The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 – What it Means for You

By Paul Kelly, Head of Employment law at Blacks Solicitors (www.lawblacks.com)

Currently thousands of employees across the UK use annual leave, part-time or flexible working to support loved ones and fulfil long-term care needs. New, draft regulations for the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 (Act) were laid before Parliament on 11 December 2023, setting out the details of a new regime, which will require employers to change the way support is offered to their employees with care responsibilities.

The Act is due to come into force with effect from 06 April 2024, and is estimated that it will give rights to at least two million employees who are carers in the UK1.

Paul Kelly, Head of Employment law at Blacks Solicitors, discusses the Act, the impact this will have on the social care sector and what employers need to know about supporting employees who are also carers once this comes into force.

The law
The Act will introduce a statutory entitlement to one week’s unpaid leave for employees with caring responsibilities.

Currently, there is no existing statutory right for employees to take leave to carry out caring responsibilities. Currently, employees in this situation must utilise other kinds of leave to assist loved ones who are ill and/or in need of care. This may include flexible working, maternity leave, parental leave and even using their annual leave. While these various leave entitlements can be used to fulfil caring responsibilities, this was not their purpose and none are specifically tailored to these circumstances.

The Act aims to prompt employers to improve the support available to employees with caring responsibilities, and for many, create carer-related policies for the first time. Support from employers for carer’s health and wellbeing is shown to greatly mitigate the pressures carers face2.
In practice

The government hopes that the Act will help to address the gap in support by introducing a new statutory ‘day one’ right to unpaid carer’s leave for employees who are providing or arranging care for dependents with long-term care needs. The ‘Day one’ right refers to employee’s having the right to request this leave from the first day of employment with no qualifying period.

From 06 April 2024, carers will now be provided with one week of unpaid flexible leave per year, to be taken either as full or half-days.

Eligibility for this week of leave will take account of multiple factors, such as whether the employee is a primary carer, who the dependent is, and whether the dependent has a long-term care need.

In order for an employee to request leave, it is expected that they will need to provide advance notice that is at least twice the length of the time being requested as leave, plus one day. For example, if an employee is requested three days off to take care of an individual with a care need, they need to request this from their employers within a minimum of seven working days prior to the first day of leave.

An employee may complain to an employment tribunal if their employer unreasonably postpones a period of leave or prevents an eligible employee from taking carer’s leave once this Act comes into force.

Employers should therefore consider the following prior to the 06 April:
• Updating or creating new policies to inform their employees of the new legislation and the process and practicalities of requesting leave.
• Whether this new entitlement should be enhanced by offering to pay for some or all of an employee’s carer’s leave or if this will just be unpaid leave.
• Ensure that this new legislation is understood by all members of staff in the organisation, including managers, old and new employees.

If you have any questions about the Carer’s Leave Act, or any other employment law questions, please visit: www.lawblacks.com/employment-law