DOES THE LAW ENTITLE ME TO TAKE TIME OFF WORK TO CARE FOR MY LOVED ONES? LITTLE CHILDREN OR AGING PARENTS WHEN THEY ARE ILL ?.

Biitu’s children all have asthma and bambi they are always unwell and she has to take the day off work to stay home to take care of them. Her husband says he can’t stay because he earns more money than her so if he loses his job, they might starve. The days off have been so many that HR has warned her repeatedly and today she got a termination letter. Where can she go for help? She feels like she has been treated unfairly.

DOES THE LAW ENTITLE ME TO TAKE TIME OFF WORK TO CARE FOR MY LOVED ONES? LITTLE CHILDREN OR AGING PARENTS WHEN THEY ARE ILL 

Biitu adores her two babies even though she has been struggling with their asthma treatment from time to time for the last 6 years. She even takes days off when they have rough nights to monitor them. Right after her annual leave ended, both her kids got a serious asthma attack. Unfortunately, today is the day her husband was meeting the new ‘investors’ in their company and without this investment, they are sure to starve. Biitu called the HR and informed them about the situation, but the HR told her that she has already received multiple warnings and they sent her a termination letter instead. Biitu feels this is very unfair and would like to know if she can get any help with this. 

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? 

By law, every employee is entitled to at least 21 working days of leave every calendar year. (This is called annual leave). Whatever you choose to do while on annual leave is your business.  Annual leave does not however apply to Biitu’s problem. When an employee like Biitu loses a family member, it is called bereavement leave. The law says that every employee is entitled to atleast 3 days for this or a total of 6 working days a year to take care of this. 

Unfortunately, the law does not provide for when family members are sick. However, some employers provide for this situation in their HR manuals. It is called compassion leave. If your workplace has this leave then you are entitled to it, however if you do not have it then you cannot claim it.  

On the other hand, Biitu’s boss cannot legally fire her just like that. They should have followed the legal procedure which includes giving Biitu a fair hearing. If this does not happen it amounts to unfair dismissal. If Biitu's employer did this, then she can file a complaint with the Labour office for compensation for the unfair dismissal.  

We also suggest having a discussion with the employee to try and work out a convenient way of covering work in case of such situations.  

Do you think compassionate leave should be a legal requirement? Let us know in the comments.

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