On Friday 21 October, the UK government announced its support of the Carer’s Leave Bill. The proposed law seeks to improve workplace support for employees who provide essential care to loved ones alongside their job. In this article, we take a closer look at the Bill and consider the likely implications for employers.
Carers and the workplace
It is estimated that nearly 5 million people in the UK are juggling work alongside providing unpaid care to older, ill or disabled friends or relatives. Multitasking work and caregiving responsibilities can be a lot to manage, and the immense pressure and stress can easily become overwhelming. As a result, it is thought that more than 2.5 million people have had to make the difficult decision to quit their job to care for their loved ones. The loss of a steady income can have devastating consequences for carers, both in terms of their financial situation and their emotional and physical wellbeing. Indeed, approximately 45% of working-age unpaid carers who provide care for more than 35 hours each week are in poverty, and 5 million carers have admitted to feeling concerned about their physical and mental health. These problems have been exacerbated by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
Current law
Currently carers have to rely on other forms of employment leave and protection to accommodate their caring responsibilities. They can submit (and will continue to be able to submit) a flexible working request to their employer, provided they have 26 weeks’ service. Additionally, carers are protected from discrimination by association to, for example, their disabled spouse or child. While the availability of these rights is certainly helpful, there are still clear shortcomings. For example, the right to request flexible working arrangements provides little comfort to employees who, upon hiring, already act as unpaid carers and therefore require access to reduced or compressed hours from day one of their employment.
Carer’s Leave Bill: the proposed law
If successfully passed, the Carer’s Leave Bill will provide five days’ unpaid leave per year to all carers in employment. Carers will be able to use this leave to provide care or to make arrangements for care. Importantly, this entitlement will constitute a day one right.
Employees would be able to self-certify their “carer” status, ensuring a “smoother process” for employers and staff alike. The draft legislation defines carers by reference to their relevant dependant who must be closely associated with the carer as (a) a family member (b) a member of the same household or (c) otherwise must be someone who reasonably relies on the carer for care. The dependant must also have a long-term care need in that (i) they will likely require care for more than three months (ii) their condition constitutes a disability under the Equality Act or (iii) they require care because of their old age.
Further, employees would be protected from detrimental treatment associated with claiming this right, such as dismissal.
Implications for employers
The Bill does not include specific provisions on how to request and take the unpaid leave. If transposed into law, employer discretion could therefore determine rules such as whether the relevant number of days can be taken as a single block or may be divided across separate weeks, the practicalities around requesting leave and the employer’s right to ask staff to take the leave at a different date than originally proposed because of urgent business needs. Under the Bill, employers would not be able to reject requests to take unpaid carer’s leave, but could suggest postponement.
This uncertainty could also cause difficulties for employers who lack guidance on how to give effect to carer’s leave. For example, in the absence of guidance on notice requirements, it may make sense for employers to approach notice to take carer’s leave in the same way as notice for annual leave requests. Secondly, given employees will be able to self-certify their “carer” status, employers must be mindful not to request evidence of this fact, such as the dependant’s personal health records. If the leave is misused, an employer could reasonably deal with the situation by way of their usual disciplinary process.
The benefits for carers, employers and the wider UK economy
As proposed, the Carer’s Leave Bill would provide long-awaited support to help unpaid carers remain in employment. However, the benefits do not end with carers. As pointed out by Liberal Democrat MP, Wendy Chamberlain, who introduced the Private Members Bill, passing this law “will be a win-win” for all interested parties.
For employers, it is hoped that by accommodating employees’ caregiving responsibilities, valuable talent will be retained and unnecessary recruitment expenditure avoided. Moreover, as commented by Wendy Chamberlain, carers are “the backbone of this society” in more ways than one. In addition to the crucial support they provide to their loved ones, they significantly benefit the wider UK economy because they save the NHS an estimated £530 million every day.
What else can employers do to support their employees who juggle unpaid care with work?
Carer’s Rights Day is set to take place on Thursday 24 November. As part of this year’s campaign, Carers UK is urging British businesses to (i) increase carer’s awareness of their rights and how they can access benefits and supports and (ii) increase everyone’s awareness of the difficulties faced by carers. To respond to the call and to pledge their commitment to support carers, employers could:
- Where practical, offer and promote flexible working arrangements for all levels of employee. This could be engrained into the company culture by way of policies and standards.
- Host awareness sessions for all employees on the hardships faced by carers, especially when undertaking such responsibilities alongside work. Employees could be advised on how they can help and support each other, especially to alleviate the burden on employees who multitask as unpaid carers. Clear avenues for accessing support with caregiving could also be highlighted during such sessions.
- Establish an open dialogue with all employees, in which carers are encouraged to raise any issues and recommend steps their employers could reasonably take to accommodate their caregiving responsibilities.
The CEO of the Phoenix Group (Phoenix), Andy Briggs, has urged businesses to proactively implement employment policies aimed at supporting carers, instead of waiting around for the introduction of a legal obligation. For example, Phoenix, as the UK’s largest retirement business, offers an impressive and competitive 10 days’ paid carer’s leave to all of its employees. While this may not be economically feasible for many businesses, employers who can could consider advocating for and introducing such policies to enable carers to “bring (their) valuable skills and experience back into the workplace” as Mr Briggs said.
What now?
Although the Carer’s Leave Bill has passed its all-important second reading and now has government support, it may still be a long time before its provisions become law. In the meantime, employers could review the support they currently provide to employees with caring responsibilities, and consider to what extent they could improve upon this offering. As discussed, accommodating carer’s needs to make sure they can remain in employment usually makes good financial sense for all businesses.
