New Rights - The Carers Leave Act
New Rights - The Carers Leave Act
April 6 2024 Carers UK and Government website information.
‘The new Carer's Leave Act will come into effect from Saturday 6 April 2024. Securing these new rights for working carers was the result of many years' campaigning and has opened up many more possibilities for carers who are employed.’ - Michael Shann, Head of Carer Support, Carers UK
Summary of Press Release.
The Carer’s Leave Act which gained Royal Assent on 24 May 2023, provides employment rights for people balancing unpaid caring responsibilities with paid employment. (Article from Carers UK below). ‘The Act supports retention and recruitment, and the health and wellbeing of employees with caring responsibilities.’ 2.3 million carers who are employees will be entitled to the new right. This new right, encourages employers to create carer-related policies and supports carers' health and wellbeing. ‘The Act is expected to bring economic gains for the Treasury, save UK companies up to £4.8 billion a year in unplanned absences and a further £3.4 billion in improved employee retention, and improve finances for carers.’
Carer Mentor’s Questions and points for consideration:
It’s taken years of time, effort, and campaigning for Carers UK (charity) and its supporters to achieve the legal right for carers to have ‘one week’ to support the person they care for.
An estimated 2.3 million people in the UK will benefit from this, but there are approximately 5.7 million unpaid carers.
If carers choose to seek employment on top of carrying the burden of caring and are employed, they can only earn a maximum of £139 per week. If we add this to the Carer’s Allowance of £81.90 as of April 1st 2024 (for carers who care a minimum of 35 hours), this means Carers receive £220.90 per week, dismally below the national living wage (£6.31/hour versus £11.44/hour for people over 21 years of age 2024/5).
Eligibility quoted from Carers UK: ‘You may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance if all the following apply:
You look after someone for at least 35 hours a week.
You don’t earn more than £139 per week (after deductions including tax, national insurance and certain expenses).
Live in England, Scotland, or Wales for at least two of the last three years
The person you care for receives a disability benefit
You’re aged 16 or over.
You’re not in full-time education
Carer’s Allowance is a taxable benefit, which means that it is considered income.‘
From Carers UK 15 January 2024 Press Release:
56% of carers juggle paid employment alongside 35 hours or more of unpaid care.
32% of carers of working age have given up work to care and 27% have had to reduce their working hours.
24% of working age carers say they gave up work or cut hours because of a lack of social care services.
20% of carers who gave up work to care said that an unsupportive workplace was one of the reasons for leaving employment.
If you have any questions - call the Carers UK Helpline
UK 0808 808 7777 from Monday to Friday, 9am – 6pm (excluding Bank Holidays) or you can contact them by email (advice@carersuk.org). If you have a general enquiry, email info@carersuk.org
This next section is from the Carers UK Website.
About the Carer's Leave Bill - and Carers UK's support
A right to Carer's Leave is an issue that Carers UK has campaigned on for a long time. Last June, this took a firm step forward with the introduction of a Private Members' Bill on Carer's Leave, by Wendy Chamberlain MP, the Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife. Carers UK has worked closely with Wendy in the passing of the Bill, which gained Royal Assent and became the Carer’s Leave Act on 24 May 2023.
The Bill's support
Thank you to everyone who supported the campaign we have run over the past year to ensure the Carer’s Leave Bill was successfully passed. Your interest and support has been invaluable.
We were delighted to gain the support of leading employers such as Centrica, TSB, Phoenix as well as small employers such as Agenor Technology, industry bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, unions such as Unison, local government such as the Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Social Services and Portsmouth City Council, national charities such as Age UK, MS Society and Stroke Association, medical bodies such the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, and local and national carers organisations such as Caring Together, Sheffield Carers Centre, York Carers Centre, The Coalition of Carers in Scotland, Carers Trust, Gaddum, Wales Carers Alliance and many more.
The need for Carer's Leave
Passing this Bill will provide much needed employment rights for people who juggle their unpaid caring responsibilities with paid employment.
Prior to the coronavirus crisis, almost 5 million people were juggling paid work alongside caring unpaid – about 15% of the UK’s population. In 2020, the number of people in paid work who were also providing unpaid care increased to over 7 million. The stresses and strain of having to juggle paid work alongside unpaid care has led to hundreds of thousands of people having to leave the labour market entirely. On average, 600 people a day leave work to care – with over 500,000 people leaving work to provide unpaid care in the two years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
As our population ages, and changes to the way we work occur as a result of COVID-19, the issue of people juggling work and care is only going grow as a challenge. The UK already lags behind other countries when it comes to workplace rights for carers and it’s time our workplaces reflect the reality of our lives.
