Paul Himple has already had a busy start to 2023!

Paul Himple, of Go Legal HR, has had a very busy start to 2023 and feels like it could carry on to be the same if the strike actions continue within the multiple industries affected.

Here he details what 2023 could have in store for everyone if the teachers strike isn’t resolved within the dates that they have planned.

Up and down the country on throughout the start of the year, multiple schools will be closed as their teachers are on strike. This has multiple impacts for people including myself as I try to navigate through employee rights with small business owners many of whom can’t afford to pay every employee who needs time off due to lack of childcare.

We may be getting used to a period of industrial action in several areas pursuing worthy causes in an increasingly bleak economic climate, but the imminent prospect of disruption in the education sector with teacher’s (including Headteacher’s) potentially taking strike action brings perhaps an unexpected dimension for employers and employees in all areas.

Most people will already be aware that employees have a statutory right to time off in emergency circumstances, particularly where childcare arrangements have been compromised. This time off is usually short-term to deal with the emergency and is unpaid. It is also usually ad hoc and irregular in its impact on employers and their employees.

However, the potential for sudden school or individual class closures driven by teachers taking strike action raises the prospect of concentrated pockets of emergency absence where the incidence will be broader than the occasional absence because a child is unwell. Employers may wish to cross this bridge when they come to it or take advice on contingency plans…

If you need any help on how to navigate any of the industrial strikes or to create a contingency plan within your business get in touch with me today and we can work together to create a plan, visit www.go-legal-hr.com