Unpaid carer’s leave
Christmas has come early for carers. Regulations came into force earlier than expected on 4 December 2023, to introduce a new statutory right to unpaid carer’s leave for employees in England, Wales and Scotland from 6 April 2024.
The new regulations have inserted new sections 80J to 80N into the Employment Rights Act 1996, which provide that an employee with a dependant with long-term care needs may take one week’s unpaid leave to provide or arrange care.
Dependant includes a spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the employee or someone who lives in the same household otherwise than by reason of being a lodger, boarder, tenant or employee.
Long-term care need is defined as having an illness or injury (whether physical or mental) that requires, or is likely to require, care for more than three months; having a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010; or requiring care for a reason connected with their old age.
An employee will be entitled to one week’s leave during any 12-month period. The leave can be taken in days, half days or blocks of a week, subject to giving the employer a notice period of twice as many days as the period requested, or 3 days, whichever is greater.
Notice doesn’t have to be in writing and no evidence is required. The notice period can also be waived if other requirements have been met.
Carer’s leave can be postponed by an employer if it will cause serious disruption to the business and the employee is allowed to take a period of leave of the same duration within a month of the original request. An employer must give notice of postponement within 7 days of the leave request, saying why and agreeing alternative dates to take the leave.
During the period of carer’s leave, all usual terms and conditions apply, save for entitlement to pay, and employees are subject to all their usual obligations. If there is a contractual right to carer’s leave, then the employee can take advantage of whatever is more favourable.
Employees are protected from detriment that occurs because they took or sought to take carer’s leave, or the employer believed they would, and they are also protected from dismissal where the reason or principal reason for employment ending was the exercising of the right to leave or a belief that they would exercise the right.
This is welcome news for the end of 2023 and a right for affected employees to look forward to from April next year.
Authors: Haylee Chambers and Daniel Kindell.
