Family Matters - A Supervisor's guide
Family Matters - a supervisor's guide
As a supervisor it is highly likely at some point in your supervisory career that you will be responsible for a member of staff who informs you they are pregnant and it is essential you understand the process, not only to suitably support them, but also to be clear on your own responsibilities. Remember, pregnancy and maternity matters are protected under the equality act. NEVER approach this from a viewpoint of it being an inconvenience or disruption to your staffing.
Your staff member should on discovering they are pregnant, complete a P563 – Notification of Pregnancy and submit this to HR and CC in yourself. If they approach you and disclose they are pregnant and have not done this or were not aware, ensure they complete and submit this. Be very aware at this point that your staff member may not want their pregnancy to be public knowledge straight away, especially if it is the very early stages, so please respect their wishes and show a professional level of discretion. This includes telling colleagues with a wink that Officer X may be restricted for about 9 months! I have seen it happen. Their pregnancy is not an interesting point of gossip!
The most important first step you need to take is to sit down with your staff member and have a conversation with them, both about their plans for how long they plan to remain in work (this may vary if they have had a pregnancy with previous complications) and do they understand their maternity leave options. Seek support from HR at this point who will be able to guide you both through the options and entitlements for maternity leave which can vary depending on length of service. You must also at this point complete a H38 – Risk Assessment Checklist for New and Expectant Mothers. This is your opportunity to assess the demands and hazards their job role presents and to decide and agree on how you will mitigate these risks through adjustments or restrictions to their working model. Continue to have regular face to face conversations while they are still in work to ensure any adjustments are still suitable and to keep on top of plans which may change with regards to their anticipated start date for maternity leave.
Remember at this point also, Police Regulations allow for Leave for Ante-natal care. All female members are entitled to paid time off in order to attend anti-natal appointments. Ensure they are aware that regs state they should produce relevant documentation for these appointments. Start to discuss with them what contact will look like while they are off. Your team member while on maternity leave will be away from work for a prolonged period of time and it is important you maintain contact. Agree with them how often that will be and by what means. While they don’t need constant contact and checking up on, it is important that they feel they have not been forgotten.
Once your staff member enters their period of maternity leave this will be an extremely busy time for them and they will not want or need you checking in on them every few days. You should have a clear idea of the anticipated length of their maternity leave before hand. However, they will need at their earliest convenience to submit a P565- Notification of Birth to HR which you may need to assist with. Stay in contact at periodic points while they are off as arranged and discussed with them prior to the start of their maternity leave. Towards the final third of their maternity leave both they and you need to start to plan in some Keeping in Touch (KIT) days. It will be worthwhile to have discussed this prior to their going off. Up to 10 may be taken (paid at full days rate) and they are an excellent opportunity for them to ease themselves back into work, stay in touch with their team and colleagues, and begin the process of clearing some emails, catching up on NCALT and policy changes and being in a better state of readiness for their full-time return. You staff member does not HAVE to engage with KIT days. While extremely useful and preferable if they do, if they opt not to, it will be important you consider a more staged return to work when they do come back from maternity, essentially a recuperation plan, which will afford them the opportunity to ease themselves back in and be back up to speed. If KIT days are engaged with, ensure they are recorded on a P769 KIT Days Form. One should be completed for every KIT day worked and submitted to the HR Support team. This may be important for them to receive the pay they are entitled to.
Police regulations also allow for a period of paid leave for members who are adopting a child and you should display the same degree of support and understanding for individuals navigating, what can be and extremely long winded and stressful process. Sit down and have a conversation with that officer just as before and discuss their plans and their needs in respect of this process and consider what flexibility and support you can offer. Is your officer aware of their rights to paid adoption leave? A member who is the child’s adoptive parent is entitled to one weeks paid leave at or around the time of adoption, irrespective of their length of service. In addition, any serving member who has been in in service for at least one year at the end of the week the child is placed for adoption is entitled to 18 weeks of adoption leave on full pay, followed by the option of up to 21 weeks at statutory adoption pay rates. They may then choose to take up to another 13 weeks unpaid. In addition the final five weeks of paid adoption leave my be extended to 10 weeks at half pay.
Confused? Well so might your staff member be. Especially as statutory adoption leave and pay overlaps heavily with this policy, especially where full pay from the police can be reduced where it overlaps with Statutory pay. I recommend you contact HR for guidance, and view the forces adoption guide for supervisors, the link for which is below. But some key points to remember, just as with maternity, your officer will need to complete some forms.
