April marks both World Parkinson's Day (11 April) and Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week (22-28 April), two conditions that over time will often require those suffering to receive significant care. It may well be that those caring for affected people are family members also in employment, so how can employers ensure that employees with caring responsibilities are supported?
The laws supporting primary carers who are in employment are thankfully improving. The Carer’s Leave Act 2023, due to come into force on 6 April, will allow employees who are unpaid carers up to five additional days of unpaid leave a year to support them with their caring responsibilities.
To be entitled to benefit, employees need to be providing long-term care and will need to notify their employer of plans to take carer’s leave in advance where possible. The act will also mean that for the first time, all employees from their first day of employment will be entitled to take time off to help manage caring responsibilities.
In order to prepare for the upcoming changes, employers should be encouraged to spread awareness of the new right to take carer's leave among their line managers and employees alike. A great way to do this is by issuing and implementing a new carer’s leave policy and ensuring line managers are trained in its application.
Employers should also review their current flexible working policies to ensure that they reflect the current legal position post the recent changes making the right to make a request a day-one right, and amending the approach an employer should take in dealing with a request. Alongside this, it would be sensible for employers to review their equality and diversity suite of policies as a whole and roll out new awareness campaigns and refresher training where required.
It is important for employers to be flexible and supportive of employees with caring responsibilities. It may be that employees need to provide more support for a family member at a particular time of the day, such as helping them get up in the morning or take them to regular appointments, and in these situations the Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 can be especially useful. This removes the requirement for 26 weeks’ service before being eligible to make a request for flexible working, making the right to request flexible working a day-one right. This change will allow carers the opportunity to create a greater balance between their working and home life responsibilities.
If a carer is treated less favourably because of their association with a person considered disabled under the Equality Act 2010, they may have a claim for direct disability discrimination by association. This could, for instance, occur if an employee is overlooked for a promotion because the employer believes their caring responsibilities may get in the way of the additional workload a promotion may require.
It’s important that organisations support employees who are carers to ensure they can balance their working and home life responsibilities effectively. The more they are supported by their employer, the more they will be motivated to achieve great things in the workplace.
Ben Gorner is an employment partner at Gateley Legal
