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Informal carers' employment rights and support

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has described an informal/unpaid carer (PDF) as: “…someone who provides unpaid help to a friend or family member needing support, perhaps due to illness, older age, disability, a mental health condition or an addiction”, as long as they are not employed to do so.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 and associated Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 created a new right for all employees to take up to one week of unpaid leave a year if they have caring responsibilities.

Employees additionally have the right to reasonable unpaid time off if a dependant is ill or injured or if their care arrangements are disrupted.

Carers, like other employees, also have the right to request flexible working from their employers. Employers must consider these requests and can only refuse them for one of a list of statutory reasons.

Carers may also be protected from discrimination or harassment “by association” while at work. Discrimination by association is when a person is treated less favourably because of their association with another person who has a protected characteristic, such as age or disability.