Emergency leave: what are your rights?

Questioner

Can you, as an employee, always claim emergency leave? (Sudden hospitalization of a family member) Or can an employer refuse to give you leave for this and require you to deduct it from your vacation days?

Lawyer

Do you mean emergency leave or short-term care leave? Information about this can be found on the government website, from which I quote: Emergency leave is intended for problems in private life that the employee must resolve immediately. Short-term care leave is intended to provide a few days of necessary care to children, partners or parents. Emergency leave is expressly intended for the initial response to private problems. If a parent has to pick up a sick child from school, this falls under emergency leave. If the parent has to stay home the next day to care for the child, this falls under short-term care leave. Emergency leave lasts as long as is necessary to resolve the initial problems. The length of the leave can therefore vary from a few hours (arranging for a plumber in the event of a burst water pipe) to a few days (arranging a funeral). Wages are paid during the leave. An employer cannot refuse a reasonable request for emergency leave. The employee is, however, obliged to report the leave to the employer as soon as possible. The employee must also indicate how long the leave is expected to last. The salary will continue to be paid during the emergency leave. However, other agreements may have been made about this in a collective labor agreement or with the works council (OR) or staff representation (PVT). Employers and employees may also have made agreements to compensate the emergency leave with the extra vacation days. These are the vacation days that an employee has in addition to the minimum number of vacation days. The employee must give explicit permission for this. The employer can only refuse short-term care leave if the leave causes serious problems for the company or organization.