BBC Breakfast - time off to care for sick pets

[dwi]

Did anyone see BBC breakfast this morning? They had a whole article moaning about people who had to take time off work to look after sick pets.

It was really unreasonable with one of their guests saying "they should just take the dog to the vet at 8pm after work".

I dread Daisy getting ill because as a teacher I can't take a morning off to wait around for the vet.

I kind of understand why a vet can't guaruntee you a specific time that they will turn up but this morning's story shows what a difficult position we are in.

Employers don't see you taking a morning off as reasonable and vets can't understand that you don't have a whole day to wait around for when they choose to turn up.

Any thoughts? I feel like we're getting pushed from both sides

 

[flying_change]

There was talk of taking your pet to work to look after it, but I guess that's not so practical with a horse.......

 

[Christmas_Kate]

Why not just take a day off sick? it's none of your employers buisness WHY you're sick.....

 

[Alibear]

Or why not drop poorly pet into vets before you to work and collect afterwards? OK you have to pay more for this but if helps pet and you keep your job then it's worth it.
It's scarey how much time life does take up , I'm a mum and have a horse etc and time needed out from work to keep everything going is scarey and I can see that it could be deemed unreasonable in many employers minds.
Hence I earn less and work for a small company who can cope with my need for time off.
Am now waiting to talk to boss face to face about being off for 2 3hrs every monday lunch time from here on in as my son Martin needs special help, no one else will do it , I have to but I can see it being hard to sort out and I do feel bad for asking my boss. If it was a pet I would pay someone else to do it.

 

[Sooty]

Time off to care for sick pets should be taken as holiday. It is ludicrous to expect it to be anything else.

 

[wizzi901]

yup agreed with above. Time off for dependants does not cover pets!

(HR manager creeps slowly into the corner.....)

 

[jacks_mum]

i just take the time off and say " if it was your child, you'd be going to the docters - this is my child, we're going to the vet" I've got away with it so far - no-one seems to be able to argue with my logic successfully...

when my cat fell on her head at 6 weeks and smashed her skull, when she came out of hospital she came to work with me - simple as that. she needed full time care but i could work around her feeds and other needs if we were both in the office. so that's the way it worked for 3 weeks.

 

[TheresaW]

My boss has always been really good when it has come for time off for the horses or the cats. I get half day once a week to balance out my hours, and obviously try and have appointmets then, but in the odd emergency, he has given me the time, and I just make it up as and when I can.

 

[SSM]

I have just taken two days holiday and a 'sick' day to take Bumble Dog to the vet, get through a day of misery - where I was neither use nor ornament, just howled and howled and then go pick her up. If I have a vet appointment I get it as early or late as possible then work through lunch to cover the time.

 

[WishfulThinker]

Thankfully I have flexitime, and always have around 8 hours in the 'bank'.
At my old job I had to take a day off for a farrier (who called at like 9pm the night before to say he would come and then never turned up!), I took it as a sick day as in a way I was inconveniencing my work and sick days count against MY work record so figured that was fair.
And if I had to leave early cos Beau did himself a mischeif I would take that as flexi then if needed other days off as holiday.

But I do see the dependants argument. I bet if say I coulnt have kids and tried that line I wonder where they could stand if they took action.................would it be sex discrimination? Im sure a fabby lawyer woul dfigure that one out!

 

[Rambo]

I think companies should apply a little common sense here. Most companies will quite happily 'take' the unpaid overtime / excessive hours we work for them and think nothing of it. Likewise, if i need to take a couple of hours (or even a morning !) off for something i have to do, then my company should reciprocate.

Obviously if someone abuses the system then that is a different matter, but as a lot of people work flexitime anyway then it shouldn't be too hard to accommodate

 

[AmyMay]

I'm lucky, that work are very understanding when I need time off for any of my animals.

However, it's not our god given right, and I can understand why people would get uptight about it.

 

[Tia]

Speaking from an employer's perspective, neither my husband and I would never stop anyone from taking time off to take pets to vet, however we would not be happy to pay them for it!

If it is taken as holiday or unpaid leave....no probs.

 

[Rambo]

[ QUOTE ]
Speaking from an employer's perspective, neither my husband and I would never stop anyone from taking time off to take pets to vet, however we would not be happy to pay them for it!

If it is taken as holiday or unpaid leave....no probs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you pay your employees overtime for extra hours they may work for you though

 

[GinaB]

I'm lucky in that I work flexi time. However, unlucky that beastie always decides she needs a vets visit after surgery hours, requiring an on call vet which costs so much more! :S

 

[jacks_mum]

it's probably worth my adding that I always make up any time off i have for the vets - which generally can't be said for many of the parents i have worked with that have had time off to take their children to the dr's. (i'm not tarring all parents with the same brush, so don't jump on me - just those i have worked with)

 

[dwi]

what about those of us who work set hours and set days?

