BEIS consult on Carer’s leave
16 March 2020
The Consultation on Carer’s Leave seeks views on a proposal to give employees a week of unpaid leave each year to provide care. It is hoped that stakeholder responses will help BEIS to understand:
- How carers use existing employment rights
- Who should be eligible to take the leave
- What the leave can be taken for
- How the leave would be available to take and the process for taking the leave
- The costs and benefits to employers and employees
Eligibility to take Carer’s Leave should be based on facts that should be clear to the employee and their employer in each case, to avoid confusion or disagreements.
To achieve this clarity, the Government is considering three main criteria to define a ‘carer’ that would be eligible to take the leave:
- The employee’s relationship to the person cared for
- The employee will have caring commitments which are longer-term or apply to specific situations where the need is significant;
- A qualifying period of continuous employment with their employer.
In line with existing employment rights, such as the right to request flexible working and time off for dependants, the proposed leave entitlement would apply to employees only.
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CIPP comment The CIPP policy and research team will be submitting a written response to this consultation and will be producing a survey to gather member views – thank you in advance for your support of this consultation. A Think tank ‘roundtable’ may also be arranged - which is likely to be held using remote video conferencing software. If you would like to express your interest please contact Samantha Mann CIPP policy and research technical lead at [email protected]. |