Thousands of carers in Essex could benefit from unpaid leave
A legal entitlement to unpaid leave for carers has been hailed as a "huge step forward for millions" as it comes into effect.
Unpaid leave for carers is a "huge step forward" for thousands of local people, according to an Essex charity.
A legal entitlement to unpaid leave will apply to more than two million workers in England, Wales and Scotland who have unpaid caring responsibilities.
Carers UK said its past research found around 600 people a day give up work so they can care due to a lack of flexibility and support.
Under the Carer's Leave Act, which comes into force on Saturday (6 April), employees who are carers can take up to a week of unpaid leave every 12 months - equating to five days for most people.
Workers are entitled to such leave to give or arrange care for a dependant - not necessarily a family member - who has a physical or mental illness or injury meaning they will need care for more than three months, who has a disability, or who needs care due to old age.
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said: "The Carer's Leave Act coming into force is a huge step forward for millions of carers, which recognises the vital importance of their caring role and empowers them to ask for support in the workplace - in the form of unpaid Carer's Leave - knowing that they have a legal entitlement to this."
James Clarke is CEO of Action for Family Carers in Essex – he thinks carers deserve paid leave from work.
He said: "The key thing about this is that the best employers are flexible with their staff. They want flexibility because they want to retain their staff. This gives the carers that legal backing, that entitlement to take leave when they need it to arrange care for someone that they look after. Unfortunately, the legal right here is unpaid leave, it's not paid leave.
"We'd like it if people could get paid leave, but that would have a cost associated to it. I think it would be helpful is for the government and for employers to recognise the financial value of supporting carers. Carers UK has indicated that it costs the UK 4.8 billion a year in unplanned absences. So actually, by spending some money on this area, you can actually save a lot of money and retain staff."
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