Denied paid leave from work ?

[missninetyukuk]

My fiance is due to have extensive foot surgery on thursday, i have been trying to sort out leave from my work ( NHS 24) for the past week. What i have been told is that im not entitled to any sort of paid leave, any leave i take has to be from my annual leave entitlement.

I informed them i would require the week after his surgery off (due to the fact he has no family in scotland, his family are all in dublin). i understood that a proportion of this would come from my annual leave, the rest would be made up of 2-3 days paid leave.

They have also denied the majority of the week as any sort of leave, including the day my partner is being discharged from hospital. i have made them aware of the severity of the surgery (they are breaking all hiss toes and re-setting with pins, breaking his ankle, lowering his arch, and lengthening all the tendons in his foot and lower leg). i also have made them aware that he is not to move around unaided until he is put in plaster around a week after his surgery.

basically im lost i dont know what to do, surely im entitled to some sort of paid leave ?

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

basically im lost i dont know what to do, surely im entitled to some sort of paid leave ?

Yes, you are entitled to some sort of paid leave, but only your annual leave – if your employer agrees to you taking this time off.

You have no other right to leave, paid or otherwise, unless provisions for this are in your contract of employment.

While your fiancé may be a dependant (otherwise you have no rights), the situation is not an emergency – you've had at least two weeks to plan this – so your options are (were) to arrange for care or cover this with your own leave.



Karl Limpert

 

[Dawg]

So you want the taxpayer to pay for your time off with your fella, who you love loads, but not enough to use your holidays on?
Jeeps. Life is so unreasonable.

 

[missninetyukuk]

as ive said i will take unpaid leave yet this has still been declined, there are provisions in our contract for leave but aparently i dont come under this.


surely i would be entitled to atleast unpaid leave, i have a partner at home how physicaly cant look after himself ?

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

You are entitled to a certain of amount unpaid leave to deal with parental responsibilities and emergencies for dependents.

Flexible working and time off for dependents see here;
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Timeoffandholidays/DG_10026555

A week off seems a bit extreme. Is there no way that you can offer your employer a flexible working alternative. eg, NHS24 is I believe a 24 hour service, so is it maybe possible that you swap shifts, to perhaps night times etc?

If you're prepared to meet them half way, employers can sometimes be quite a bit more co-operative.

Flexible working cuts both ways.

 

[missninetyukuk]

i dont have enough annual leave to cover this period of time, plus i did make my employer aware 2 months ago that he would be having this surgery but we didnt get his surgery date until last week, when i tried to arrange this leave

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

as ive said i will take unpaid leave yet this has still been declined, there are provisions in our contract for leave but aparently i dont come under this.


surely i would be entitled to atleast unpaid leave, i have a partner at home how physicaly cant look after himself ?

I missed the bit above about you saying you will take unpaid leave |), but regardless, the employer is under no obligation to give you time-off for this. In emergencies (which I think Sandiep is referring to - this is not an emergency though, as you have plenty of time to plan), employees are entitled to reasonable time-off to arrange for care for dependants, but as this is anticipated, you won't qualify. You still have a week to arrange for the care that employees would often be expected to arrange in a day or so, and you need to make arrangements for that leave, not leave your employer to look after their responsibilities without their employees.



Karl Limpert

 

[missninetyukuk]

i dont agree that i have had time to plan. i feel i have done everything i could. i told them months in advance that this would be happening, but couldnt give an exact date of when. the day we found out (last week) the exact dates, i let my employer know

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

You are entitled to a certain of amount unpaid leave to deal with parental responsibilities and emergencies for dependents.

Flexible working and time off for dependents see here;
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Timeoffandholidays/DG_10026555

When you know about the problem in advance
The right only covers emergencies and so doesn't apply if you know about the event in advance. For example, if you want time off to take your child into hospital in a week's time the right doesn't apply, although you may be able to take it as parental leave instead.

Not an emergency!

 

[missninetyukuk]

nhs 24 is technically a 24hr service, however most of us work in the evenings. the centre which i work in only opens at 6pm through to 8am. unfortunately i was unable to get shift swaps for these dates, this was my first try before even taking unpaid leave

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Not an emergency!

Aye, that was my point
But that page has a bit more authority than my ramblings!

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

i feel i have done everything i could.

except perhaps research your rights, or make sure you have enough annual leave

i dont have enough annual leave to cover this period of time

The facts are simply that there is no right to time-off, and you should use the time to make alternative provisions for care for your fiancé.



Karl Limpert

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

nhs 24 is technically a 24hr service, however most of us work in the evenings. the centre which i work in only opens at 6pm through to 8am. unfortunately i was unable to get shift swaps for these dates, this was my first try before even taking unpaid leave

Surely that should be a bit easier to manage then, your partner will presumably be asleep for a large part of the time that you're away......

