Requests for carer's leave
Contents
Notice requirements
Employees must give you notice that they want to take a period of carer's leave.
They must tell you:
- That they qualify to take carer's leave, i.e. they have a dependent with long-term care needs, need to provide or arrange for care, have not taken the maximum leave allowance and are giving you enough notice.
- How long they want to take and when
You can't require employees to supply evidence about their request for carer's leave.
Notice period
If an employee wants to take a period of 1.5 days (or less), they must give you 3 days' notice.
If they want to take a period of 2 days or more, the notice must be twice the number of days requested (e.g. if they ask for 5 days, they must give you 10 days' notice).
Responding to requests
An employer can't refuse a valid request for carer's leave.
However, you can ask the employee to postpone it if you reasonably believe that their absence during the requested period would unduly disrupt your business operations.
If you do this, you must:
- agree another date that's no later than 1 month after the date they requested (and for the same length of time); and
- confirm both the reason for the delay and the date in writing within 7 days of their request or before the requested start date (whichever comes first).
The new date must be agreed by consulting with the employee – you can't simply impose it.
Complaining to an Employment Tribunal
An employee can potentially start a claim at an Employment Tribunal if you:
- unreasonably postpone a period of carer's leave, or
- stop (or try to stop) them from taking carer's leave.
Employees will have 3 months to start a claim starting from the date (or last date) when the leave was postponed or denied. This can be extended if it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be made within the time limit, but will depend on the particular facts of each case.
If a claim is successful, the tribunal can award the employee compensation.