A reminder of some employment law options for those struggling with childcare or worried about how to juggle childcare and work when schools or nurseries are closed /1

It’s going to be quite different for those who can wfh and those who have to attend work, the latter having a clear issue about actual childcare/supervision and the former faced with juggling zoom calls, homeschooling/childcare, these options won’t therefore suit everyone /2

1. You can ask for flexible working (formal or informal request - consider any relevant policy & if formal, consider how this may affect ability to make future requests) to vary total hours, split shifts, spread work over more days than normal, whatever might work for your job /3

2. Parental leave - it’s unpaid so suboptimal but can help - it’s a statutory right but you may need to give employer notice to take leave so won’t always be immediately available, you get 18 weeks, per child, per parent, in first 18 years of child’s life - again -check policy /4

3. Time off for dependents - statutory unpaid leave for unexpected problems like care breaking down or school closure - but it’s not designed for longer term (e.g. several weeks) but can help for immediate issues where you have no childcare/other options - again check policy /5

4. Furlough - you can ask your employer to furlough you if you can’t work due to childcare, your employer doesn’t have to agree but many may, especially if the business is adversely affected by lockdown too, it’s 80% pay so much better than unpaid leave /6

5. Annual leave - it’s not what anyone wants to use this for, but it’s paid so it may be better for some. Check your policy though as you may need to give notice and your employer may be dealing with competing requests from many employees /7

6. Agreed unpaid leave with employer which you can ask your employer to allow you to take - again not great as unpaid but could work for some but I’d hope furlough would be a better alternative for the employer so you’d want to explore that first /8

7. And for employees & employers dealing with issues & requests, remember decisions can constitute discrimination (often on basis of indirect sex disc as more women typically do more childcare) so approach carefully, think about whether there is a disproportionate impact on women