There had previously been no statutory right for those with caring responsibilities to take designated carers leave. This position has now changed with the introduction of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 which comes into effect on April 6th 2024.

Under the new Act, employees now have a statutory right to one week (5 working days) unpaid carer’s leave in each rolling 12-month period to care for a dependant with a long-term care need. We have set out below a summary of the key rights under the new Act. 

• Carer’s leave is a day one right and there is no minimum service requirement before an employee can request a period of leave. 
• Carer’s leave will apply to employees and is intended to allow the individual to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need.  
• The definition of “dependant” includes a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, a person who lives in the same household as the employee (other than by reason of them being their employee, tenant, lodger or boarder), or the wider catch-all provision, of a person who reasonably relies on the employee for care. 
• “Long term care” is defined as illness or injury (physical or mental) that requires or is likely to require care for more than three months, a disability under the Equality Act 2010, or issues related to old age. 
• The leave may be taken in either individual days or half days, up to a block of one week. There is no requirement to use the leave on consecutive days. 
• The required notice period (which does not need to be in writing) is either twice as many days as the period of leave required, or three days, whichever is the greater.  
• An employer cannot require evidence before granting the leave but may request an employee to self-certify that they meet the legal definition of a carer and will be using the leave to provide this care.  
• Employees are entitled to return to the same job they were doing immediately before they took carer’s leave. 

Employers should note that dismissal of an employee for a reason connected with their taking carer’s leave will be automatically unfair. Further, an employee will also be protected from detriment attributable to the fact that they took or sought to take carer’s leave.  

An employee may also be able to bring an employment tribunal claim against their employer if they consider that their request has been unreasonably postponed, or they have been prevented from taking their leave. If such a claim is successful the employment tribunal can make a declaration and award compensation to the employee.  

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