News & Insights

The theme for Carer’s Week this year is ‘Building Carer-Friendly Communities’. This is particularly important in the workplace, where unpaid carers may feel uncomfortable sharing the challenges they face and unable to ask for the support they need.

Unpaid caring is more common than most employers realise. According to Carers UK research, an estimated 11.9 million people in the UK are currently providing unpaid care, with around 1 in 7 employees juggling work with caring. This juggling has a significant impact on employees. Some will step back from work, taking on junior roles to fit around their caring responsibilities, whilst others will simply burn out due to unmanageable stress.

To build carer-friendly workplaces, employers must start by understanding the legal rights of carers, so that inclusive policies are put in place to support carers. However, many employees who provide regular, substantial care for a disabled, ill or elderly relative simply don’t think of themselves as carers. Therefore, management training should be encouraged too, so that managers are able to recognise when an employee might need support.

Working carers have several legal rights, including: a right to request flexible working, a right to take Carer’s Leave, a right to time off for dependants, and a right to be protected from discrimination.

Flexible Working

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, employers should accept a request for flexibility, except where it is not reasonably feasible.

Whilst employees have been able to request flexible working from day one of employment since 2024, employers have previously been able to reject a request for one (or more) of eight possible business reasons. Under the new provisions, employers will need to consult with the employee under a specific process before rejecting a request, and the employer will need to explain to the employee why rejecting the request is a reasonable decision.

Employers should therefore give meaningful consideration to any request and consider implementing trial periods to at least explore the potential for flexible working. For unpaid carers, flexible working can determine whether they can continue working at all.

Carer’s Leave

Under the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, employees have a statutory right to one week of unpaid leave per year.

There is no qualifying period for this statutory right, and it applies to all employees caring for a dependent with a long-term care need, including disability, illness, old age, or a condition that is likely to require care for three months or more. The dependent does not have to be a family member. It can be anyone who relies on them for care.

Employers should consider whether a contractual provision can be made for paid leave, despite the statutory provision being for unpaid leave, so that employees can access this leave without financial detriment. The long-term impact of being unable to take leave from working responsibilities during particularly stressful periods of caring responsibility for employees can cost far more in unplanned absences for employers.

Time Off for Dependants

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees are allowed to take unpaid time off work to deal with care arrangements for a dependant in specific circumstances, such as where existing care arrangements fall through or a dependant is injured.

Only a reasonable amount of time off is allowed, but there are no limits on how many times an employee will need to take time off for a dependant. For carers, frequent short-term absences from work may be required with little notice. Whilst this may seem disruptive to employers and colleagues, this entitlement can be essential to a carer in an emergency.

Employers should ensure that open communication is maintained and handled correctly if absences escalate. It may be that reasonable adjustments can be put in place or absences can be managed amongst the team in such scenarios.

Discrimination

Unfortunately, many carers are reluctant to assert their rights due to fear of discrimination. In many workplaces, caring responsibilities are still perceived as a sign of reduced commitment. Employees know this, so they stay quiet, they manage, and they absorb the pressure privately.

However, employees are protected from less favourable treatment related to the disability of someone they are associated with, most commonly a dependant. An employee may be able to claim direct discrimination where their child or parent has a disability, even though the employee is not disabled themselves.

Similarly, employees are also protected from being subjected to a disadvantage in relation to their caring responsibilities. As women continue to bear a disproportionate share of caring responsibilities, workplace policies or practices that disadvantage carers, such as inflexible working, are likely to disproportionately disadvantage women. This protection can be extended to men, where a man can evidence that he has suffered the same disadvantage as in relation to his caring responsibilities. Therefore, an employee may be able to claim indirect discrimination, unless the employer can objectively justify such policies or practices.

Practical Steps

Most disputes and claims arise precisely because a line manager either didn’t know or chose not to engage with an employee’s caring situation. Therefore, employers should consider the following steps to create a genuinely career-friendly workplace:

• Creating a carers’ policy that sets out what support is available and how to access it.
• Encouraging employees to share responsibilities confidentially and without detriment.
• Training managers and colleagues to approach conversations appropriately.
• Developing a workplace culture where flexibility is not read as a lack of commitment.

If you have questions about a carer’s rights, flexible working, or discrimination risk in your organisation, please contact one of our Employment experts.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.