Advice

Your rights

Caring for someone at the same time as you are in employment can be a lot to manage. You don’t have to tell your employer that you are a carer but if they are aware of your caring responsibilities, they may have a better understanding of the pressures you are facing and may be able to support you.

As a carer, you have rights in the workplace. Your rights at work come from two sources:

• the law gives you statutory rights which everyone has
• your contract of employment gives you contractual rights, which can be more generous than statutory rights. It is always worth checking your contract of employment, staff handbook, HR policies or letter of appointment to see if you have any contractual rights on top of your statutory rights

The information below outlines your statutory rights in the workplace and may be some of the ways you could achieve a better balance between your job and your caring role.

Carer’s Leave Act 2023

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 came into effect on 6 April 2024 giving working carers the right to take up to one week’s unpaid leave from their job every year if they need it, to provide or arrange care for a dependant who needs long term care.

When can carer’s leave be taken?

Carers have the right to take carer’s leave from the first day in a job, ‘day one’ of their employment.

Employers might choose to pay their employees for carer’s leave but they don’t have to. Check if your employer has policy about carer’s leave, check your employment contract, or, talk with your employer to find out what you are entitled to.

What can leave be taken for?

Carers have the right to take up to 1 week unpaid leave from work to allow them to manage and deal with foreseeable caring situations. For example, this could include time to take their dependant person to planned hospital appointments, or, to manage a change in their care arrangements.

Who counts as a dependant?

Your dependants include:

• your husband, wife, civil partner or partner
• your child
• your parent
• a person who lives in their household (not tenants, lodgers or employees)
• a person who relies on them for care, such as an elderly neighbour

What counts as a long-term care need?

The person you care for has a long-term care need if they have:

• a disability as defined under the Equality Act 2010
• an illness or injury that is likely to need care for at least 3 months
• a care need related to old age

How much carer’s leave can be taken?

One week of carers leave can be taken in every 12-month period. Carers are entitled to a period of leave that is equal to their usual working week. For example, if you work 3 days a week, you can take 3 days of carer’s leave. It can be taken as:

• half days – this is the minimum that can be taken at a time
• full days
• a whole week

If you provide care to more than one dependant, you are still only entitled to one week of carers leave.

Giving notice to take carer’s leave

Carers must give their employers notice before the start of their leave.

The minimum notice period is twice the length of the time being requested, or 3 days, whichever is the longest. For example, 3 days’ notice for a leave period of half a day to one day, 4 days’ notice for a leave period of 2 days, etc. An employer may choose to waive the notice period if appropriate.

Although there is no requirement to give notice in writing, carers should provide information including the fact that they are entitled to take carer’s leave and the day(s) or part of a day that they will take.

Employers are not allowed to ask carers to provide evidence of their entitlement to carer’s leave.

Can carer’s leave be refused?

Employers cannot refuse a request for carer’s leave but they could ask you to take it at a different time.

They can only do this if your absence would cause serious disruption to the organisation. If an employer needs to delay the leave, they must:

• agree another date within 1 month of the date you originally requested leave for
• explain in writing why they need to delay the leave – they must do this within 7 days of the request or before the leave starts, whichever is the earlier.

If a carer needs to cancel their request for carer’s leave, they should do this as soon as possible. It’s good practice for the employer to consider this but they don’t have to agree to it.

Employees’ rights when taking carer’s leave

Employees taking carer’s leave have the right to return to the same job with all the same terms and conditions – for example, you would still accrue holiday and get any benefits like staff discounts.

It’s against the law for an employer to dismiss someone or cause them detriment because of something related to carer’s leave.

Alternative types of leave

There are other types of leave that you may be able to use, instead of carer’s leave. For example:

• time off for dependants
• ordinary parental leave
• Holiday pay – but only if you want to
• special or compassionate leave

To find out if you can take these types of leave, you should check your contract of employment, check your organisations policies, or, speak with your employer.

Flexible working

What is flexible working?

Flexible working can be a way of managing your work/life balance and help you maintain work and caring. By law (Employment Rights Act 1996), employees have a statutory right to request flexible working. The statutory right to request flexible working applies to anyone legally classed as an employee and the right to make a request applies from the first day of employment.

There are many different types of flexible working, for example:

• part-time hours
• staggered hours
• remote working
• working from home
• hybrid working
• flexitime
• job sharing
• compressed hours

While some might not be practical for every job, it’s likely other types will work.

