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Unfortunately, many employees find themselves needing to balance difficult family situations with their work commitments and needing to take time off work. The question of employee rights in this area has hit the spotlight recently, following Zoe Ball’s recent announcement that she has arranged to take time off work to allow her to support her mother following her cancer diagnosis. With an estimated two million employees set to benefit from the introduction of carers leave in 2024 following a successful campaign lead by Carer’s UK to increase the support provided to carers, employers are likely to see increased requests in this area.

It’s therefore a good time for employers to consider employee’s rights in this situation. All employers have an obligation to ensure their employees’ health and safety at work, which includes their wellbeing and therefore they should offer support and compassion in this situation. Currently there are no specific rules that deal with caring responsibilities for family members. However, there are various rights that employees have in this situation which employers should explore, depending on their specific circumstances:

Time off work for dependants

All employees have the right to provide time off for dependents to deal with emergency situations. Time off for dependents is unpaid. As it is designed to deal with emergencies, the right is time limited, usually to one or two days off to allow the employee to deal with the immediate situation and then put longer term arrangements in place. This right can be useful to deal with an unexpected hospital admission or need to take a family member to emergency treatment. Employees should inform their employer as soon as possible if they need to take this leave.

Carer’s Leave

Currently there is no specific right to leave to care for a family member. However, the law in this area is shortly due to change via the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 which is due to take effect from 6 April 2024. This will provide a new statutory entitlement to one week of flexible, unpaid leave per year for employees who are caring for a dependent with a long-term care need. This will be extended to all employees, irrespective of their length of service. This right will be limited to leave to care for an employee’s dependent, which is defined as their spouse, civil partner, child, or parent who lives in the same household or reasonably relies upon the employee to provide or arrange care and who has a long-term care need. Whilst this right is limited to one week’s leave, this is an important change and is likely to open a wider dialogue, with employees looking to understand any further support that can be provided to accommodate their caring responsibilities.

Compassionate leave

There is no legal requirement for employers to offer compassionate leave in the case of a family member’s illness. However, many employers have a compassionate leave policy to provide this leave, either on an unpaid or paid basis. Employers should check their current policies to see if these still reflect their actions in practice and ensure there is consistent practice across different managers and teams. Even if an employer does not have a specific policy, they are still able to offer compassionate leave or additional special or unpaid leave at their discretion and should carefully consider any requests for the same.

Sabbaticals

Again, whilst there is no legal requirement for employers to offer sabbaticals, larger employers often have sabbatical policies, allowing employees to apply for a longer period of absence from work, with arrangements made up front for their return to work at the end of the agreed period. Sabbaticals in this situation would usually be unpaid.

Annual leave

Whilst not ideal, particularly if the employee has already pre-booked other holiday commitments, another option is for an employee to utilise existing holiday entitlement to enable time off work, for example, booking annual leave either side of a family member’s operation to enable them to provide support. The advantage of annual leave for the employee is that this is then a paid entitlement, but employers should still be mindful of the need to ensure the employee is taking adequate rest. Many employers also offer the option to buy and sell holiday, offering a potential opportunity to increase holiday entitlement if needed.

Flexible working requests

For longer term care needs, employees may use their right to request flexible working to request more permanent adjustments to their working arrangements. Any flexible working arrangement can be requested to enable them to balance work with caring commitments, for example condensing or reducing hours or requesting a 9 day fortnight to allow them to accompany their family member to treatment sessions. From 6 April 2024 all employees will have the right to make a flexible working request from the first day of their employment (previously this right only applied after 6 months), which gives employees an opportunity to discuss flexible working far earlier in the employment relationship. The emphasis under the connected ACAS Guidance will shift slightly so that employers are obliged to more proactively consider requests with a view to accommodating, rather than denying requests where possible. Whilst employers can still refuse requests on business need, they should consider requests carefully and offer alternatives where possible even if the original request cannot be accommodated.

Sickness absence

Often the emotional impact of a family member’s ill health can in turn impact on the employee’s personal wellbeing and health. If their health suffers to the extent that they are too unwell to work, they may be entitled to take sick leave in this situation. A GP fit note will be required in this situation for absences over 7 days. If eligible, employees will receive statutory sick pay for up to 28 weeks if they are too ill to work, or their entitlement to company sick pay, if offered by their employer.

There is no one size fits all approach in this situation. It is important that employers recognise the importance of supporting employees through difficult personal circumstances, and prioritising wellbeing. Employees in this situation should explain their difficulties to their manager or HR at the earliest opportunity so that they are aware of the situation and can offer support. In addition to time off work and flexibility where possible, employers may also be able to offer other support, for employee assistance schemes and similar resources which may assist the employee’s wellbeing during such difficult times.

If you would like to discuss anything raised in this blog, please contact a member of the Employment team.