The Carer’s Leave Act and What It Means for Employment

The Carer’s Leave Act introduced an important statutory right for employees with caring responsibilities. From 6 April 2024, eligible employees have been entitled to take up to one week of unpaid carer’s leave in a 12-month period to provide or arrange care for a dependent with long-term care needs.

This legislation has strengthened employment rights for carers, giving employees a day-one right to request time away from work for caring responsibilities. For employers, it also means making sure policies, procedures and managers are up to date on the new carers leave regulations.

Carer’s leave is a statutory entitlement allowing employees to take unpaid time off work to provide or arrange care for a dependent with a long-term care need.

The right is flexible. Employees do not need to take the leave consecutively, but the minimum amount that can be taken at any one time is half a working day. The maximum entitlement is one week in a 12-month period, based on the employee’s normal working week.

For example, an employee who works five days per week can take up to five days’ unpaid carer’s leave. An employee who works three days per week can take up to three days.

The right to carers leave from work is available to employees from day one of employment. There is no minimum length of service requirement.

Employees may be entitled to unpaid leave for carers where they need time off to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. This may include a dependant with:

A dependant can include a spouse, civil partner, child or parent. It can also include someone who lives in the same household as the employee, other than as a tenant, lodger or boarder, or someone who reasonably relies on the employee to provide or arrange care.

This means carers leave for dependants is not limited to immediate family members. A dependant may be a non-family member if they rely on the employee for care. 

Employees can take up to one week of statutory carer’s leave in a 12-month period.

This is sometimes referred to as five days unpaid carer’s leave, although the exact entitlement depends on how many days the employee normally works in a week.

The leave can be taken as:

This flexibility is particularly helpful where an employee needs to attend medical appointments with a dependant, arrange care, support an elderly parent or deal with planned caring responsibilities.

Carer’s leave is unpaid. The statutory right gives employees time away from work, but it does not require employers to pay employees for that time.

Some employers may choose to offer paid carers leave as part of a workplace policy, but this would be a contractual or discretionary benefit rather than the statutory minimum.

Employers cannot refuse a valid carer’s leave request. However, they may postpone the leave where the employee’s absence would cause serious disruption to the business.

If an employer does need to postpone a request, they must:

The ability to postpone should be used carefully. Employers should not treat postponement as a general right to avoid or discourage carers leave requests.

Employees are protected from detriment and dismissal if they take, seek to take, or the employer believes they are likely to take carer’s leave.

This means employers should avoid treating an employee unfavourably because they have requested or taken leave. For example, employees should not be disciplined, selected for redundancy, denied opportunities or dismissed because they have exercised their employee right to carers leave.

These protections are an important part of carers leave employee rights and should be reflected in any internal carers leave policy.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2024 has practical implications for employers. Businesses should make sure they have a clear process for handling carers leave requests and that managers understand the right.

Key carers leave employer obligations include:

A clear unpaid carers leave policy can help both employers and employees understand what is required, how much notice should be given, and how requests will be managed.

Employers should review their existing employment policies and procedures to ensure they comply with the carer’s leave regulations. This includes checking staff handbooks, family-friendly leave policies, absence policies and manager guidance.

In practice, the right to carers leave is likely to be most effective where employees feel comfortable raising caring responsibilities early and managers are trained to respond appropriately.

For employers, this is not simply a compliance issue. Supporting employees with caring responsibilities can help retain experienced staff, reduce workplace stress and demonstrate a practical commitment to employee wellbeing.

If you would like advice on updating your policies, managing a request, or understanding how the Carer’s Leave Act affects your business, please get in touch with our Employment Law team.