Carers Leave Regulations 6th April 2024

The Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 has recently been laid before Parliament - eligible employees will be able to take the one weeks’ unpaid carers leave in any rolling 12 month period – with the option to take this time as either half or full days which can run concurrently or not as the case may be.

Employee eligibility requirements are that they:

·         Have a dependant with a long-term care need

·         Need to take the leave in order to provide or arrange care for that dependant

·         Have not exceeded the entitlement of one week of carer’s leave in any rolling 12

month period

Employees can apply to take this leave from day one of employment as there is no qualifying service required.

In order to apply for this leave, the employee must:

·         Apply in writing to their employer

·         Specify that they intend to take carer’s leave

·         The days in which the leave is to be taken

·         Employees must give either:

1. Twice as many days’ notice as the number of days they want to take in

advance OR

2. Three days in advance of the earliest day specified in the written request,

whichever is the soonest

3. Employees are not required to provide evidence in relation to a request, therefore the

employer is not entitled to request it

The employer has the ability to postpone this leave if it believes that the operation of the business would be unduly disrupted, however, to do this, the employer must:

·         Allow the employee to take the leave on an alternative date and within one month of

the earliest day that was originally requested by the employee

·         Write to the employee confirming the reason why their leave has been postponed and

giving the alternative agreed dates where the leave can instead be taken

·         Provide this notice to the employee either:

1. Seven days after the employee requested the leave OR

2. Before the earliest day requested by the employee, whichever is the earliest of the

two

A point to note is that an employee is protected under this new legislation from suffering a detriment or from being dismissed who:

·         Have already taken this leave

·         Seeks to take it

·         Who is believed by the employer as likely to take carer’s leave

Should you wish to read the Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024, please click here

If you would like any further information on this article or would like to discuss your employment law and HR matters, please don’t hesitate to contact at hello@alphr.uk and we will be delighted to help you.