the employee and it may be stay as unpaid, may become holiday or may become compassionate leave (which may still be unpaid or may be paid but is, at least, discounted from problem absence calculations).

    In one situation, we formally elected to consider an ill parent a dependent to allow the employee to use dependent's leave. Still unpaid but, again, treated differently when considered problem absence.
  • in reply to Robey
    As I understand it, Robey, parents count alongside children within the definition of dependant in this regard
  • in reply to David
    True. A dependant could be a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent, or someone who depends on you for care.
  • in reply to Jolene
    Thanks all, for your insight. We will work on a discretionary basis. The line manager is happy to pay for the day on this occasion. We will have a meeting to discuss and explain our position once the employee has returned to the office. For further instances she will still have the option to take AL if she wishes.
    As a company we will also look at clarifying our leave policies.
    Thank again
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  • in reply to Jolene
    Thanks all, for your insight. We will work on a discretionary basis. The line manager is happy to pay for the day on this occasion. We will have a meeting to discuss and explain our position once the employee has returned to the office. For further instances she will still have the option to take AL if she wishes.
    As a company we will also look at clarifying our leave policies.
    Thank again
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