Can employees take parental leave when a child suddenly falls sick?
This will depend on the workplace scheme. Many schemes, including the fallback scheme (see Section 4), will require a period of notice before the employee can take parental leave. Workplace schemes can be as flexible as they wish about this. Where it is not possible for the employee to use parental leave to care for a sick child, the employee will be able to take a short amount of time off to deal with the onset of the child’s illness. This is allowed under the right to time off for dependants. There is no qualifying period for entitlement. Family emergency? Your right to time off sets out details of this right.
