School closures: home working, flexible working & parental leave

Thursday 19 March 2020

The majority of UK schools – and nurseries – will be closed by the end of this week in order to reduce the spread of Covid-19. But what are working parents’ rights to change their way of working or to take time-off?

Boris Johnson has confirmed that schools across the UK will shut by the end of this week except for the children of key workers. Parents have been warned that schools may not re-open before the end of the academic year.

Grandparents are normally willing to step in to look after children after school or outside term time. However, with over 70s being encouraged to self-isolate, many parents are being left without a vital source of childcare.

For employers whose workforce includes working parents – and that means the vast majority – there is a predictable knock-on effect. How employers respond to this will be crucial for continuing employment relationships with those parents.

The legislative obligation on employers to allow staff to work flexibly is not open-ended. However, an inclination to look favourably on requests for flexible-working until the threat of Covid-19 has passed will help working parents look after their children and foster a better relationship between employer and employee. Employers should allow working parents to work from home if this is practicable. This would allow them to care for their children whilst continuing to work.

Dependant leave

Working parents may be entitled to take ‘dependent leave’. Dependents include the employee’s child. Under Section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, all employees are entitled to take a reasonable amount of time during working hours in order to take action which is necessary because of the unexpected disruption or termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant.

It needs to be emphasised, however, that the purpose of dependent leave is not, for example, to act as a substitute for another carer but, instead, to put alternative care arrangements in place.

There is no statutory right to be paid during this leave period. Employers may, however, agree to pay employees; some employment contracts and policies make provision for paid time-off in these circumstances.

Parental leave

Working parents may also take ‘parental leave’. The parental leave regime entitles eligible employees to take unpaid leave to look after their child’s welfare. Parents are entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child up to their 18th birthday. The limit on how much parental leave each parent can take in a year is 4 weeks per child, unless otherwise agreed by the employer. Parental leave must be taken in whole weeks rather than individual days.

Employees wishing to take parental leave must give 21 days’ notice before the intended start date. Employees must confirm the start and end dates in their notice. Unless an employer requests it, the notice need not be in writing. An employer cannot delay an employee’s parental leave without a significant reason. An example might be that the employee’s absence would cause significant disruption to the employer’s business.

Employers may begin to experience difficulties if multiple applications for parental leave or flexible working are made at the same time as a response to the school closures. Employers will face a tough decision as to whom they grant leave, and who has to wait.

If you have any questions on flexible working or parental leave, please contact a member of our Employment Law team.