Parental rights for caring for sick children

One of the main concerns of parents during the school year is that their children do not get sick, especially when both parents work. This dilemma is accentuated in winter, as it is the time when most common childhood illnesses such as bronchiolitis, laryngitis, gastroenteritis, etc., tend to appear.

These types of conditions are usually not serious, but they do require treatment, rest, and care from the sick child. This is where most working parents struggle to organize how to take care of their sick children.

Do workers have the right to take time off work to care for their children?

In response to this question, we must refer to the Workers' Statute, which states: "The worker, with prior notice and justification, may be absent from work, with the right to remuneration for two days for the birth of a child and for the death, serious accident, or illness, hospitalization, or surgical intervention without hospitalization requiring home rest, of relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity. When, for this reason, the worker needs to travel, the period will be four days."

Also, for civil servants, in case of death, serious accident, or illness of a first-degree relative by consanguinity or affinity in the same locality, they are entitled to three business days off, and five business days if it happens in a different locality. If it concerns a second-degree relative, the leave will be two business days in the same locality and four business days in a different locality.

Therefore, according to the Workers' Statute, parents are not entitled to any days off if their children contract common non-serious illnesses.

What to do then?

In this situation, for most working parents, it is very difficult to balance work with caring for a sick child. One solution is to turn to grandparents or relatives who can take care of the child.

Unfortunately, not everyone has grandparents or other relatives nearby to look after their children, so they may need to hire a caregiver. These families usually already have someone they trust to pick up the children from school, take care of them at specific times, or during the children's vacations.

Another option is to use personal days that the worker is entitled to, request unpaid leave, or even, in some jobs, request to work from home to be able to care for the sick child.

How do you organize when your little one is sick? Do you have help from grandparents and relatives, or do you rely on a trusted caregiver? Do you think this situation should be regulated in the Workers' Statute?