Appendix 23 – Carers Leave Policies And Procedures

All employees with caring responsibilities, have a statutory right to take unpaid carer’s leave from Day one of their employment. The Company acknowledges the importance for employees in allowing time off to fulfil caring responsibilities for their dependents. 

General Principles

The Company will endeavour to grant requests where possible. However, if it deems it necessary for the proper conduct of its business and in accordance with the permitted statutory grounds, your request may be postponed. You will not be subject to any detrimental treatment, for taking carer’s leave.

Entitlement

With effect from 6 April 2024, The Carer’s Leave Regulations come into force allowing employees with caring responsibilities to take one working week’s unpaid leave in any 12-month rolling period. You can request to take this as half days, full days, or a continuous block.

For these purposes, a week is based on the number of days you normally work in a week.

If your normal working time varies from week to week (or if you are not contracted to work in every week of the year), a week is your average working time in a week taken over the previous 12 months.

A dependant is defined as a:

  • spouse or civil partner

  • child

  • parent

  • person who lives in the same household but is not a tenant, lodger, boarder or employee

  • person who reasonably relies on you to provide or arrange care. This could be, eg an elderly neighbour.

    A dependant has a long-term care need if:

  • they have an illness or injury (whether physical or mental) that requires, or is likely to require, care for more than three months

  • they have a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010

  • they require care for a reason connected with old age.

The Company recognises that people other than those listed above in relation to whom the statutory right applies may depend on you for assistance. Requests for time off in relation to these people should be made to your line manager but these will be considered separately to requests for statutory carer’s leave.

You are not required to provide evidence of your eligibility in relation to a request for carer’s leave.

Should you request or take time off under this policy for reasons other than those for which the statutory right to carer’s leave is intended, you may be subject to investigation and subsequent disciplinary proceedings.

Scope Of Request

A request for carer’s leave must be made in writing to your line manager, and must specify:

  • that you are entitled to take carer’s leave in terms of the person to be cared for

  • that you will take leave in order to provide or arrange care for that person

  • that you have not exceeded your entitlement

  • the days on which you want to take leave and if the leave relates to part of a day, specify this fact.

The length of notice to be given is double the amount of time that you want to take off as carer’s leave in that instance or three days, whichever is longer.

Postponement

The Company may decide to postpone your request for carer’s leave for up to one month, if we reasonably consider that the operation of the business would be unduly disrupted if you took carer’s leave at the time you have asked for. We will try to avoid postponement wherever possible.

The Company will consult with you before determining a new date for you to take the carer’s leave requested. The new period of carer’s leave will be for the same length of time as the original request.

The Company will confirm to you in writing the reason for the postponement and the new agreed date of leave, no later than either the earliest day / part-day of the leave originally requested, or within seven days from the date the original request was received.

Other policies

You have a statutory right to take a reasonable amount of time off work to deal with emergencies involving your dependants. If you need time off in an emergency to care for a dependant, you should read our time off for dependants policy.

Your entitlement to time off on the loss of a child is set out in our policy on parental bereavement leave, including details of eligibility, pay during time off and other support available.

If you wish to make a request for parental leave to care for a child, you should read our parental leave policy.