Introducing a new right to paid Carer’s Leave in the UK

Our member Carers UK has published recently a new report, ‘Taking the next step for working carers – introducing a new right to paid Carer’s Leave’.

It calls on the UK Government to legislate to introduce a new statutory right to paid Carer’s Leave for employees with unpaid caring responsibilities, building on the five days of unpaid leave that was recently secured through the Carer’s Leave Act 2023.

Their vision remains for all working carers to have a statutory right to two weeks of paid Carer’s Leave a year, accompanied by a longer period of up to six months of unpaid leave. However, as employment rights are often built over time, Carers UK is recommending that the new Government could introduce a statutory right to five days of paid Carer’s Leave during this Parliament as a pragmatic next step.

It is clear that introducing paid Carer’s Leave would deliver benefits for over two million working carers and save employers billions of pounds a year. Indeed, the policy offers a significant growth opportunity for the UK economy. Centrica plc, a leading carer-positive employer, has modelled the productivity gains they get from their supportive policies for unpaid carers in their workforce. Grossed up, this suggests that the UK economy could benefit from £8.2 billion in productivity gains through increased worker retention, reduced recruitment costs and a reduction in other productivity costs. Meanwhile, the modelling we have undertaken estimates it would only cost the Government between £5.5 million to £32 million annually if paid Carer’s Leave was introduced.

Previous Carers UK research highlighted that around 600 people a day are having to give up work to provide unpaid care to family members or friends, due to a lack of flexibility and support in the workplace. 80% of working carers we surveyed last year said that having access to paid Carer’s Leave would support them to juggle work and unpaid care, with particular benefits for women, older workers, and those who cannot afford to take unpaid time off work to care.

If we are to tackle the challenges of our ageing population and engage people in paid work for longer, we need employment policy to match the challenges we face. Introducing paid Carer’s Leave would support the UK economy, get more people back into work, keep productivity higher and meet families’ and workers’ needs for a better quality of life.

You can see the PR issued in full here.