We await the teacher strike dates announcements the first likely to be in February.
In recent years the term picket line seemed to be a word only the older generations used, last year showed it was something we would be facing and it looks likely 2023 is going to get us a lot more familiar strike terminology as it isn’t going away!
It seems that the news has been flooded with articles on the recent strikes, requests for pay rises over low pay, better conditions along with union members, contract negotiations from NHS to National Rail, and for the first time for many generations, the teachers strike is looking to be next. So will we face a one-off teacher strike or a wave of teacher strikes in the future?
What can working parents do during the teachers strike
While parents brace themselves and race to put some emergency planning in place for childcare, what happens for those parents who have a lack of support for childcare around them, how will they manage in work days? All this in the face of a cost of living crisis many parents will be worried in terms of pay if they can not attend work and some in losing their jobs.
We await the teachers strike dates announcements the first likely to be in February.
We spoke with our employment law expert Katie Ash of Banner Jones to find out what you need to know in the coming weeks regarding the teacher strikes!
How will the teachers strike affect you?
The news this week is that a possible strike over teacher pay is a real option, now that teachers from the National Education Union leaders had voted for potential strike action in England and Wales will have left lots of working parents – and their employers – wondering how they are going to manage work during the school days if the employee’s child’s school is closed and what contingency plans are open to them during industrial action.
If an employee needs time off to look after their child because of strike action, what are the options available to employees and employers?
- Holiday
An employee might cover the time needed to look after their child via holiday. Check any holiday policy for details of what notice is required to book leave but remember that the Working Time Regulations 1998 require employees to give twice the length of notice as the required amount of leave. So, if an employee wants 1 day’s leave, they need to give 2 days’ notice. Employers can reject the request. - Time off for dependants
This is unpaid time off (unless an employer has a policy of paying for this leave). This leave is designed to deal with emergency situations where childcare falls through unexpectedly. Whilst planned strike action may not fall within the remit of this sort of leave, as it isn’t necessarily an unexpected event (though schools might not know until the day who is striking and whether school can remain open), childcare provision put in place to cover the strike day which falls through at the last minute will likely fall within the right to take time off to look after a dependant. - Parental leaveThis is unpaid time off (unless an employer has a policy of paying for this leave) and only available to those with at least a year’s service with their employer. Employees asking for parental leave must give at least 21 days’ notice, and unless an employer agrees otherwise, the leave must be taken in blocks of 1 or 2 weeks. There’s a limit of 4 weeks’ leave per year for this sort of leave (capped at 18 weeks in total). An employer can postpone the leave by giving justifiable business reasons and must suggest a new start date beginning within 6 months of the requested date.
- Agreed unpaid leave
If the employee doesn’t have enough leave or doesn’t qualify for or doesn’t want to request dependant or parental leave, it is still open to an employer and an employee to agree that the employee can take unpaid leave. An employer can even agree to pay for the leave or ask the employee to make the time up at some other point – similar to how employers may deal with medical appointments. - Working from home
Following Covid-19, many employees are still working from home on a full or hybrid basis. Subject to the employee’s home situation and age of their children, the employee and the employer may be able to agree that the employee can work from home on a strike day and adjust the hours of work accordingly to ensure that the employee can look after their child, whilst also working effectively; something that was regularly the case in many businesses during the pandemic when schools were closed.
Having said all of the above, what is important is that employees and employers talk about how any strike action might impact an employee and try to work together to find a solution that supports the employee, whilst causing minimal disruption to the employer and their business.
What date is the teachers strike?
The NEU has said it will hold strikes on:
- Wednesday, February 1 (England and Wales)
- Tuesday, 28 February (Northern, North West, and Humber regions)
- Wednesday, 1 March (Midlands, Western and Eastern regions)
- Thursday, 2 March (London, South East and South West regions. Wales, postponed from the 14th February)
- Wednesday, 15 March (England and Wales)
- Thursday, 16 March (England and Wales)
# Teachers Strikes What You Need To Know