A Judge Decides About Going to School: Guidance for Employers

accommodating employees keeping kids home

Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash

When is fear of Covid-19 justification for keeping kids home from school and to what extent does an employer have to accommodate the employee’s preference? While we’ve discussed this and similar issues on the blog in the past few weeks, a recent family court decision sheds some light on how courts might treat this issue.

Disagreement About Going to School

In Chase v. Chase, a divorced mother and father disagreed about whether their son should attend school in-person or do online learning. No one in either household had an underlying medical condition which would make them more vulnerable to complications from Covid-19. 

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School Re-Opening and Issues for Employers

In some form or another, it’s looking like in-person learning will be going ahead this school year but that parents can keep their children home if they wish. In many cases, employers whose operations have been remote for the past several months are looking to bring employees back to the office. What if an employee doesn’t want to send their child back to school and subsequently insists that they cannot, therefore, come back into the office to work? What are an employer’s options?

Ask Why

If an employee will not be sending their child to school and insists that they too need to remain at home, ask why. While all things COVID-19 present novel legal situations, and we don’t yet have any certainty on how courts and tribunals will rule, it’s reasonable to assume that if your employee has a legitimate disability-related COVID-19 exposure concern this should be accommodated. Asking your employee why they are not sending their child to school allows them to raise their need for accommodation. 

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