Flexible working
The Work and Families Act 2006 gives carers of adults the right to request flexible working. Flexible working options include working part-time, starting and leaving work earlier and working from home. You can make a request once in any 12-month period.
You may be caring for:
- your husband, wife, civil partner or partner
- someone you live with
- a near relative, including parents, adult children, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents, in-laws, step-relatives and half-blood relatives.
An employer can refuse a request where this would have a negative impact on their business, but they must be able to justify their decision.
Time off for dependants
The Employment Rights Act 1996 gives anyone who has a contract of employment the right to take time off for dependants. The time off is unpaid, but many employers offer enhanced paid leave of some kind.
You can use this right to take a reasonable amount of leave to deal with unexpected or sudden emergencies. This is normally one or two days to make arrangments. The right does not cover longer-term care.
The emergency must concern your husband, wife, civil partner, child or parent, or anyone living in your household as a member of the family. It may also be someone who relies on you for assistance.
Parental leave
The Employment Rights Act 1996 gives employees with parental responsibilities for a child the right to unpaid parental leave. To be eligible, you have to have one year's continuous service with your current employer.
You can get a total of 13 weeks of parental leave for each child up to the age of five and up to 18 weeks for a disabled child under the age of 18. You can take parental leave in one-week blocks. In the case of a disabled child, you may take time off in individual days.
