Government advises children to stay at home

The Government advises children to stay at home if unwell and feverish.

Last week, a press release from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) outlined a series of recommendations as children return back to school.

The levels of flu, COVID-19, and scarlet fever have remained high over December and have been forecast to continue increasing in upcoming weeks, especially as children are now going back to nursery and schools.

Professor Susan Hopkins (Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA) stated that to reduce the spread of infection, children who are unwell and feverish should “stay at home from school or nursery until they feel better and the fever has resolved”.

This is further supported by the NHS, whose guidelines have long recommended that children with fever and/or high temperatures should remain at home.

However, this has implications for working parents and their employers, as this may mean more parents will need to stay at home to care for their unwell children.

There are options for working parents to take time off to care for their children.

Parents may take parental and dependant care leave, however, this is subject to one year’s service, and often requires a length of notice that would not be possible if your child has suddenly fallen ill.

Instead, working parents are legally entitled to emergency leave and/or time off for dependents.

This allows working parents to take a reasonable amount of time off from work to deal with emergency situations, such as if a dependant falls ill, or if care provisions have fallen through and they need to find alternative arrangements.

Although they’re not required to request the emergency time off, working parents must notify their employer as soon as possible, and inform their employer how much time is needed.

Using time off for dependants or emergency leave is also a day-one right, meaning there are no minimum service requirements for employees.

There isn’t a statutory right for employees to be paid during this leave.

However, employers have been advised to consider providing paid leave, if possible, given the current cost of living crisis affecting the large majority of people, including families, and the high rates of illness currently circulating.

Finally, employers are advised not to take action against employees for taking reasonable time off to care for their ill child, as this could amount to automatic unfair dismissal, and this type of claim doesn’t require a minimum length of service.

In summary, employers may start to see more working parents needing to take time off to care for their children if they’ve fallen ill.

Employers should familiarise themselves with their policies and support their employees who are struggling with unwell children and/or disrupted care arrangements.

It has been recommended that employers offer paid leave (if feasible), as opposed to statutory unpaid leave, given the current circumstances.