Carers leave

Policy

This webpage guidance has been designed to act as a point of reference. For further details please refer to the full Carers leave policy.

Carers leave policy

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Effective from 6 April 2024

This policy sets out the statutory right of employees to carer's leave to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. The entitlement remains the same, regardless of how many dependants an employee may be providing care for.

Any member of staff is eligible to apply carers leave irrespective of job family and length of service. A member of staff’s employment is continuous during a period of Carers leave.

Staff members do not need to provide evidence of their dependant's care needs.

For staff requiring time off for unexpected or sudden problems connected with dependents, they should refer to the Family Emergency leave provision within the Special Leave Policy.

How is a dependant defined?

In the context of Carer’s leave, a dependent means:

  • A spouse, civil partner, child or parent;
  • Any person who lives in the same household as the employee (other than as a lodger, tenant, boarder, or employee); or
  • Any person who would reasonably rely on the employee to provide or arrange care.

A dependent 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 3 months;
  • Have a condition that amounts to a disability under the Equality Act 2010; or
  • Require care for a reason connected to their old age.

The statutory right to carer's leave applies to a wide range of caring situations, but excludes general childcare, except where the child meets the definition of a dependant with a long-term care need.

Requesting Carers leave

Staff guidance

As soon as you are aware of the need to take care-related absence, please inform your line manager as soon as possible with the date you would like the leave to commence, and an estimated length of the time required aware from work. 

You will be entitled to one working week of unpaid leave (pro rata for part time staff) in any 12-month period.

If the leave request is for a half day or a full day, you must provide notice at least 3 days in advance (the notice must be in full days, even if the request includes half day amounts. If you are requesting leave for more than one day, notice must be submitted in advance of at least twice the length of the intended leave period. For example, if the request is for two days of leave, you must provide notice at least 4 days in advance. 

Once your line manager has agreed your request, you will need to complete the Unpaid Carers leave form and send it to the HR Staff Hub, in addition to updating your TeamSeer absence records. 

The HR Staff Hub will confirm your Carers leave arrangements and liaise with the Payroll and Pension team to ensure the appropriate salary deduction is made.

Manager guidance

Your member of staff is required to inform you as soon as possible with the date they would like to commence Carers leave, and an estimated length of the time required aware from work.

If the leave request is for a half day or a full day, they must provide notice at least 3 days in advance (the notice must be in full days, even if the request includes half day amounts. If they are requesting leave for more than one day, notice must be submitted in advance of at least twice the length of the intended leave period. For example, if the request is for two days of leave, you must provide notice at least 4 days in advance. 

The request from your member of staff does not have to be in writing; however, once you have agreed to the request, they will need to complete the Unpaid Carers leave form and email it to the HR Staff Hub.

The HR Staff Hub will confirm their Carers leave arrangements and the arrangement for salary deduction in writing. The HR Staff Hub will liaise with the Payroll and Pension team to ensure the appropriate salary deduction is made.

You are unable to refuse the request for Carer’s leave, but you can ask for it to be rescheduled for a different time if the requested absence will result in any constraints or undue disruption to the operations of the team/department. If this scenario occurs, you must:

  • State the rationale for the postponement of the requested leave within 7 days of the staff members original request, and before the intended start date of their leave.
  • Agree a new date for the leave to commence within one month of the start date of the initial request.