Time Off for Dependants: The UK Employer's Guide to Emergency Leave

The school rings at 10am: a child is ill and needs collecting. A parent has had a fall. The childminder has cancelled with no warning. Time off for dependants is the right that covers these calls: every employee in the UK, from their first day, can take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving someone who depends on them.

It's one of the oldest family rights, and the one employers handle most inconsistently: paid for some people and not others, counted as sickness, or refused because "you've had a lot of time off". This guide covers who qualifies, how much time is reasonable, pay, notice, and how to record it fairly. It sits alongside our UK annual leave entitlement guide.

Who Counts as a Dependant?

• A spouse or civil partner
• A child
• A parent
• Someone who lives in the same household as a member of the family, such as a partner or an elderly relative (but not a tenant, lodger, boarder or employee)
• For illness, injury and care arrangements, also anyone who reasonably relies on the employee: an elderly neighbour they look after, for example

When Does Time Off for Dependants Apply?

The law lists five situations. The employee can take time off:

1. To help when a dependant falls ill, gives birth, is injured or is assaulted
2. To make arrangements for care of a dependant who is ill or injured
3. Because of the death of a dependant, for example to arrange or attend the funeral
4. Because care arrangements are unexpectedly disrupted or end: the nursery closes, the carer doesn't turn up
5. To deal with an unexpected incident involving their child at school

The thread running through all five is that the situation is sudden or unexpected. A hospital appointment booked weeks ago isn't an emergency: that's what carer's leave or annual leave is for.

How Much Time Is "Reasonable"?

The law doesn't say, and that's deliberate: what's reasonable depends on the emergency. The leading case, Qua v John Ford Morrison Solicitors (2003), set out the approach tribunals still use:

• The right is for time to deal with the immediate emergency and put care in place, not to provide the care themselves for days or weeks.
• For most situations that's one or two days. A serious accident or a death can reasonably take longer.
• There's no limit on how many times it can be used. You can take earlier absences into account when judging what's reasonable this time, but not the disruption the absence causes your business.

If a child has chickenpox for a week, the first day or two (to see a doctor and arrange care) is time off for dependants. If the parent then stays home to look after them, the rest is better treated as annual leave, unpaid leave or flexible working, by agreement.

Notice: What the Employee Has to Tell You

There's no written form and no advance notice. The employee must tell you the reason for their absence and how long they expect to be away as soon as reasonably practicable. If they're dealing with an ambulance, that might be after they've left, or even after they're back.

You can ask for a short explanation for the record. Don't ask for evidence you wouldn't need for anything else, and don't make the right depend on producing it.

Is It Paid?

No, not by law. Many employers pay a day or two anyway, and some pay the whole thing. Whatever you choose, write it in your policy and apply it to everyone. Paying it for one manager's team and not another's is how inconsistency claims start.

“The app is simple to use, reliable, and makes managing holidays, absences, and staff records straightforward. The system has saved us a significant amount of administration time.”

Jordan Ingoe, CLI Manchester

How It Compares With Other Family Leave

Our guides to carer's leave and compassionate leave cover those two in detail.

What Employers Get Wrong

1. Recording it as sickness. It then counts towards sickness triggers and Bradford Factor scores, and a warning based on it is a detriment claim waiting to happen.
2. Taking it out of annual leave without asking. The employee can choose to use holiday instead (and be paid), but you can't impose it.
3. Refusing because it's busy. Disruption to the business isn't a reason to refuse reasonable time off.
4. Treating people differently. Paying it for some and not others, or questioning fathers more than mothers, invites discrimination claims.
5. No record at all. Without one, you can't show you've been consistent, or spot when emergencies have become a regular need that flexible working might solve better.

A Simple Time Off for Dependants Policy

Four lines are enough for most small businesses:

1. Employees can take reasonable time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, from their first day.
2. Tell your manager the reason and how long you expect to be away as soon as you can, by phone if possible.
3. We pay [the first day / up to two days a year / none] of this time; the rest is unpaid. You can choose to use annual leave instead.
4. This time is recorded separately from sickness and doesn't count towards absence reviews.

How TimeTally Helps

• Its own leave type. Add "Time off for dependants", mark it paid or unpaid, and keep it off the holiday allowance, so it never lands in the sickness column or eats into holiday.
• Recorded from the phone. The employee can request it from their phone with a short note, or you can book it for them when they ring in.
• Absence by type. Leave reports break absence down by person and by type, so you can show you've treated everyone the same, and spot when emergencies have become a regular need.

It costs £3 per employee per month; see the unpaid leave tracker for more.

TimeTally

Every Absence in the Right Column

Holiday, sickness and emergency leave kept apart, so nobody is penalised for the wrong thing.

Start Free 14-Day Trial

Your own leave types

Requests from any phone

£3 per employee per month

Free for 14 days • No credit card required

Key Takeaways

• Every employee has a day-one right to reasonable unpaid time off for a dependant's emergency
• Dependants are a spouse or partner, child, parent, household member, or anyone who reasonably relies on them
• It's for sudden situations, and usually means one or two days to deal with it and arrange care
• Notice is the reason and expected length, as soon as reasonably practicable
• It's unpaid unless your policy says otherwise; whatever you decide, apply it to everyone
• Record it as its own leave type, never as sickness

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Time off for family and dependants — GOV.UK
• Employment Rights Act 1996, section 57A — legislation.gov.uk
• Time off for dependants — Acas