What would the Act do?
The Act will help support unpaid carers to remain in work alongside their unpaid caring responsibilities – and, given the current cost of living crisis, there has never been a more important time to do so.
Carers UK’s evidence from employers, through Employers for Carers, is that a right to Carer’s Leave supports retention and recruitment, as well as the health and wellbeing of employees with caring responsibilities.
Although our ultimate goal remains up to 10 days' paid leave from work for all carers in employment, Carers UK believes unpaid leave will deliver a number of different benefits.
The Act will:
Give rights to at least 2 million employees who are carers.
Prompt employers to whom this applied to think about their employees with caring responsibilities, and for many, create carer-related policies for the first time.
Mean that more forward-looking employers will go further than the legislation required and introduce paid Carer’s Leave, to help them stay ahead with recruitment.
Support carers' health and wellbeing. Research shows that having a supportive employer and the ability to take time off work to provide care (Carer’s Leave) can help to mitigate the pressures carers face.
Recognise and value carers, which is critically important to them.
Economic and social impact of Carer's Leave
Our research shows that giving carers the right to take Carer’s Leave would:
Improve finances for carers in the short and longer term as they are more able to juggle work and care.
37% of working carers said they needed unpaid Carer’s Leave, and a further 1 in 7 said if they didn’t get it, they would have to reduce working hours or give up work altogether.
Particularly support women, who are more likely to be juggling work and care, and who are much more likely to be in part-time work rather than full-time.
Bring increased productivity for employers, who would improve their employee retention rates and reduce their recruitment costs. One employer estimated that they saved around £1.8 million per annum through the application of carer policies in terms of preventing unplanned absences and presenteeism and a further £1.3 million per annum in retention savings.
Save UK companies up to £4.8 billion a year in unplanned absences and a further £3.4 billion in improved employee retention by adopting flexible working policies to support those with caring responsibilities.
Bring economic gains for the Treasury, through increased productivity, due to more carers being able to continue juggling work alongside their unpaid caring responsibilities, rather than having to leave the labour market. Our research in 2019 showed as many as 600 people a day were having to quit work because they were not getting the support they needed.
The Text Below is a Direct Copy From the UK Government Website
Unpaid carer’s leave
From 6 April 2024, employees will be entitled to unpaid leave to give or arrange care for a ‘dependant’ who has:
a physical or mental illness or injury that means they’re expected to need care for more than 3 months
a disability (as defined in the Equality Act 2010)
care needs because of their old age
The dependant does not have to be a family member. It can be anyone who relies on them for care.
Employees are entitled to carer’s leave from their first day of work for their employer. Their employment rights (like holidays and returning to their job) are protected during carer’s leave.
How long employees can take
Employees can take up to one week of leave every 12 months. A ‘week’ means the length of time they usually work over 7 days. For example, if someone usually works 3 days a week, they can take 3 days of carer’s leave.
They can either take a whole week off or take individual days or half days throughout the year.
If an employee needs to care for more than one person, they cannot take a week of carer’s leave for each dependant. They can only take one week every 12 months. They can use the week of leave on more than one dependant.
If an employee is a parent, they can take up to 18 weeks’ leave to look after their child. This is separate to carer’s leave.
Employees with irregular working patterns
Work out how much carer’s leave the employee can take if their working hours change each week.
Add up the total number of hours worked in the previous 12 months.
Divide that total by 52 (or however many weeks since they started the job, if they’ve been in the job less than a year).
This is the amount of leave they can take as carer’s leave.
If an employee wants to take carer’s leave in their first week, use the amount they’re expected to work in a week as the amount of leave they can take.
How to take carer’s leave
Employees need to give their employer notice before they want their leave to start.
If the request is for half a day or a day, the notice period must be at least 3 days.
If the request is for more than one day, the notice period must be at least twice as long as the requested leave. For example, if the request is for 2 days, the notice period must be at least 4 days.
The notice period needs to be in full days, even if the request includes half day amounts.
The request does not have to be in writing.
Employees do not need to give evidence of their dependant’s care needs.
If you need to look after someone in an emergency, you can take time off for this without giving a notice period.
When employers can delay carer’s leave
Employers cannot refuse a carer’s leave request but can ask the employee to take it at a different time. They can only do this if the employee’s absence would cause serious disruption to the organisation.
If they delay it, the employer must:
agree another date within one month of the requested date for the leave
put the reason for the delay and new date in writing to the employee within 7 days of the original request, and before the requested start date of the leave
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