Unpaid leave a ‘huge step’ for carers
A NEW legal right to unpaid leave for carers has been hailed as a “huge step forward for millions”.
Carers UK said it would apply to more than two million workers in England, Wales and Scotland who have unpaid caring responsibilities.
The charity added its past research had found around 600 people a day give up work so they can care due to a lack of flexibility and support.
Under the Carer’s Leave Act, which comes into force tomorrow, employees who are carers can take up to a week of unpaid leave every 12 months – equating to five working days for most people.
Workers are entitled to such leave to give or arrange care for a dependant who has a physical or mental illness or injury meaning they will need care for more than three months, who has a disability, or who needs care due to old age.
Wendy Chamberlain, who introduced the Bill to Parliament in 2022, said the new entitlement was “vital progress in improving carers’ employment rights” and something that would give people more flexibility to balance work and caring.
The Liberal Democrat MP added: “Caring or being cared for is something that almost everyone will experience at some point in their life.
“The work unpaid carers do is so vital, yet is it extremely under-appreciated. This hard work should be better recognised.”
Helen Walker, of Carers UK, said: “The Carer’s Leave Act is a huge step forward for millions of carers, which recognises the vital importance of their caring role and empowers them to ask for support in the workplace.” She added “too many skilled workers are leaving employment due to the stress of balancing work and unpaid care” but the Act meant they could be “confident speaking about their caring role – kickstarting a crucial conversation about the support they need to stay in work, which matters not just for carers but for employers and the economy too”. But polling suggests only around one in 10 unpaid carers surveyed across England feel they have a “good understanding” of the Act. Of 1,000 unpaid carers polled, just over half (56%) said they believed the Government was supporting them “ineffectively”, while 65% said they would be “likely” to switch their vote to a party that would bring in more measures to back their needs.
The polling, commissioned by GoodOaks Homecare, found 62% of unpaid carers described themselves as having felt “stressed”.