Carer’s Leave Regulations
The Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 have been laid before Parliament and set out the right for employees with caring responsibilities to apply for up to one week of unpaid carer’s leave in any 12 month period. These Regulations are due to come into force on 6 April 2024.
Main points from the Regulations:
- The right applies from day one of employment.
- It applies to employees who have a dependant with a long-term care need and those who want to be absent from work to provide or arrange care for that dependant.
- Requests do not need to be for the full week; they can be half or full days across the year.
- Employees must give at least twice the amount of notice than the period of leave requested in writing of their intention to take carer’s leave.
- Employers can postpone a request if the operation of the business would be unduly disrupted. If applicable, the employer must tell the employee before the leave was due to begin and explain why the postponement is necessary. The employer must also allow the leave to be taken within one month of the date of the leave originally requested, in consultation with the employee.
- Employees are protected from detriment and/or dismissal because they take or seek to take carer’s leave (or the employer believes they are likely to do so).
What should you do?
Check your policies as they may need to be amended to reflect the new rights coming into force on 6 April 2024. If you need any assistance with this, please do get in touch with our team.
Contact the team on [email protected]
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