Draft Regulations clarify the new right to carer’s leave
Thursday 25th January 2024
Currently, to meet caring responsibilities employees must rely on other types of leave, such as annual leave, or parental leave if they are looking after a child. Increasingly, carers are having to apply for flexible working requests to accommodate their responsibilities.
The Government has now published draft regulations that provide further detail of the proposed ‘day one’ right to Carer’s leave, planned to implement 6 April 2024. Here are all the changes you will need to know…
Leave entitlement under the Carer’s Leave Act 2023
The new regulations will allow employees to take to one week’s unpaid leave in a 12-month period to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. This one-week entitlement will not extend if the employee has care responsibilities to more than one dependant.
Dependants are defined the same as current regulations for leave and include spouses, civil partners, children, parents, and any “person who reasonably relies on the employee for care”. A ‘long-term care need’ is a long-term injury (physical or mental) or illness that is likely to require over 3 months care, a disability under the Equality Act, or issues related to old age.
The leave may be taken in either individual days or half days or as a block of one week. As the leave is designed for anticipated care commitments, employees are required to give notice specifying their entitlement to the leave (with no evidential requirement), and the time off requested. Notice can be written or verbal and must be given the earlier of 3 days or double to amount of requested time off in advance. Employers may allow late notice should they wish.
Postponing a request
A request for leave cannot be declined, however it may be postponed if the employer reasonably considers that the operation of their business would be unduly disrupted if the employee took carer’s leave during the requested period. In these circumstances, the employer must permit the employee to take the same length of leave starting on a date determined by the employer after consulting with the employee, which must be within a month of the first day initially requested. Written notice must be given to the employee within seven days of the request setting out the reason for the postponement and the agreed dates the leave can be taken on.
If an employer unreasonably postpones or prevents/attempts to prevent the employee taking leave, employees will be able to bring a claim before the tribunal.
Comment
It is important for employers to be aware of these upcoming changes. Employers will need to undertake the necessary policy reviews to incorporate this change and to adhere to the regulations when they are implemented in April.
For any advice or support with amending relevant policies and contracts ahead of the new regulations coming into force, please speak to a member of the Employment Team who will be happy to advise.