Speaking as someone who had knee surgery whilst living alone in London, there are ways around many problems, maybe not ideal, but with a bit of planning it is possible to muddle through, a least a couple of days......

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

But that page has a bit more authority than my ramblings!

I'd beg to differ with that Sandy: I'm compiling details of the terrible advice that is available on sites such as Direct.gov, Business Link, and ACAS - there are quite a few.



Karl Limpert

 

[missninetyukuk]

thanks for the decent replies , to the judgemental ones ( you know who you are) why do you even bother replying ? always astounds me that people come on judging others, why bother with it.

have just spoken to my union, i am entitled to 3 days paid leave.

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Maybe the "judgemental" ones have just had situations or experiences that have been a lot more difficult/serious/life-threatening/longer term etc, and just had to make arrangements without expecting that their employer would cover it all with paid leave.

You are extremely priviledge and lucky that the union/employer provide for paid leave, given that the statutory entitlements, and what most people that don't work for the public sector therefore get, would be no entitlement at all - paid or unpaid.

 

[missninetyukuk]

oh so if i have a more serious situation than you, that gives me the right to be judgemental. good to know. plus i did say a number of times i would have taken unpaid leave.


p.s we both know thats a crock....... some people just feel the need to give others crap, especially on the net as they dont have to go face to face, cowardly and pretty sad. atleast i know not to use this forum for questions again

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

That's not fair.

Most of us are employers here, and some of us will have dealt with employees that have to nurse elderly patients through terminal cancer, and other situations equally harsh. Some of us will have dealt with employees whose children have been in hospital (perhaps as inpatients, in non-local hospitals, for perhaps weeks at time, and repeated sessions). Some of us will have dealt with employees whose partners are disabled, long term sick (as in several years), physically and mentally disabled.

And do you know what, many of those employees and employers manage to work things out, sometimes for many many years, through open channels, through communication, through flexible working with both sides giving a bit of give and take.

These employees have no more rights or entitlements than you, and their situation is a lot more wearing, emotionally and physically, on them.

What it takes though, is an attitude that doesn't start with "I must be entitled to.....(insert whatever it is that you want), and my employer is completely unreasonable to not to be able to rearrange staff cover/the entire office arrangements to be able to give me what I want on short notice"

I'm not judgemental. But, as I said, i've seen a lot more people cope with a lot worse situations without screeching "entitlements".

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

plus i did say a number of times i would have taken unpaid leave.

because employers don't have to arrange staff cover if you take unpaid leave????:|

 

[missninetyukuk]

well funnily enough i am "entitled" and thats all i was looking for. not a run down of everyone elses situation, then be belittled as my problems arent serious enough.

so thanks but no thanks, what goes around comes around, and i hope when you have a problem you are treated in the same manner.


what a useless website,

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

thanks for the decent replies , to the judgemental ones ( you know who you are) why do you even bother replying ? always astounds me that people come on judging others, why bother with it.

Only three of us gave replies, so the odds are that I could be a judgemental one – although I don't think there was much in the way of judgement from anyone, instead just fair comments.

For me, replying was so that I could take the opportunity to provide advice for the small business owners/managers that search this forum for advice.

have just spoken to my union, i am entitled to 3 days paid leave.

A point none of us could advise you on, as you posted no details of your contract! Any "entitlement" will be based on your contract, not on the law, so really impossible for us to comment. Ergo, what a useless poster, not a useless website.

some people just feel the need to give others crap, especially on the net as they dont have to go face to face, cowardly and pretty sad.

I'm always happy to meet people for advice. I do charge for this, but happy to go face to face. Can you get any time off next week to meet?



Karl Limpert

 

[Dawg]

I think I'm entitled to be the judgemental one, and if you disagree I want paid leave to get over the trauma.

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

thanks for the decent replies , to the judgemental ones ( you know who you are) why do you even bother replying ? always astounds me that people come on judging others, why bother with it.

I think I'm entitled to be the judgemental one, and if you disagree I want paid leave to get over the trauma.

There were plural judgemental ones Dawg, but as I'm confident I only gave decent replies, I'll drop any claim to be among those, leaving you & Sandiep to accept this status – I was only going with the odds, as I never felt for a moment that I could have possibly been judgemental anyway.

On that basis though, the question remains unanswered Dawg: why bother with it? Have you checked what you get off for this? You could start a new thread to find the answer... or you could simply ask your union!


p.s. my goldfish is going to die in about a week's time, so I'll be taking a few weeks off to cope with that. Or more precisely, one week to comply with whatever regulations I need to keep a goldfish & then obtain one of these things, and two weeks more to get over it dying, as I won't be home to feed it.



Karl Limpert