You may require emergency days off to deal with an unexpected situations for example your child becoming unwell / being in an accident / childcare falling through due to sickness of a nanny or childminder.
This type of leave usually falls under “special leave”:
Ask your rota co-ordninator what the local policy is
In the majority of trusts, you will be allowed a certain number of paid and unpaid special leave days a year to cover this instance
This leave cannot be planned for – if it is planned time off - annual leave or parental leave must be used
Statement by BMA:
“ All employees have the right to reasonable time off to deal with an emergency, such as a child falling ill or having an accident at school. The amount of time off is what is necessary to deal with the immediate problem and arrange alternative care arrangements. Your employer may pay you for the time off but there is no requirement to. Under the NHS scheme, there is an expectation that this will a short period of time off will be paid.”
Parental leave is 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child, until they turn 18 (ie average of 1 week per year of age)
A ‘week’ is the length of time you normally work over 7 days
You need to have at least a year’s continuous service with your employer or at least one year’s continuous service with one or more employers in the NHS if you’re part of the NHS scheme (all resident doctors in training contracts are included in the NHS scheme)
To spend more time with your children and/or family, such as visiting grandparents
To help with settling into new childcare arrangements
During school holidays
To stay with your child during a hospital admission
You need to give your employer at least 21 days notice.
Each parent can take up to four weeks parental leave for each child in a year
Individual employers may agree to allow more to be taken in a year
It must be taken in whole weeks rather than on a daily basis
unless the employer agrees to it being taken more flexibly or if the child is disabled.
Parental leave applies to each child rather than to an individual’s job
Therefore, if you move job you can take any remaining parental leave once you have been working for the required length of time at your new job
Watch this space - coming soon!
A space to share various initiatives that different trusts have implemented to support working with children