Those precious little kittens need care when they're sick. Luckily, this is taken into account so you don't have to jeopardise your employment. Some workplaces have more freedom than others, and here we'll take you through the rules that apply to all or just some employees, and what rights your collective labour agreement typically provides.
You should be able to put your child first when they fall ill or have an accident and can no longer be looked after at their daycare centre, and it should not be something that negatively affects the relationship between employer and employee. This is why the ”Act on employees” right to be absent from work for special family-related reasons” exists, which guarantees all employees the right to time off for ”acute illness”. More precisely, the nature of the illness is not described, other than that it must be ”imperative, force majeure’ to stay home, but this is the right popularly known as the ’child's first sick day'.
The circumstances for the right to absence are not actually described much more precisely, which is worth noting, because it opens up the interpretation of when illness is an urgent and compelling need to stay home from work. Therefore, the same law comes into play if you need time off in connection with another family member's illness or accident. This will typically be in the case of a life-threatening illness, as adults are largely able to take care of themselves - even during illness.
My child is sick - am I entitled to time off work?
The law on absence due to illness in the family does not say anything about when you are too old - in other words, there is no magical 18-year limit. On the contrary, many teenage children will probably be sufficiently capable of taking care of themselves that you can't talk about a compelling need to go home from work. In addition, it's fair to say that it's only on the first day that the illness can be so acute that you can't find an alternative to looking after the child, which brings us to the ”first day of sickness” interpretation.
It also closes the theoretical possibility that each parent can take a ”first” sick day and thus achieve a total of two days of absence without having used holiday or similar. This is child The first day of sick leave - not the first sick day the parents take for the child. And only one parent can take the day off. On the second day of an illness, it's hard to argue that it's still an acute illness.
Please note that the legal provision on absence from work for special family reasons not entitles you to salary during your absence. In other words, your employer is well within their rights to deduct your salary for your absence. Nevertheless, many people are still entitled to pay during their absence, which leads us to the next important point.
What does my collective agreement say about the first day of sick leave?
Of course, the rights you have in relation to your child's first day of sick leave vary from collective labour agreement to collective labour agreement. But typically, it entitles you to pay - and sometimes even to more paid days. In principle, this can also be written into your employment contract or other local rules at your workplace, and this is of course something your employer should be able to explain to you - or alternatively your trade union. But again, it's a given that parents are on a joint account and cannot both make use of the first day of sick leave. They may be able to share it if both are entitled to two days' absence.
What conditions must be met for a child's first day of sick leave according to the collective labour agreement?
Again, it varies from agreement to agreement, but typically the following applies:
- ... the child must be under 18 years old
- ... the child is staying with you
- ... it is necessary to stay at home for the sake of the child
- ... it is practically possible to stay home from work
The employer cannot use the child's age to argue that it is not necessary to stay at home as long as the child is under 18. At least not in isolation. However, since it must also be ”necessary to stay at home for the sake of the child”, one could argue that the absence must be supported by more than the child's age alone if the employer is not to be entitled to question the absence. Similarly, it must be possible to leave the workplace without, for example, leaving a dying patient to their own devices.
Controlling absenteeism?
With a digital time tracking system like Intempus, it's easy for both the employee and the employer or administrator to manage all types of absence: holidays, time off in lieu, maternity leave and, of course, care days and periods of absence due to a sick child. The employee simply registers the hours as ‘care days’ or ‘child's first sick day’ directly in the app, after which the administrator can easily approve and get an overview of the reported (absence) hours in Intempus Web. In this way, the employees' hours and absence balances are always under control.
Are you curious about how Intempus can ease your workday and make absence tracking easy, safe and accurate for you and your organisation? Book a free, no-obligation demo here:
You are also welcome to give us a call at: +45 26390400
