The Department for Business and Trade has today published the Terms of Reference for its review into Carer’s Leave. First promised in the Government’s Next Steps to Make Work Pay plan, this committed to ‘review the implementation of Carer’s Leave and examine all the benefits of introducing paid carer’s leave, while being mindful of the impact of any changes on employers, particularly small employers’.

The Terms of Reference today set out the aims of the review which will be to:

• understand how the existing unpaid Carer’s Leave entitlement is working. This will include establishing which aspects are working well, and whether there are any barriers to specific groups of unpaid carers understanding or using the current entitlement
• examine options for different models of paid Carer’s Leave, while being mindful of the impact of any changes on employers, particularly small businesses
• consider the options and principles for additional interventions, such as extensions to the current unpaid entitlement, which may also help unpaid carers enter, remain in and progress in the workplace
• identify options with low or no cost to business and the exchequer and appropriate routes for implementation. 

The scope of the review will cover a number of areas for policy where it will consider the merits based on evidence such as the introduction of a paid leave entitlement, a one-off extended unpaid leave entitlement, a paid leave entitlement for the parents of seriously ill children and other situational paid leave entitlements to support carers in specific circumstances.

The Terms of Reference also outline a timeline for change, with evidence gathering, options development and consultation scheduled for 2026. The process will conclude later that year with Government committing to publish a consultation response and a roadmap setting out next steps for potential reforms in late 2026/early 2027.

The announcement comes on the same day as a Carers UK event to promote Carers Rights Day, taking place on Thursday 20 November 2025. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Carers Rights Day, which has helped hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers understand their rights and entitlements.

Carers UK campaigned for many years for the introduction of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, which gives approximately 2.5 million employees in Great Britain up to five days of unpaid Carer’s Leave a year. The Act’s implementation in April 2024 has been a significant milestone, but research also shows that half of carers are unable to take the leave because it is unpaid.

Evidence from employers, including members of Carers UK’s employer forum Employers for Carers, demonstrates that introducing a statutory right to paid Carer’s Leave would provide vital support to carers and help employers retain experienced staff. Research by Centrica found that supportive policies such as paid Carer’s Leave could boost national productivity by over £8 billion annually. Others, including TSB and Phoenix Group, have also already adopted paid Carer’s Leave policies which have benefited their employees and their businesses.

Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK, said:

"It's very welcome that Government has taken another step forward by publishing the Terms of Reference for its review of Carer’s Leave today. The announcement comes in the same week that Carers UK was founded 60 years ago by a woman who had to leave her job to care for her parents. It is especially poignant as we know that, on average, 600 unpaid carers leave work every day to care—something many tell us could be prevented with better workplace support, particularly access to paid Carer’s Leave.

“As our population ages, it is essential that people can remain in work while caring. Paid Carer’s Leave is a key tool to make this possible. Health and social care services would collapse without the contribution of unpaid carers, and carers need to be supported to work when they are able and wish to do so. With Government recently estimating the productivity costs to the economy of carers being unable to work to be a staggering £37 billion a year, it is vital that we make progress on this issue. Given the economic and social benefits at stake, doing so would be a ‘win-win’ for carers, employers, Government and public services.”

Carers UK will draw on its extensive experience – including through its 253-member Employers for Carers forum – to inform the review and will encourage employers and unpaid carers to contribute to the consultation when it opens in 2026. The organisation also welcomes the review’s commitment to consider links with the NHS’s 10 Year Health Plan and the Government’s strategy Kickstarting Economic Growth review, recognising the strong interdependence between the NHS, adult social care, and carers’ ability to participate in paid work.

For more information on the case for introducing paid Carer’s Leave, please see Carers UK’s 2024 report: Taking the Next Step for Working Carers: Introducing a New Right to Paid Carer’s Leave.