Foster carers
We support our employees to offer the best to children in our care.
Employees can work flexibly where this is compatible with the demands of their job. These policies all apply to foster carers:
- flexible working
- emergency time off for dependents
- parental leave policies
We may offer additional time off to prospective and existing foster carers who:
- are applying to become foster carers for Lincolnshire County Council
- are approved foster carers and have a child in placement (or have had a child in placement for 75% of the previous 12 months)
- have worked for us for three months or more
Additional time off applies to all our employees, including those on temporary and fixed-term contracts. It does not apply to agency workers, reliefs or contractors.
It does not automatically cover employees employed by Lincolnshire schools. However, headteachers and governing bodies are recommended to adopt this policy as good practice.
Leave entitlement
We grant our employees up to two days (14.8 hours) leave with pay when they apply to become an approved foster carer for us. For part-time employees, the leave will be pro-rata. The employee can only take this in the year they are applying to foster to enable them to attend:
- meetings
- home visits
- mandatory training
Employees can take the leave as half days when appropriate.
Where a couple whom both work for us are applying to become foster carers, the leave entitlement applies to each partner.
We award five additional days leave (37 hours) per year to employees who are active foster carers for us. For part-time employees, the additional days will be pro-rata. This leave is for attending meetings, training or to meet the needs of a child. Employees can take the leave as half days where appropriate.
The maximum amount of additional leave any foster carer could receive in any one year is five days (37 hours).
Additional leave is intended to be per annum. A manager can offer flexibility at their discretion.
Employees wishing to take leave under this policy must produce written evidence to their manager. The evidence must show that they are approved foster carers with LCC or actively applying to become foster carers with LCC.
The employee’s line manager will approve the leave on a discretionary basis. The manager will take into account the individual circumstances of each case and operational requirements of the business.
The request for leave should outline the reason, and the amount of leave required.
Where more than the maximum entitlement of fostering paid leave is requested, the line manager and the employee should discuss other options:
- annual leave
- flexi-leave
- special leave for emergencies
- unpaid leave