From Donna Giles – who is an unpaid carer to her two children
New employment legislation that might support Carers
According to Carer’s UK “more than 1 in 7 people in any workplace is a carer”.
Recent legislation has been passed that may help to support those carers to remain in work, and aid employers in their retention of the many talented members of their workforce who also happen to be a carer. The key to this will be for carers to have knowledge of these new Acts of Parliament. So, what are they and how might they relate to carers?
The first is obviously the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 which gives a flexible entitlement to 5 days of unpaid leave per year. This leave is for planned caring commitments – perhaps for caring for someone after they have been discharged from hospital following an operation or for planned appointments – and it gives certain protections against dismissal or being treated unfairly because they have taken this leave. The fact it can be used flexibly is obviously a bonus, however, I don’t know many carers who can afford to take unpaid leave, particularly with the extra costs that are associated with both caring and disability.
Read Carers UK’s ‘Are you ready’
The Government claims it values the contribution of carers greatly, but they could have shown that more clearly by making it an entitlement to 5 days (or more!) of PAID leave per year.
Perhaps the legislation that might be of more benefit will be the Flexible Working Act 2023.
This gives an employee the right, from day one of their employment, to make a formal
statutory request for flexible working arrangements. This can be for many reasons, but
includes caring responsibilities. Many firms already have their own policies on this: for many years, if my husband is needed to accompany myself and our children to appointments, he has taken the time off, and then worked the hours back during that same week. This has worked well for us; however, it should be acknowledged that it does put him under pressure to work late in order to make up the hours, and he does have myself at home performing the majority of the caring duties. It would definitely not be as practical if you were a single parent with sole responsibility for juggling caring and working.
It appears that the emphasis will fall on the employee to provide the reasons why they are requesting the changes to how they work, and how it will be able to be accommodated by their place of work. It should also be noted that employers are not required to accept the request and can refuse.
Both Acts will come into effect sometime in 2024.
Employment legislation is complicated with several other pieces of legislation also available, including the right to emergency leave and the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination by association. Making caring a protected characteristic itself would, again, help to prove the Government’s commitment to carers, and assist with making the rights of all carers clearer, particularly as not all carers are working under employee status as referred to in the Government guidance.
However, it should not be forgotten that, for many carers, trying to combine employment
and caring has become impossible, and, therefore, they have left the work environment. I know several parents of disabled young people who have felt they needed to give up work once their child has left the education environment because of the lack of opportunities for support and continued learning environments or work for their young people. Therefore, proving that the lack of social care support has a knock-on effect to so many aspects of a carers life, including employment.
Whilst the value of employment does focus on the monetary gain, it should also be
recognised that for many carers going out to work is the only respite they may get from
their caring role. Roles relating to their employment can lead to an increase in confidence
and a chance to meet and converse with people beyond those that they come into contact with as a carer. For employers having a carer on your team can mean having someone who already knows how to juggle several tasks and how to ‘think outside the box’ in order to problem solve.
Therefore, we need the combined efforts of employment laws, decent social care support
and a society that is willing to prove that it values carers by forcing the Government to
acknowledge the fact that carers deserve a better deal in order to really support carers to
remain in paid employment.