Carer's leave and protection against detriment or dismissal
Contents
Protection while on carer's leave
Employees are protected from suffering a detriment or dismissal for taking, or seeking to take, carer's leave.
Detrimental treatment
You must not subject an employee to any detriment by doing something (or deliberately not doing something) because:
- they took, wanted to take, or you believe they were likely to take, carer's leave, or
- they benefited from taking carer's leave (due to the any terms and conditions in their contract).
Examples of detrimental treatment include denial of promotion, facilities or training opportunities that you would normally have made available.
If an employee believes they've been treated detrimentally under these circumstances, they may raise a grievance with you. This may result in an employment tribunal claim for detrimental treatment if it's not addressed.
Dismissal and carer's leave
You must not dismiss an employee or select them for redundancy because they took, wanted to take or they benefited from taking carer's leave.
If you dismiss an employee in these circumstances, they may make a complaint of unfair dismissal to a tribunal regardless of their length of service.
Redundancy during carer's leave
If there is a redundancy situation at the same time as an employee's carer's leave, you must treat them the same as any other employee under the circumstances. This might be consulting them about the redundancy or considering them for any other suitable job vacancies.