Time off for dependants policy

Employees have a statutory right to unpaid time off to deal with certain family emergencies. Our time off for dependants policy statement sets out the employee’s statutory rights in this respect and it makes clear the procedure the employee must follow in relation to exercising their statutory right.

Statutory time off

Under statutory provisions, employees are entitled to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with certain emergency and unexpected situations involving their dependants. Your employee must inform you of the reason for their absence and how long they expect it to last as soon as reasonably practicable. The statutory right envisages that the amount of time off will be sufficient to enable the employee to cope with the crisis, or to make alternative arrangements for dependant care, but that no more than a day or two should be needed. Unfortunately, there’s no limit on the number of times an employee can be off each year under the statutory right. It’s intended to cover situations such as when a dependant falls ill or dies, dealing with funeral arrangements for a dependant and when childcare or dependant care arrangements unexpectedly break down, for example, the child minder is ill. It’s not time off to provide care, beyond the amount that is necessary in the first instance to cope with the immediate crisis before other longer-term arrangements can be put in place. Nor is it time off for grieving following a dependant’s death. And as it must involve a dependant, it certainly doesn’t cover staying at home to let the plumber in to repair the leaky pipes. It’s quite legitimate to ask the employee to provide evidence of the family emergency and to complete a form certifying why he or she needed the time off. Our policy statement confirms that dishonestly claiming time off for dependants is a disciplinary offence.