Empowering Growth...
The Carer's Leave Act will come into force on the 6th April this year.
This new law ensures that employees with care responsibilities are entitled to up to one week of unpaid carer's leave every 12 months.
This measure will enable companies to offer additional assistance to their employees, and alleviate some of the burdens they face as caregivers.
Employees will be entitled to unpaid leave to give or arrange care for a dependent who has:
- a phsyical or mental illness or injury that means they're expected to need care for more than 3 months
- a disibility (as defined in the Equality Act 2010)
- care needs because of their old age
The dependent does not need to be a family member, it can be anyone who relies on them for care.
Employees are entitled to carer's leave from their first day of work for their employer. Their employment rights, such as holidays and returning to their job are protected during carer's leave.
How long can employees take?
Employees can take up to one week of leave every 12 months. A 'week' means the length of time they usually work over 7 days. For example, if someone usually works 3 days a week, they can take 3 days of carer's leave.
If an employee needs to care for more than one person, they cannot take a week of carer's leave for each dependent. They can only take one week every 12 months. They can use the week of leave on more than one dependent.
If an employee is a parent, they can take up to 18' weeks leave to look after their child. This is seperate to carer's leave.
How to take carer's leave
Employees need to give their employer notice before they want their leave to start.
If the request is for half a day or a day, the notice period must be atleast 3 days.
If the request is for more than one day, the notice period must be at least twice as long as the requested leave. For example, if the request is for 2 days, the notice period must be atleast 4 days.
The notice period needs to be in full days, even if the request includes half day amounts.
The request does not have to be in writing.
When employers can delay carer's leave
Employers cannot refuse a carer's leave request but can ask the employee to take it at a different time. They can only do this if the employee's absence would cause serious disruption to the organisation.
If they delay it, the employer must:
- agree another date within one month of the requested date for the leave
- put the reason for the delay and new date in writing to the employee within 7 days of the original request, and before the requested start date of the leave
If you need any further assistance or guidance, get in touch with our Care & Education Team on 01480 573387
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Care & Education
