Refused special leave?

[mashonor]

My wife was in a bad way and i needed to stay home with her, on calling my manager and asking for special leave ,his reply to me was No and that i will have to go sick. needless to say i had to take the day sick , but i understood that i should have been entitled to some sort of leave be it paid or unpaid is there any course of action i can take agaisnt this manager?. I have already put in a greiveance about this, but after 2 months have not recieved and reply(i think it got lost in the post convieniantly). i have worked 15 years for the company and this was my first request for any special leave .. any advice on taking things further would be great.

[coxie]

id have done what he said and gone sick, but he wouldnt have seen me for a long time because id have gone off with stress. I think your right I dont know the offical word but I suspect he should have given it more consideration if your wife was really in a bad way and not just a case of having flu but something more serious then you are entitled to take a day unpaid special leave.

[mashonor]

Thanks for the reply's .
Regards the Self Cert i refused to fill one out . Like i said i tried to file a grievance but this seems to have been lost in transit. The union rep seems powerless and our manager continues to walk all over myself and my collegues on our shift(collection middle shift). curious though how our manager is always having odd days off here and there for funerals .

[Lincox]

Stick in another grievance for RMs failure to follow their own grievance procedures. Hand it to the DOM-LINO and ask for confirmation of receipt.

[Broxi51]

Do as what has already been said. Fill out another grievance but at the end of the grievance state that if you have not heard anything within 14 days then you will put in a grievance against the Dom that is supposed to be handling the original grievance. Dont let it go. Good luck.

[POSTMAN]

Hasn't fraud been commited here?And hasn't the manager initiated it?

Also there are only 2 special leaves now,with or without pay,the half pay went a few years back.

[Thunderthighs]

There's such a thing as "Carers Leave" I think. Not sure of the criteria, but I believe Older Parents, Young Children count as well as close relatives.
Mrs MUST be a close relative, right?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

My wife was in a bad way and i needed to stay home with her, on calling my manager and asking for special leave ,his reply to me was No and that i will have to go sick. needless to say i had to take the day sick , but i understood that i should have been entitled to some sort of leave be it paid or unpaid is there any course of action i can take agaisnt this manager?. I have already put in a greiveance about this, but after 2 months have not recieved and reply(i think it got lost in the post convieniantly). i have worked 15 years for the company and this was my first request for any special leave .. any advice on taking things further would be great.

You should have been given Dependants leave or one of RMs Special leave categories, and its not just an opinion its law:

Time off for dependants http://direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyan ... G_10026555" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In many cases you have the right to take time off work to deal with an emergency involving someone who depends on you (sometimes called compassionate leave). You can’t be penalised by your employer for taking the time off, providing your reasons for taking it are genuine.Your right to time off for dependants

If you are an 'employee', you have the right to unpaid time off work to deal with emergencies involving a 'dependant' – this could be your husband, wife, partner, child, parent, or anyone living in your household as a member of the family. A dependant may also be anyone who reasonably relies on you for help in an emergency, for example an elderly neighbour living alone who falls and breaks a leg and you are the closest on hand.

What counts as an emergency?

An emergency could be any unexpected or sudden problem involving someone who depends on your help or care. The right to time off for dependants could apply to a wide range of different circumstances but below are examples of some of the more common situations where you could be entitled to take time off:
If a dependant falls ill

In this situation the illness or injury doesn’t necessarily have to be serious or life-threatening, and may be mental or physical. The illness or injury could be a result of a deterioration of an existing condition. For example, a dependant may be suffering from a nervous breakdown and may not need full-time care, but there could be occasions when their condition deteriorates and you need to take unexpected time off work.

You could also take time off work to make longer term care arrangements for the dependant.
If a dependant has been injured or assaulted

The right to take time would also be available if a dependant is a victim of a mugging or similar incident, but has not been physically hurt but you need to take time off work to comfort or help the victim. You could also take time off work to make longer term care arrangements for the dependant.
When a dependant is having a baby

This does not include taking time off after the birth to care for the child as you could be entitled to paternity or parental leave for this purpose.

[Lounge Lizard]

Stick in another grievance for RMs failure to follow their own grievance procedures. Hand it to the DOM-LINO and ask for confirmation of receipt.

I think this is common practice now.
I've heard of a grievence being ignored so a subsequent grievence being put in and that ignored too.
Managemenmt must think that if ignored long enough they will just go away.

[S6 Stroller]

Stick in another grievance for RMs failure to follow their own grievance procedures. Hand it to the DOM-LINO and ask for confirmation of receipt.

I think this is common practice now.
I've heard of a grievence being ignored so a subsequent grievence being put in and that ignored too.
Managemenmt must think that if ignored long enough they will just go away.

That seems to be written into RM's Code Of Practice when dealing with staff.

How long before we get someone at the top who gives a toss about staff welfare/happiness? Do they not realise that happy staff are more productive/flexible?

[noggin1969]

Gr

[shadow]

Grievence were being ignored at our office until someone started putting up flyers from a local no win no free solicitors that specalised in workplace B&H cases. The thought of a outside body chasing RM for cash seemed to consentrate thier minds abit on sorting things out better inhouse.

Ask Adam thats gets their backs up but arn't long in dealing with the problem.

[MinisterofCucumber]

You should receive a written outcome within 5 working days. If you are not satisfied with this decision, as you haven't got one, you can raise a stage 2 grievance with your second line manager:

"My wife was ill and needed looking after. I asked my manager for special leave but he refused and insisted that I go off sick. I am upset that my manager did not show flexibility in handling this situation. I would like to have my day's sick leave converted to special leave. I am raising this as a stage 2 grievance because my manager did not reply to my stage 1 grievance within 5 working days."

Your second line manager will write to you, inviting you to attend a meeting to discuss your grievance. Write back and thank him for the offer of a meeting but politely decline and say that as your grievance is straight forward you don't feel a meeting is necessary. Ask him to write to you if he wants you to clarify any points in your grievance otherwise you look forward to his reply.

Keep copies of all communications.

Tell us how you get on.