Single mother employment rights

elizunia87

Hi,

I am a single mother working full time since 2 months. My son is in creche but when he is not allowed to be there due to runny nose or caugh I do not have a childcare and have to call sick myslef.

I am struggling to find emergency nanny, sems like nobody is available (will try more).

As a foreign I have no family, nobody. Daddy is busy with his life, seeing baby once a week.

My question. I am on probabtion. Can I be fired for non showing off to work? We are talking about once/ twice a month. Is there any law that protect single parent at work?

Any advises welcome.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058222349/single-mother-employment-rights

I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties but whilst I sympathise there are no employment rights relating to the circumstances you've laid out in your post. Probationary periods periods primarily focus on your abilities, suitability for the Job, reliability etc, your personal circumstances whilst difficult are not relevant, however regrettably not being able to attend work could be a deciding factor in determining your success or otherwise on completion of the probationary period.

I don't want to appear harsh, I understand the difficult situation your in and perhaps it might be worth discussing your immediate and short term challenge with your employer, most employers are reasonable, particularly in these challenging times. Good Luck.

elizunia87

Thank you Dempo maybe i just send email to my HR explaning.

elizunia87

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118304437#Comment_118304437

Personally I'd advise talking to your direct manager if that's at all possible, emails don't always reflect a person's personal circumstances, but that my humble opinion.

I wish you well regardless 😏

elizunia87

Thank you 😀

elizunia87

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118305231#Comment_118305231

Kudos to you Elizunia for getting a full time job to support yourself and your child. Possibly better for both of you right now if you were part time? You can get OPF/JST and WFP both if you had 20 hours minimum a week.

Lenar3556

Some good advice above. In general terms your short duration of employment and probationary period afford you very little protections, and the employer is likely in a position to end the employment relationship during this period without providing a reason.

If you believed this related purely to your unavoidable attending to a sick child, you could argue that this was a discriminatory act by the employe and that the circumstances involved fall within a protected category of discrimination. How successful such an action would be would depend on the facts, but I certainly wouldn’t like to be betting on any substantial redress.

It would be much better to enter into early dialogue with the employer and work with them, explaining your position, and seeing what solutions can be arrived at between each other. Legal remedies in employment law are rarely conducive to a continuing employment relationship.

Big Bag of Chips

You might be better finding a childminder who is likely to be more flexible than a crèche when a child has a runny nose.

Your childcare arrangement are not your employer’s problem, unfortunately, and if you are calling in sick every month, sometimes twice a month then it is reasonable for your employer to believes that you are not fit for the job. Do you call in sick, or do you explain what has happened? Talking to your manager is a good first step. Managers are human! And you might find that they can come to some arrangement with you.

I think your first priority should be to try find a full time childminder. You will find it very difficult to get someone who will not be your regular childminder but who will be available to take your child occasionally when they are not well enough for crèche. A minder should gets to know your child is more likely to be happy to take the, if they know it’s just a runny nose and the child isn’t sick. Crèche won’t offer that for you.

Have you any friends or neighbours that you are friendly with? How old is your child? When they start school it tends to get easier, and you also get to know other parents and can build an emergency backup group. Look for a full time childminder, and be honest with your employer.