To be eligible for adoption leave, they must be newly matched with a child for adoption by an adoption agency and give the correct notice and proof of adoption. Ensure they complete form P563A giving notification of adoption of a child. Once they know the start date for their proposed leave, the must complete an Adoption Leave Commencement Form P564A. Adoption guidance for managers is available on the intranet.
Fertility Leave is a reasonably new adjustment falling under the Family Leave procedures, but is a situation you may find yourself as a supervisor navigating with a member of your team. Essentially what we are talking about are colleagues beginning an IVF journey, and having supervised a colleague who undertook IVF, I can assure you it is a gruelling and emotionally charged process which also often comes at extreme financial cost to some individuals. Any member of your team undertaking IVF is worthy of your support and help.
There is no statutory right to Fertility leave, but Lincolnshire Police have adopted it under the umbrella of their family leave policy. In short, an officer who has 12 months continuous service with the force can, if they are undergoing fertility treatment, apply for fertility treatment leave. This will allow for 3 days paid leave and an additional 2 days unpaid to undergo fertility treatment. Partners may apply for 1 days paid and 2 days unpaid leave to support their partner at appointments. Two days unpaid leave may also be granted to an individual donating eggs.
Applications for Fertility leave should be submitted on a P770 and submitted to you, their line manager, to authorise and forward to HR shared services. Ensure you team member knows that they should retain and provide documentary evidence of the appointment, and that where possible, they should try to arrange appointments outside of working hours. Be sympathetic however to the fact this may not always be easy.
The most important person in supporting a colleague undergoing IVF and fertility treatment is you as their line manager. I cannot stress enough to be aware how hard and emotionally draining this process can be and that in some cases following treatment and the use of drugs designed to supress rejection, individuals can feel unwell and drained following treatment. Afford them some empathy and flexibility. If they are absent through sickness after treatment, normal entitlement to sick pay under the sickness procedures applies. Leave due to fertility treatment should not be taken into account for the purposes of the managing attendance policy.
Importantly, immediately following implantation during IVF, that staff member must be regarded as being pregnant. Once a test confirms pregnancy one way or the other, your team member will either continue to be regarded as pregnant and will enter the forces maternity policy procedures, or if unsuccessful, will still be regarded as pregnant for 2 weeks after the pregnancy is deemed to have ended. But remember, this may well have been a devastating and emotional blow and your empathy, support and flexibility will be more key than ever. Talk to them. Check on their welfare and direct them towards welfare provisions provided by the force. And be patient and give them time and support as required.
As supervisors, we are in fact empowered with the ability to show leniency and discretion to staff members who are experiencing a family emergency, problems or challenges at home or who might care for a loved one or family member. Sadly, the range of options open to us as supervisors is often sorely misunderstood and underused. Whether this stems from a lack of knowledge of what those leave options are, or a reluctance to use them for fear of being challenged, I have seen numerous examples of members being forced to use toil or annual leave in order to attend medical appointments, deal with family emergencies or care for children or loved ones. Police regulations afford a veritable smorgasbord of suitable options and entitlements in these circumstances. There is a discretionary interpretation to many of these entitlements and you as a supervisor are empowered to wield that discretion. Don’t punish your staff or burn through their annual leave just because they face medical or family challenges outside of work and do not be afraid to utilise these options available to you. Many of them, the officers are entitled to under police regulations. It is also for you as a supervisor to have conversations and challenge where you feel these entitlements are being abused. One barrier for supervisors is the fact there are so many potential options and entitlements that it can become confusing and supervisors simply do not know what people are entitled to, so lets break down the primary entitlements available to you and your staff which you should consider as appropriate.
Force Policy states that special leave should be accompanied by the completion of Form P51A in order to log and record this. Force policy is available on the intranet at the below link, but you will note, force policy in its definition of timescales appears to run at odds with Police Regulations, especially when you look at Dependency Leave. Police Regs make clear this is a reasonable period of time off. Force policy stipulates an allowance of 5 days special leave per year! Obviously, if as a manager you have a team member utilising Special Leave on a regular basis, this needs to be addressed. Is it being exploited, or is it genuinely needed but the long term nature suggests options such as Parental or Carers leave (detailed further below) may be more appropriate. However, if you have a member who experiences a genuine emergency and the force challenge that five day limit stipulated in policy, speak to one of your fed reps.
