Force majeure leave
If you have a family crisis the Parental Leave Act, 1998 as amended by the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2006 (pdf) gives an employee a limited right to leave from work. This is known as force majeure leave. It arises where, for urgent family reasons, the immediate presence of the employee is indispensable owing to an injury or illness of a close family member.
Force majeure leave does not give any entitlement to leave following the death of a close family member.
A close family member is defined as one of the following:
A child or adopted child of the employee
The husband/wife/partner of the employee
Parent or grandparent of the employee
Brother or sister of the employee
Person to whom the employee has a duty of care (that is, he/she is acting in loco parentis)
A person in a relationship of domestic dependency with the employee, including a same-sex partner (since 18 May 2006)
Persons of any other class (if any) as may be prescribed
The maximum amount of leave is 3 days in any 12-month period or 5 days in a 36-month period. You are entitled to be paid while you are on force majeure leave. See “How to apply” below for more details. Your employer may grant you further leave.
You are protected against unfair dismissal for taking force majeure leave or proposing to take it.
It really worries me how some posters on here appear so militant and ready to unleash all their bullets at the first sign of an indian on top of the hill.
It is not unreasonable for an employer to expect parents to have contingency plans in place for when their children are sick. I have 4 children and both parents work. If they are sick we both still go into work. There is extra cost involved but that’s our problem. Your personal circumstances are not your employers concern and you shouldn’t make a personal problem your employers problem.The employer certainly does not have any point regardless of what laws cover this situation! An employer who thinks their business comes before a sick child should be ashamed of themselves.
take it that you don’t work for a small private business.The employee states they hardly takes sick leave and was happy to take it from annual allowance which in my opinion was very considerate - now where is the consideration from the employer?? My manager called me recently to say its almost December and your child will have school events etc coming up, make sure you dont miss any of them!! That's whats called an employer with respect for its employees, hence I work with a great team and enjoy my job. Like this employee I dont take time off only when absolutely necessary.
Hi Purple
Could you tell me please what your alternative arrangements are?
Like most childminders, ours won't take the children when they are sick. I would be very reluctant to leave them with a stranger when they are out of sorts. My mother sometimes steps in but as she lives outside Dublin, it isn't feasible to call her in at short notice.
With all due respect Purple I think it is easy to take the high moral ground on this when you can afford to have someone employed to mind the kids at home.
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