Child care-arrangements

All employees in the UK are entitled to the right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with sudden emergencies and to make any necessary longer-term arrangements. The emergency itself must involve a dependant of the employee. Employees taking such leave are protected against detriment or dismissal irrespective of their length of service.

The purpose of this right is to enable an employee to deal with a family emergency without suffering any detriment. Therefore, if an employee's dependant falls ill or has been injured, if an employee has to deal with an unexpected breakdown of care arrangements, if a child has been involved in an incident at school or for care for a dependant relative.

With regard to the length of time an employee may take off work, current legislation does not state specifically the amount of time an employer should allow. In most cases, one or two days should be a reasonable enough time to deal with the immediate emergency and make longer-term arrangements. If the child concerned is under five years of age, an employee may be entitled to take unpaid parental leave, subject to the length of service of the individual, who must have been employed for one year, to cover the period needed to care for the child (21 days' notice should be given).

Whether the time off is granted with or without pay is at the discretion of the employer. In the event of a dispute, the decision will be left to an employment tribunal to determine what is reasonable.