I can't take a holiday or make the time up. I have to be in school for the hours that the children are there. I'm not complaining about the school, thats the way it is. I think that vets could be alot more accomodating, especially for routine visits like vacs or teeth that I can book weeks in advance

(In case you're wondering why I'm not teaching right now. I'm off school sick

)

 

[emma69]

There was an ariticle on the radio last night about introducing petdays for owners in the states - in the same way they allow sick days for children of workers. The idea being that honesty in the workplace is far better than people lying and taking sick days. I am still waiting for my work to introduce duvet days - oh I could so easily have crawled back under this morning!

I don't have a horse /dog /cat at the moment, but I am lucky enough to have an employer that recognizes work life balance, which is just as well as my dentist is only open between 8am and 5pm Mon-Fri, except for one day when they are open late in the evening - they are however booked up until August on that night!

 

[Tia]

Yes of course we do.

 

[Rambo]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes of course we do.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then i would say your position was perfectly acceptable

I only asked the question as the company i currently work for think nothing of taking with one hand....and then taking with the other too

 

[Tia]

Yes that does seem standard in a lot of companies. We're not like that though

. Actually I think that hubby is waaaaay too lenient a boss

.......but then that works both ways, as he is lenient with me too

.

 

[Tia]

For vacc's and teeth - have them done at night. Most reputable vet surgeries are open evenings.....in fact I don't know any which aren't?

 

[dwi]

I'm not talking about my cat here, who does go to the vet in the evening, but my horse. Do some horse vets do evening appointments?

 

[Tia]

Mine does anytime appointments.

 

[Ferdinase514]

I actually text BBC prog this morning.

My previous employer (in NHS) would let me come in late or take A/L at short notice if Finni got colic. I would then make up hours if need be.

Now I work from home and arrange all my own appointments so can be more flexible.

Emergancies happen, whether human or pet related. Employers have to understand that if they want to keep their employees happy.

 

[ann-jen]

I should think if you boxed your horse over to the vets they would vaccinate him during an evening surgery appointment but I wouldn't expect them to do a visit for routine appointments during the evening.
Most vets do try to keep to time slots for visits but in large animal practice this can be very difficult. You can start the day with what looks like a few visits for vaccinations or tooth raspings and look like everything will go like clockwork only to have someone call in with a colic or a calving and these appointments will always rightly get preferance - but it leaves you running behind on the routine stuff. Its not uncommon to go to a farm to look at something and then someone to say while you're here do you mind looking at this and so on and so on.... That is why sometimes it can be very difficult to give a definite time slot.
Coincidentally I've had to take a days holiday recently to wait for my new oven to be delivered because the company wouldn't specify a delivery time. I've also had to nip home in my lunch hour to meet the washing machine repair man. Sometimes its very difficult to schedule things round working full time

 

[Janette]

Another teacher here - As far as I'm concerned, Vets could be FAR more flexible than they are. I had to get Star to the Equine centre for a lameness workup - they don't do Saturdays. I have to wonder why, because the centre is there, so is the equipment.........gathering dust..... In the end, the YO took her for me - a massive favour, very much appreciated.
If I don't turn into work, my class is split between the 2 others until a supply can be found - that is 100 children and 6 adults put to a lot of trouble. Nearly the whole school!

 

[ann-jen]

The trouble is vets already work incredibly long hours. I start work at 8.30am and work until 7pm officially although its sometimes later than this. Vets also have to work a lot of weekends and nights in order to provide 24 hour emergency cover. Our practice drops from 13 vets to 1 vet on call for emergencies after normal surgery hours are over. The on call or weekend vet needs to deal with any emergencies that may arise and so there just isn't the man power to cover routine work on a weekend or night. If the surgery was kept fully manned over the weekend/nights it would mean employing more vets/nurses to cover for weekday staff receiving a well earned break over the weekend/night. I'm sure you can see that additional salary would then be passed to you the client in a massive increase in your fees.

 

[Dovorian]

OK fine - well let's put the cap on parents leaving early ' to se the teacher', 'to see sweet darling in a play'... Of course if a child is unwell then the parents need to be there but I think thast they should take annual leave. I work in a dept with several young mums - they struggle to cope I know but if it is ever an issue that I need an hour or so to attend the vet I'll have no qualms justifying it!!

 

[Baggybreeches]

I am very fortunate in that I can take time to wait for vet or go to vets with the dogs, but this is done at the expense of my time, I do not take libertys and also have had to get people to drop off or pick up dogs from the vet and have had to pay people to wait for equine vet when necessary. Its called using your privileges and not abusing them!