As the opening of schools is further delayed by COVID-19, there continue to be significant implications for employees.
School closures will undoubtedly cause childcare issues for many working parents, particularly in the current circumstances where grandparents and relatives, who might usually be called upon to assist in a childcare crisis, are unable to do so.
Employees struggling with childcare and home schooling are encouraged to discuss alternative working arrangements with their employer in the first instance.
The following options may be available to help employees balance childcare responsibilities with working over the coming weeks.
Furlough Leave
HMRC has recently updated its furlough guidance to confirm that the furlough scheme can be used where employees are unable to work because they are caring for children while schools are closed.
This latest update has resolved an area of uncertainty and makes it clear that if employees are unable to work due to caring or childcare responsibilities as a result of coronavirus, employers can furlough them and claim under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Employees are eligible for furlough if they are unable to work, including from home or on reduced hours, because they:
- Are clinically vulnerable, or at the highest risk of severe illness from coronavirus and following public health guidance
- Have caring responsibilities resulting from coronavirus, such as caring for children who are at home as a result of school and childcare facilities closing or caring for a vulnerable individual in their household.
The furlough scheme has been extended until 30 April 2021, with the government continuing to pay 80% of wages (capped at £2,500 per month) through until the end of the scheme. Employees do not previously need to have been furloughed to be eligible for the scheme, providing they were on the payroll as at 30 October 2020.
Employees may also have the option to be flexibly furloughed, i.e. doing some work for the employer and being furloughed for the rest of the time. Employers are able to vary the arrangement depending on the needs of the business, in agreement with the furloughed employee.
Employers are being urged to make use of the furlough scheme for parents who are struggling to balance work and home schooling, particularly where without this option, many will be forced to cut their hours or take unpaid leave.
Working from Home
The current guidance remains that everyone who can work effectively from home must do so. If employees with children are able to work effectively from home, then they should be allowed to do so, as far as is possible, at least until schools reopen.
Employers will need to appreciate that with children at home there will be some inevitable disruption to work and productivity is unlikely to be at its usual levels. A temporary change to working hours could be explored to address these issues so that employees are able to work at home around their childcare responsibilities, if possible.
Time Off for Dependants
For those employees who are not able to work from home, the law allows time off to care for dependants. A dependant could be a child, spouse, partner, grandchild, parent or someone who depends on the employee for care.
Dependant leave allows parents to take reasonable time off to deal with an unexpected problem or emergency whilst alternative childcare arrangements are made.
This type of leave is usually unpaid unless the contract of employment states it is paid. Employees may be able to negotiate paid time off, but this is at the discretion of the employer.
This is generally a short-term, emergency option which may not be suitable under the current circumstances when alternatives for emergency childcare arrangements are limited.
Parental Leave
Parents, who have been employed by their employer for 12 months or more, are entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child under the age of 18. The leave is usually limited to a maximum of four weeks per year, per child.
This leave is generally unpaid.
Usually it is necessary to give 21 days’ notice of parental leave, but some employers might choose to relax this in the circumstances.
Annual Leave
Employees may be able to take accrued but untaken annual leave to cover at least some of the period of school closures. However, employees will probably only be able to take leave they have already accrued during the holiday year, and the employer will have to agree.
In the circumstances, employers might be willing to allow employees to take holiday that has not yet accrued. If for any reason an employee leaves their job, however, they would have to pay the company back for any holiday taken over and above their entitlement at the leaving date.
Unpaid Leave
Employees may be able to take unpaid leave with their employer’s agreement.
There is no specified amount of unpaid leave that employees may request; however, employers are likely to need an indication of how long an employee is expected to be off work for.
Flexible Working
All employees, not just parents, who have been employed for more than 26 weeks, are eligible to make a request for flexible working. Any changes to normal working patterns can be on a temporary or permanent basis.
Options for flexible working that may assist employees in the current situation include:
- Working from home – it might be possible for employees to do some or all of their work from home rather than their normal place of work.
- Part-time working – employees could ask to reduce their hours and work less than their usual full-time hours (working fewer hours per day and/or fewer days per week).
- Compressed hours – this option involves employees working full-time hours but over fewer days.
- Flexitime – this option allows employees to choose when to start and end work (within agreed limits) but work certain ‘core hours’, for example 10 am to 4 pm every day.
- Staggered hours – this option allows employees to have different start, finish and break times from other workers.
An employee should make a flexible working request in writing. The employer must then consider the request and provide a decision within three months. If the request is agreed, the employee’s terms and conditions of employment must be amended. If the request is not agreed, the employer must provide business reasons for the refusal.
For more information and to find out how we can help you, please contact us on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our Team will be in touch.