There is currently no statutory right for carers to take leave under UK employment law. However, this is set to change with the introduction of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023.
As it stands, an estimated 2 million people every year in the UK try to negotiate unpaid care for friends, family members and relatives while managing a full career.
If you’re part of this significant number, you’ll know that this balance is virtually impossible to maintain, and you won’t want to overlook your duty to your loved one or your work. Virtually everyone at some point in life will need to take time off work to care for someone.
And despite this, until now there has been no automatic right for carers to take leave from work.
In this article, we’ll help unpaid carers who provide long term care in the UK understand if and when they are entitled to take time off work as a carer and what the new legislation means.
Table of Contents
- Can carers in the UK take time off work?
- What is the Carer’s Leave Act 2023?
- When does the Carer’s Leave Act come into force?
- Who can take carer’s leave?
- What will carer’s leave be used for?
- How can carer’s leave be taken?
- Does an employer have to agree to carer’s leave?
- What can an employee do if their request for carer’s leave is rejected?
- Implications of the carer’s leave act 2023 for employers
- Carer’s leave help and guidance
Can carers in the UK take time off work?
Unpaid long-term carers currently have no right to take time off work - this is entirely at the employer’s discretion.
UK employees can use other forms of leave to take time off for caring duties including parental leave, if their child has care needs, or annual leave out of their yearly allowance. Family leave may also apply, specifically maternity and paternity leave or adoption leave can be taken in the year following the birth or adoption of a child.
In times of emergency, employees have the right to unpaid leave where dependants are involved, as well as children, spouses, and parents. This form of leave can only be taken in emergencies, so in other words you cannot take emergency leave if you were aware that a care need would arise at a certain point in the future. An example of this would be planned or routine hospital appointments.
Since the pandemic normalised flexible working, a growing number of employees are requesting flexible working routines to juggle their caring responsibilities and maintain a better work-life balance. Of course, your requested flexible work pattern must be accepted by and suitable for your employer, otherwise they are within their rights to deny it.
If you need to care for someone before the new legislation comes into effect in April, you can request flexible working arrangements. All employees with 26 weeks service are legally entitled to apply for flexible working. It may be that you request to change working hours or days to allow you to either have time off or work from home on certain days to meet your responsibilities as a carer.
What is the Carer’s Leave Act 2023?
The new act gives unpaid carers the right to an annual unpaid week off work for a dependant with a long-term care need.
The new legislation will give millions of people the time they need to manage the care of their loved ones without stress and fear of their leave being denied, or being treated differently by their employer. And, eligible employees can take leave from day one of their employment.
Staff can take the leave flexibly to suit the caring needs of their loved one, and there is also no need to provide evidence of how the leave is used and who the care is used for, taking the red tape away from carer’s leave. This should create an easy process for carers and businesses.
Business Minister Dean Russell welcomed the reforms:
“Carers play a vital role in our society, and it is only right that we support them so they can balance their caring responsibilities with their working life.
These reforms will not only better the lives of millions of unpaid carers across the UK, but also the friends and family that are dependent on their compassion every day.”
When does the Carer’s Leave Act come into force?
The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 comes into force on April 6th, 2024. The act amends and inserts new provisions into the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Employers should know that until the new law is enforced, they must follow NHS guidance when employees request leave to care for someone.
Who can take carer’s leave?
Under the new laws, anyone responsible for a dependant’s long-term care that is employed can take carer’s leave from day one of their employment.
The criteria to take carer’s leave are that:
You must be classified as an employee
You must be a dependant – including spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and anyone who lives with someone they depend on for care
The dependant has long-term physical or mental care needs
What will carer’s leave be used for?
Carer’s leave can be taken to care for a dependant who lives in the same household as the carer. A dependant is classed as someone who ‘reasonably relies’ on the other person for care.
The care needs must be long-term. This is defined as the dependant having a long-term injury or illness (physical or mental) that requires or is likely to require care for three months or longer – which is defined as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. Alternatively, someone requiring care due to old age is also eligible.
Employees can self-certify their eligibility for carer’s leave, meaning they don’t need to provide any evidence, medical or otherwise to their employer as to how the leave will be used and who they’re planning to care for.
How can carer’s leave be taken?
As we've covered, carer’s leave is flexible and it can be taken in many ways to suit the individual carer.
There are some key requirements around how leave can be taken:
Employees must take a minimum of half a working day’s leave at a time - a working day should fit the employee’s regular working pattern
Leave doesn’t need to be taken on consecutive days. This means employees can take 5 day’s leave over a 12-month rolling period
Employees must provide notice - this doesn’t need to be in writing but should be at least double the amount of time being requested, or three days, whichever is longest. If you need to take off a week, for instance, you must give two weeks’ notice. The notice must reference the fact that you are entitled to take carer’s leave and the time you want to take off
Employers can waive the notice period when the employee is eligible as a long-term carer in other regards
Does an employer have to agree to carer’s leave?
Yes, provided the appropriate notice period has been given, it is illegal to deny carer’s leave outright.
It can however be postponed by employers when they reasonably estimate that the operation of the business would be unduly disrupted by granting leave.
When an employer chooses to postpone leave, they need to provide a written counter-notice under the law within seven days of receiving the request. This must explain their reasoning and propose revised dates when they permit the leave to be taken – this must be within one month of the original leave request.
What can an employee do if their request for carer’s leave is rejected?
If your leave is rejected and your employer doesn’t propose alternative dates, you can bring a tribunal claim. This right applies if your employer unreasonably postpones, prevents your leave, or attempts to do so.
Our solicitors have wide-ranging experience in assisting employees in taking their employer to a tribunal and ultimately winning. So, get in touch with us today if this is something that has affected you.
Implications of the carer’s leave act 2023 for employers
If you are an employer, here are some important key takeaways on the back of the new Carer’s Leave Act 2023:
Update policies and employee handbooks on their right by law, and how they can take carer’s leave if they need to
Create a self-certification form that employees can fill out when they request carer’s leave which states that they are taking carer’s leave because they meet the definition of a carer and will use the leave as intended under the law
Employees are protected from detriment (retaliation) or dismissal under the Equality Act 2010 - dismissal on the grounds of requesting carer’s leave would automatically be classed as unfair dismissal
As the carer’s leave is an unpaid form of leave, employers do not have to pay employees who take carer’s leave
Introduce a system to log carer’s leave, this could be incorporated into existing holiday tracking software
Managers should be informed of the new type of leave, potential sensitivities around the issue, and that any detriment or attempt to dismiss an employee is illegal. Employees may not want the team to know about their caring responsibilities and might be reluctant to tell their manager the reason they need the leave.
Carer’s leave help and guidance
For help and advice relating to employment leave and absence from our expert employment law solicitors, contact us today.