The Carer's Leave Act

More than one in seven people in any workplace is an unpaid carer. By working with Carers Wales to get ready for the introduction of this new law, you'll be showing your staff that you value them as employees and recognise the unique challenges they face when also caring for someone.

• introduce a new and flexible entitlement to one week’s unpaid leave per year for employees who are providing or arranging care for a relative or dependant
• be available from the first day of their employment
• allow employees to take the leave flexibly for planned and foreseen caring commitments
• offer the same employment protections to employees taking this leave that are associated with other forms of family-related leave, meaning they will be protected from dismissal or any detriment because of having taken time off.

• the legislation will cover employees in England, Wales and Scotland
• to be entitled to take Carer’s Leave, employees need to be providing long-term care
• the leave will be able to be taken in half or full days, up to and including taking a block of a whole week of leave at once
• the notice period an employee needs to give to take the leave is twice the length of time that needs to be taken in advance of the earliest day of leave
• an employee does not need to notify their employer in writing regarding their request to take Carer’s Leave, although they can do so if they wish to
• importantly, employees taking Carer’s Leave will have the same employment protections as associated with other forms of family related leave. This includes protection from dismissal or detriment as a result of having taken the leave.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Wales are juggling paid employment with their caring responsibilities.  Caring is most likely to impact at a peak of a career, but can affect all ages.  The census found that the biggest proportion of people caring in Wales are from the 55-59 age group, with over 40,000 people aged 55-59 providing care.  It also affects women differently to men.  A woman has a 50:50 chance of providing care by the time they are 42; men have the same chance by the time they are 50 – 8 years later.

The evidence from carers suggests that the implementation of Carer’s Leave could bring with it a number of benefits:

• help to retain carers in paid employment
• promote improved health and wellbeing
• improve consistency of support
• empower unpaid carers
• promote the development of new and further policies

The new Act will also have a beneficial outcome for employers in a tight employment market where there are increased recruitment costs.  More than one in seven people in any workplace is a carer.  By working with Carers Wales to get ready for the introduction of this law, you will be showing your staff that you value them as employees and recognise the unique challenges they face when also caring for someone.

With in-house teams working with both employers and policy makers – and as a charity with the needs of carers at the heart of everything we do – Carers Wales in uniquely placed to support you in making sure you are up to speed with your legal requirements under the Act. 

Employers for Carers Wales is an employer’s members forum established by Carers Wales in 2018 as an expansion of Employers for Carers which was launched in 2009 . It now reaches around 100,000 employees across Wales.  Member services include a dedicated bi-lingual digital platform with a range of practical resources including e-learning, toolkits, model policies and case studies, and you will have access to specialist training and consultancy and networking events for employers.