Dependency leave is often misunderstood and there seems to a reluctance to utilise it. As a supervisor, if you have a staff member struggling with family illness, childcare or who has caring responsibilities for a relative, don’t forget that dependency leave is an option open to you to offer and use as opposed to burning through an officers leave, toil or worse, showing them as sick. Dependency leave is an entitlement under Regulation 33 of the Police Regulations of 2003. This makes it clear that a member is entitled to take reasonable paid time off because;
- A dependant falls ill, gives birth or is injured or assaulted
- The death of a dependant
- Because of unexpected disruption or termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant
- To deal with an unexpected incident involving an officers child during school hours.
A dependant is essentially someone who relies on you for their care and wellbeing. This can be children, your partner, a parent or elderly relative or someone residing in the same house as you (other than a lodger) or in relation to a dependant being ill, injured or care arrangements are disrupted, this could even apply for example to an elderly neighbour who you assist and provide help for. Circumstances such as termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant can include childcare arrangements being cancelled or schools being unexpectedly closed.
The key point with Dependency leave is the phrase “entitled to take reasonable paid time off”. This sets no specified time limit. There is not a stipulated cutoff point in terms of number of days, nor is there any restriction of the number of times in a single year these can be used. HOWEVER, you and you team member must be aware that this is reasonable time off to provide assistance or make arrangements for care. The member should be notifying work of the reason for their absence and where possible, state how long they expect to be absent. While the “reasonable” time off is open to some interpretation and not bound by a specified number of days or hours, it is incumbent on the member to make clear as soon as possible how long they expect to require off, and importantly, especially in cases where care arrangements were cancelled or will be required, to be making suitable efforts to arrange such care going forward. Remember, Dependency Leave is there and available for you to utilise for your staff member if they need it so do not be afraid to use it. It is an entitlement which should only be declined with good reason and rationale. But also do not be afraid as a supervisor to challenge where you feel there is a constant pattern to its use and it is being abused.
There is some crossover between Parental and Dependency leave in so far as Parental Leave is an entitlement under Police Regulations to time off in order to care for a child. There are some key differences however. There are specific timeframes attached to Parental Leave unlike Dependency Leave which is more discretionary. Parental Leave is also more pre-planned in nature as opposed to Dependency Leave being suitable for sudden, short notice issues with care or illness. The crucial difference, Parental Leave is UNPAID. Make sure your team member understands this! However, where parents have longer term issues with childcare, suitable arrangements or medical needs where a child might require prolonged periods in hospital for example, Parental Leave may be a suitable option to discuss with them.
In a nutshell, members who have served for a continuous period of at least one year and have legal responsibility for a child (note, this definition is specifically worded to cover adoption also) are entitled to 18 weeks unpaid leave for each individual child for the purpose of caring for that child.
Generally, this leave must be taken before the child’s fifth birthday (or in the case of adoption, the fifth year after placement). However, if a members child is entitled to disability living allowance, this qualifying period is extended to the child’s 18th Birthday.
This entitlement lends itself to being more pre-planned than the ad hoc nature of Dependency Leave and the force requests 21 days notice and that this should be agreed through the chief officer. Time periods may also be variable depending on factors such as whether the child is born to the member or adopted, so if you feel Parental Leave may be suitable and appropriate, discuss this with HR or check the force policy of Parental Leave on the Intranet.
Officers may be granted special leave where a close relative dies and this should also take into account and respect their religious and cultural beliefs in respect of mourning periods and funeral arrangements. This is paid leave and the length of leave is dependant upon the individual’s level of relationship to the deceased, which may in turn lead to some delicate and sensitive conversations between them and you as a supervisor. That granted period of leave may extend from half a day in order to attend a funeral, up to five days for a close relative. These five days need not be taken together consecutively. It may be useful to a member to separate these days if they find themselves in a position following the death of a close relative of making funeral arrangements or taking care of that relatives affairs and estate following their death.
In the terrible event of the loss of a child or baby, paid compassionate leave is extended to two weeks paid leave. And as trite as it is to say it after covering such a traumatic topic, no, this is not to be used because the members pet has died. I appreciate pets can be part of the family and it is extremely sad when they pass away, but it is an affront to those suffering the loss of a child or parent for someone to claim the same paid leave to cremate the cat!
You are empowered as a supervisor to consider granting special leave in the event of an urgent, unforeseen domestic emergency. This does not mean domestic emergency as in you and your partner have fallen out, nor does it mean you are waiting for a delivery, the washing machine needs repairing, or, once again I’m afraid, the dog or cat are ill. By domestic emergency this means you have for example a burst pipe and water flooding into the house, a gas leak, have suffered a house fire or lost the roof to a storm. This is not an exhaustive list, but illustrates that this is relevant to a crisis and the need to secure or protect your property. As a supervisor, you will assess if Special Leave is merited under the circumstances.
