Family life can be incredibly tough. When faced with a crisis, there may be times you need to take time off unexpectedly. Sometimes, family circumstances mean you just need to spend more time away from work. If your role currently doesn’t allow any flexibility to manage these situations, don’t panic, there are other options available to you. It’s always a good idea to be aware of your employment rights before the time comes when you may need to exercise them.

Emergency time off for dependants 

From the first day as an employee, you have the right to take unpaid time off work to manage certain situations affecting your dependants. Sometimes this is called ‘Time off for Dependants’ or ‘Emergency Family Leave’ and it is aimed at dealing with emergencies.

The time you take should be deemed necessary and reasonable. But it’s always worth checking your employment contract or leave policy, as employers may give more generous emergency family leave than the statutory minimum.

Our advice would be to approach your employer to explain your situation to determine the most appropriate type of leave available. They may be able to offer you a paid alternative, or an alternative that allows you more time off.

You can read more about the details of this type of leave here: https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/time-off-for-dependants-leave/ 

Parental Leave 

Parents of children under 18 can take unpaid parental leave if they have been with their employer at least a year. Parents can take up to a total of 18 weeks altogether for each of their children before the child is 18, and it is limited to four weeks a year. Although you can be expected to give 21 days’ notice, it’s always worth discussing with your employer whether you can take this at short notice if needed.

Employers can require parents taking parental leave for non-disabled children to take it in blocks of a week. Parents taking parental leave for a disabled child (who is entitled to Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment) can take it in blocks of a day. 

Your employer cannot refuse you leave or penalise you for taking parental leave, but there are circumstances in which employers can postpone parental leave. 

Flexible Working Request 

Having a flexible working arrangement can help you cope with the ebbs and flows of family life, as well as manage work in a crisis.

Although hybrid and remote working are the most common, there are countless ways to work flexibly, the beauty of which is there is always a type of flexible working that will fit your role. Reduced or compressed hours, changing start and finish times, term-time or annualised hours, flexitime, job share – the list goes on. There’s no one way to work flexibly, instead it’s best achieved with a solution that is tailored to both your needs, and the needs of your employer.

You have the right to request flexible working if you have been in your role for 26 weeks, and from next year when new legislation comes into effect, you will be able to request flex from day one, and make multiple requests a year.

We have wealth of resources here on how to negotiate and make a flexible working request, as well as what to do if a request is turned down. If granted, a flexible working request is permanent, so make clear if you only need temporary support. https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/flexible-