Carer's Leave UK: Your Right to a Week of Unpaid Leave to Care for a Dependant

Carer's leave gives you the right to take up to 1 week of unpaid leave every 12 months to arrange or provide care for a dependant with a long term care need, from your first day of employment. It applies in England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland does not currently have a carer's leave right.

What carer's leave gives you

Carer's leave is a statutory entitlement to up to 1 week of unpaid leave in any 12 month period, to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long term care need. It comes from the Carer's Leave Act 2023, which inserts new sections into the Employment Rights Act 1996, brought into practical effect by the Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 from 6 April 2024 (legislation.gov.uk: the Carer's Leave Regulations 2024).

The Act's own text sets the floor directly: "the employee is entitled to at least a week's leave during any period of 12 months" (section 80J(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as inserted). The Regulations confirm the same figure operationally: an employee who meets the conditions is entitled to one week of carer's leave during the relevant 12 month period, which runs on a rolling basis ending on the last day of the leave requested. You can take the week in one continuous block, or split it into shorter periods, with a minimum unit of half a working day and no requirement that the days be consecutive.

There is no minimum length of service. Neither the Act's inserted provisions nor the 2024 Regulations set a qualifying period for carer's leave, so it applies from your first day of work, unlike many other family related statutory leaves.

Who counts as a dependant, and what counts as a long term care need

The Act defines a dependant broadly for this purpose: a spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the employee, someone who lives in the same household as the employee (other than as a boarder, employee, lodger or tenant), or anyone who reasonably relies on the employee to provide or arrange care (legislation.gov.uk: Carer's Leave Act 2023, Schedule). Gov.uk's own guidance puts the practical effect plainly: "the dependant does not have to be a family member. It can be anyone who relies on them for care" (gov.uk: carer's leave).

A dependant only has a qualifying "long term care need" for carer's leave purposes if one of three things is true:

• they have a physical or mental illness or injury that requires, or is likely to require, care for more than 3 months
• they have a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010
• they require care for a reason connected with their old age

This is a materially different, and generally wider, test than the "emergency" test used for the separate, older right to time off for dependants. Carer's leave is meant for planned, ongoing caring responsibilities, not a sudden crisis; for the emergency right instead, see compassionate leave and time off for dependants.

Giving notice, and what your employer can and cannot do

You do not need to give evidence of the dependant's condition or the care arrangement before taking carer's leave. You do need to give notice, and the required notice period depends on how much leave you are requesting: at least 3 days' notice, or twice as many days' notice as the number of days or part days requested if that is longer.

Your employer cannot refuse a carer's leave request outright. What an employer can do is postpone it, but only where allowing the leave on the dates requested would unduly disrupt the business, and only if, after consulting you, it lets you take the same amount of leave starting no later than one month after the date you asked for, and tells you the reason and the new dates in writing within 7 days of your request (and before the leave was due to start).

Protection from detriment and dismissal

The Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 build in the same two-layer protection used across other family leave rights. You cannot be subjected to a detriment because you took, sought to take, or made use of the benefits of carer's leave, and a dismissal connected with taking or seeking to take carer's leave is treated as automatically unfair, regardless of your length of service. If you believe either protection has been breached, the UK employment tribunal process is where a claim is brought, subject to the employment tribunal time limits that apply to most claims.

Northern Ireland: no carer's leave right

Carer's leave does not extend to Northern Ireland. The Carer's Leave Act 2023 creates the right by inserting sections into the Employment Rights Act 1996, and its own extent section gives those amendments the same extent as that Act, which does not extend to Northern Ireland (legislation.gov.uk: Carer's Leave Act 2023, section 3). The Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 likewise state their own extent directly: "The Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland" (legislation.gov.uk: the Carer's Leave Regulations 2024, regulation 1). No separate Northern Ireland regulation or Order implementing carer's leave has been made.

The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy has proposed introducing a week of unpaid carer's leave in Northern Ireland as part of a wider "Good Jobs" employment rights package, alongside neonatal leave and pay and other reforms, but this remains a policy proposal rather than enacted law, with no confirmed commencement date. If you work in Northern Ireland, check with your employer's own policy or with the Labour Relations Agency for the current position, and reconfirm on gov.uk or nidirect before relying on any report that a Northern Ireland right has since come into force.

If your caring responsibilities also affect your working pattern more broadly, see flexible working for the separate right to request a permanent change to your hours or location. For the wider set of UK employment rights, see the UK employment law hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much carer's leave am I entitled to?

At least 1 week of unpaid leave in any rolling 12 month period, to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long term care need. It is a day one right, so there is no minimum length of service.

Is carer's leave paid?

No. Carer's leave is unpaid. Your employer is not required to pay you for the week, though a more generous contractual policy may do so.

Who counts as a dependant for carer's leave?

A spouse, civil partner, child or parent, someone who lives in your household, or anyone who reasonably relies on you for care. It does not have to be a family member. The dependant must have a long term care need: an illness or injury expected to need care for more than 3 months, a disability under the Equality Act 2010, or care needs connected to old age.

Can my employer refuse my carer's leave request?

Your employer cannot refuse the leave outright, but can postpone it where taking it on the requested dates would unduly disrupt the business, provided that, after consulting you, they let you take the same amount of leave starting no later than one month after the date you asked for, and give you the reason and the new dates in writing within 7 days of your request (and before the leave was due to start).

Does carer's leave apply in Northern Ireland?

No, not currently. Carer's leave is a Great Britain right: the Act amends the Employment Rights Act 1996, which does not extend to Northern Ireland, and the Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 extend only to England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has no carer's leave right as of this writing, though the Department for the Economy has proposed one as part of a wider employment rights package.