Policing is already an extremely stressful and full on job. For those colleagues who are also carers, the pressures they face day to day can be extreme and very challenging. As a supervisor, if you have a team member who also acts as a carer in their home life, it is absolutely crucial that you are aware of the implications and potential impact of this, and pay particular attention to their own welfare, being aware they may have a need for a flexible approach, potentially at very short notice, to be able to fulfil their caring role. There is one immediate, and very simple piece of advice I would put forward at this point and cannot stress enough. BE KIND. That is not the biggest ask in the world, nor is the concept of being kind specifically embedded in any policy or protocol, but it is absolutely crucial in dealing with a colleague who may face enormous pressure and responsibilities outside of work and may easily find themselves in a bind over care and their responsibilities to a loved one. Please, DO NOT make them choose between work and their carers role, or pile guilt on them when their role as a carer has to take primacy. It is highly likely they will need no more pressure or stress adding to their daily life, but will be hugely grateful for compassion and support from their supervisor.
So what is a carer? According to the Home Office 2016 definition;
“A carer is someone who helps another person, usually a relative or friend, in their day to day life. This is not someone who provides care professionally or through a voluntary organisation”.
Note, that definition is broad. This is not limited to a child or spouse. Also key to note is the fact these are not professional, trained carers. This is not an additional income or hobby. The vast majority are caring for a loved one because there is no one else able to provide the care and support required on a day to day basis. Depending on the scale of the needs that relative or close friend may have, this can be exhausting and stressful. It could be as simple as assisting a loved one with meals and dressing, or it could involve providing a highly intrusive level of care and support in the most basic of day to day activities and attendance at multiple medical and hospital appointments, potentially at short notice. In an emergency, they may be called upon at even shorter notice, potentially during the working day.
Key to supporting your colleague or team member who may meet that definition of a carer is to understand what options are available for you to support them, and where can you signpost them for further help and support. None of this will be as important as you just having some empathy and understanding of their role and pressures and just being a decent person when they need assistance. Your first and most immediate consideration should be to simply sit down with them in private and have a conversation. Try to gain an understanding of what their caring responsibilities are. What are the pressures for that individual at home and what impact can that have at work. What, from a work point of view could help to support them and alleviate some of that stress.
The second consideration which it would be advisable to discuss during that initial conversation is the Personal Support Passport. If you have a team member who approaches you or discloses they act as a carer and need some support or flexibility around this, make sure they have completed a Personal Support Passport. These can be found on the intranet.
A PSP can be completed by anyone who may need workplace adjustments due to a neurodivergent or long term health condition, a disability, or, due to caring responsibilities. The PSP provides a formal living document detailing the specific needs and adjustments which may be required and can prevent the colleague from having to repeat the same information to different departments or supervisors. This can be logged on their HR file and will be a huge assistance to them in creating a workplace adjustment plan or in support of any future application for flexible working patterns. There is now a newly developed PSP specifically designed for carers and the very particular set of needs they may have, so if completing one as or with a carer, make sure you locate the specific carers passport.
Thirdly, while a huge slice of patience and empathy from you will be critical, be familiar with some of the options available to you to actually support time off when they have an urgent caring need, and to know where to signpost them longer term.
We have already discussed Special Leave and Dependency Leave. These may well fit if your team member finds at very short notice that caring arrangements have failed or the loved one they care for has developed a sudden acute need or illness. Utilise these if necessary and remember, THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT STIPULATED ON THIS. However, also be mindful of the definitions. Remember, that dependency leave is structured around a dependant being ill, or care arrangements being disrupted or terminated, and while there is no time limit, it is allowing for the provision of assistance or to make suitable alternative arrangements. It is geared much more towards being an emergency stop gap. If you have a carer who has to take a relative to regular pre planned hospital appointments for example, that short notice ad hoc definition may not as comfortably fit. They do not need time to make arrangements for someone else to take them to hospital. They need to take them themselves, possibly with some regularity.
Here is where it is important to know that there is a statutory right under the carers leave act of 2023, to allow one week of UNPAID leave for anyone with caring responsibilities under the definition of a carer. Pay heed to the unpaid element. Work is ongoing through the carers network to encourage the job to offer paid carers leave rather than penalise those with such responsibilities financially. However at present the force operate within the law as defined by the carers leave act, and that official week of recognised leave can be utilised and pre planned using form P809.
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