Making a request

You must make the request in writing to your employer – in either a letter or email and say that it is a ‘statutory request’ for flexible working.

You can find, free to use, Flexible working request letter templates on both the ACAS and Government websites.

You can only make a maximum of two requests during any 12-month period and you can only have one ‘live’ request with the same employer at a time.

Your employer must make a decision, including any appeal, within a maximum of 2 months. You and your employer can extend the 2-month time limit if you both agree to it. If you agree, your employer should confirm the extension in writing.

Consideration of your request

Your employer should consider your request carefully before making a decision.

By law, they must accept a request unless there is a genuine business reason not to.

They can only reject a request if it’s for one or more of the following business reasons:

• it will cost their business too much
• they cannot re-organise the work among other staff
• they cannot recruit more staff
• there will be a negative effect on quality of work
• there will be a negative effect on the business’s ability to meet customer demand
• there will be a negative effect on performance
• there is not enough work for you to do at the times you have requested to work
• there are planned changes to the business, for example, they intend to re-organise or change the business and think the request will not fit with these plans

Unless they agree to your request in full, your employer has a legal obligation to consult you before making a decision. That means talking and listening to you about your request so that they can make a fully informed decision. They should think carefully about your request, and what else might be possible, for example, accepting part of the request or offering you an alternative option.

What happens next?

If your employer agrees to your request in full, or agrees a different change with you, they should put it in put in writing with:

• details of the flexible working arrangement that has been agreed
• an invitation to discuss next steps to talk about how arrangements will work and go through details, such as, when new arrangement starts, changes to pay or leave entitlement, etc.

A flexible working change will usually mean changes to the terms of your employment contract; your employer must put these changes in writing within one month of agreeing to them.

If your employer has not agreed to your request in full, they should let you know if and how you can appeal the decision.

There is no legal right to appeal a statutory flexible working request decision but your employer may give you the option to appeal as part of a reasonable procedure.

Further information

ACAS have detailed information about flexible working on their website.

Time off for emergencies

By law, all employees are entitled to take reasonable time off work to deal with unexpected problems or emergencies with close family members, or other people who depend on them. This is sometimes called ‘dependant leave’. It is not for things you knew about in advance, like a planned hospital appointment or taking the person you care for to a routine appointment.

The law does not say how much time employees can take off, or on how many occasions. It just says the amount should be ‘reasonable’.

Employers might choose to pay their employees for this type of leave but they do not have to. To find out if you are entitled to paid leave: check your contract of employment, your organisations policy, or, speak with your employer.

Further information

ACAS have detailed information about dependant leave on their website.

Ordinary parental leave

Parents have the right to unpaid time off work when they need to look after their children. This is called ‘ordinary parental leave’ or unpaid parental leave.

Parental leave is usually unpaid however, some employers might offer pay – check your employment contract to see what you are entitled to.

You are entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child, up to their 18th birthday. The limit on how much parental leave each parent can take in a year is 4 weeks for each child. You must take parental leave as whole weeks rather than individual days unless your employer agrees otherwise, or, if your child is disabled.

Employees qualify if ALL of the below apply:

• they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months
• they are named on: the child’s birth or adoption certificate, a parental order, or, a legal guardianship
• they are not self-employed, an agency worker or contractor
• they are not a foster parent (unless they have secured parental responsibility through the courts)
• the child is under 18 years of age

Further information

ACAS have detailed information about ordinary parental leave on their website.

Protection from discrimination

Under the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal to discriminate against a carer because of their responsibilities as a carer, or because of the people they care for.

If you are caring for someone who is elderly or disabled, the law protects you against direct discrimination or harassment because of your caring responsibilities. This is because you are counted as being ‘associated’ with someone who is protected by the law because of their age or disability. Examples of direct discrimination at work could include your employer:

• refusing to offer you a job because of your caring responsibilities
• treating you less favourably because of your caring responsibilities

This law applies to discrimination and harassment if they happen in your work place, and also protects you as a carer:

• when you shop for goods
• when you ask for services
• when you get services
• when you use facilities like public transport

For further information, read Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know as a carer? available on Gov.uk

If you feel that you are being discriminated against because of your caring responsibilities there is a range of advice and support available:

ACAS provide advice on employment and conciliation services for employers and employees to prevent or resolve workplace problems. You can speak to their helpline advisers and use their online helpline.

The Equality and Advisory Support Service provide advice and assist individuals on issues relating to equality and human rights.

Citizens Advice York