Make Work Pay – Carers leave and Pay!
The Department for Business and Trade(DBT), now referred to as the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) published a reminder of the ongoing progress of changes announced to employment rights.
The proposals for the legislative changes as set out initially in the Employment Rights Bill, and now under the Employment Rights Act 2025, will be introduced on a phased basis some of which are already in force from February/April 2026. Given the magnitude of changes, some of the timelines will most likely be delayed as government publishes consultations on its proposals to better understand how employers and employees might be impacted by some of the measures.
One such consultation is seeking views on extending the rights for Carers, specifically with a focus on those carers initially in England Scotland and Wales.
Employees with caring responsibilities have a statutory right to take up to five days (pro-rata) of unpaid Carer’s Leave in a rolling 12‑month period. This leave can be used to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long‑term care need. It may be taken as a single block of a week, or in individual days or half‑days, offering flexibility in how carers manage short‑term needs or pre-planned appointments. Employees do not need to provide evidence of their caring role, and employers must not unreasonably refuse a request, although they may postpone leave if business operations would be unduly disrupted.
Under existing legislation, unpaid carer’s leave can be used to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long‑term care need. A dependant may be a spouse, partner, child, parent, someone living in the same household, or a person who reasonably relies on the employee for care.
Different support is available to unpaid carers, parents of seriously ill children and employers across the nations of the UK. This leave known as Hugh’s Law, would provide financial support and leave for parents and caregivers in the days and months following their child being diagnosed with a serious illness.
The wider consultation is seeking views on options for statutory leave entitlements for carers and parents of seriously ill children, and other support measures such as improvements to guidance and communications for both employees and employers.
In addition to communication and guidance two key areas have been suggested, one to extend Carer’s Leave from 5 up to 10 days per year of unpaid to allow unpaid carers to take more time away from work to manage their caring responsibilities.
The other proposal seeks to explore the introduction of a short period of paid carer’s leave to be taken to fulfil caring responsibilities, during which the employee would receive some level of pay. The indication is that this would be a statutory payment and therefore would enable employers to recover some or all of their costs.
Evidence gathered by government from research provided by representative bodies and carers indicated that financial barriers can prevent some carers from making use of unpaid entitlements. In line with commitments in the Plan to Make Work Pay, the government is exploring whether paid leave could help carers to manage planned caring responsibilities (such as appointments or short hospital stays).
Hugh’s Law
Often referred to as “Hugh’s Law”, a term used in recognition of the campaigning undertaken by the family of Hugh Menai‑Davis, who died aged six from cancer in 2021.
In addition to the proposals to introduce statutory leave and pay for both groups, government is keen to understand the additional challenges facing parents and caregivers of terminally ill children and how they can be assisted during these difficult times. The need to take time off as these situations typically arise suddenly, at short notice with intensive medical intervention and may require sustained parental presence. This can create immediate and significant disruption to work and family life.
The consultation is seeking views on the level of pay and amount of leave that might be considered.
The consultation will close on 1 September 2026
If you want to share your views respond you can access the consultation here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a27bc0956e988a798b38807/consultation-on-employment-rights-for-unpaid-carers-and-parents-of-seriously-ill-children.pdf