The Carer’s Leave Act came into effect on 6 April 2024, making big changes to the lives of working caregivers in the UK. Carers in the workplace have new rights under the legislation, and as HR professionals, it’s important to understand the scope of their rights, to support them and protect your business.

This guide takes a look at how employers can – if you haven’t already – introduce the legislation and how they can support careers in their organisation.

Career’s leave entitlement
The act created statutory entitlement to carer’s leave.

Eligible employees can take up to one week of unpaid carer’s leave within a 12-month period from their first day of employment to provide or arrange care for a dependent with a long-term care need.

A dependent is a spouse, civil partner, parent, child or anyone living in the same household as the employee – but this does not include a lodger or tenant.
‍
If the person reasonably relies on an employee to arrange or provide care, the employee will be entitled to leave under the act for caring for that dependent.
‍
The ‘long-term care need’ definition includes:

• The needs of any person who requires care for their old age
• Any person that has a disability under the Equality Act 2010
• A person who has a physical or mental illness or injury that requires, or is likely to require care for more than three months

Flexible leave

Employees are entitled to a period of leave that is equal to their usual working week. For example, if a person works three days a week, then they are entitled to three days’ carer’s leave. The employee can choose whether the leave is taken in full days, half days or the full week in one go, providing flexibility for caregiving duties. Days off do not need to be consecutive either, allowing better management of caregiving responsibilities.

Notice requirements

Employees must give written notice to their employer before taking carer’s leave.  Notice should be twice the leave requested or three days if longer, like for holiday requests.