In practice, legislation to protect carers at work usually falls into the categories below. Many carers access some or all of these rights, in order to make working life more sustainable.
Flexible Working
All employees who have 26 weeks or more service can make one flexible working request per year to their employer. Flexible working can mean reduced hours, flexitime, home working, job shares, compressed, or annualised hours to name a few. All employers have a duty to consider a request reasonably. This means your statutory right is a ‘right to request’ and not a right to be granted flexible working. However your employer must seriously consider your application and can only reject it if there are good reasons for doing so. Some employers will have a formal procedure, but this is not statutory. You can find out more about flexible working in the ‘Flexible Working’ topic.
Time off
All employees have the right to take a reasonable amount of time off work to deal with emergencies involving a dependant. A dependant is defined as someone who depends on an employee for care. There is no limit to the number of times an employee can take time off, however, whether this is unpaid or paid time off is at the employer’s discretion. Time off for dependants is for emergency use only, and not for pre-planned occurrences. Time off doesn’t have to be paid, however your employer may agree to pay it or they may have a paid carer’s leave scheme.
The emergency situations could be:
– You are providing assistance to the person you care, for falls ill, gives birth or injured or assaulted
– You are making longer term care arrangements
– You need time off following the death of your dependant
– A breakdown in the care arrangements
– To deal with an unexpected incident at school that involves the employee’s child
Compassionate leave: Taking time off for a bereavement
Many employers have a policy for ‘compassionate bereavement leave’ – this can be paid or unpaid leave for emergency situations. Employees should check their employment contract or company handbook for details about compassionate leave.
Parental Leave
Under the regulation, all employees will qualify for this if they have worked for their employer for at least one year and have legal parental responsibility for a child under five, or a disabled child under 18 years of age. Parental leave is unpaid unless your contract says otherwise.
Employees can take up to 18 weeks’ leave for each child and adopted child, up until their 18th birthday. A maximum of four weeks can be taken in one year for each qualifying child.
Parental leave should be taken in blocks of a whole week or multiples of a week rather than individual days, unless your employer agrees otherwise or if the child is disabled. A ‘week’ equals the length of time an employee normally works over 7 days and employees must give 21 days’ notice before their intended start date.
Employees should always check their employment contract or staff handbook for the employer’s own parental leave scheme. For example they may have extended parental leave to include other workers (i.e. foster carers, grandparents) or employees who have worked there less than a year or taken the leave in shorter periods than a week.
Employees are entitled to return to the same job except where:
– Parental leave is taken for a continuous period of more than 4 weeks
– The period of leave is taken immediately following additional maternity leave
If, in such cases, it is not reasonably practicable for the employee to return to the same job, the employee will be entitled to return to another job which is suitable and appropriate in the circumstances.
Protection from Discrimination
Under the Equality Act 2010, people who look after another person who is elderly or disabled are protected against direct discrimination or harassment. Carers are protected by law as they are classed as being ‘associated’ with someone who has special protection from discrimination. For instance, in the world of work, it would be direct discrimination not to give a job to the best applicant based on the fact he/she is a carer, or to deny an employee promotion because the employer feels the caring role could hinder his/her work.
Trade Unions
Trade unions can provide support and advice to working carers e.g. they are allowed to attend meetings with employers and help to negotiate flexible working arrangements.
A list of trade unions can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-list-of-active-trade-unions-official-list-and-schedule
