As we highlighted in a previous article last year, the Government launched a consultation on the 16th March 2020 on whether to introduce a statutory right to 1 weeks unpaid carer's leave per annum. That consultation closed on the 3rd August 2020, and the measure is now likely to be included in the new Employment Bill, which it is anticipated will be introduced later this year.
Carer's Leave
According to Carers UK, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 9.1 million unpaid carers in the UK, whose responsibilities ranged from providing a few hours per week of care, to full time care. However, since the pandemic started, that number has increased by 4.5 million to a staggering 13.6 million. Carers UK also point out that, "COVID-19 has created new and difficult challenges for carers, with 81% providing more care since March and 78% seeing the needs of the person they care for increase....After many months of living with limited contact and support, the pandemic is having a devastating impact on carers’ lives, causing them extreme loneliness, anxiety and exhaustion."
Carers UK has long campaigned for greater flexibility at work for those with caring responsibilities, and a statutory right to paid carer's leave. The need for greater flexibility at work and a statutory right to carer's leave was brought home by recent research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which found that nearly half of the UK's 3.7 million working carers are struggling to balance their careers with their caring responsibilities, and 24% of them had actively considered giving up their jobs.
In advance of Carers Rights Day 2020, which was held on the 26th November 2020, Carers UK commissioned new research in support of their campaign for greater flexibility for working carers and a statutory right to carer's leave, the results of which were set out in their new report, "Unseen and undervalued: The value of unpaid care provided to date during the COVID-19 pandemic."
As a result of their new research, Carers UK found that: "With every day of the COVID-19 pandemic that passes, unpaid carers are saving the UK state £530 million in the care they provide....., [and] that the care provided by people looking after older, disabled and seriously ill relatives and friends during the pandemic stands at £135 billion so far, after just eight months."
Employment Bill
It is anticipated that the Government will be incorporating a new statutory right to 1 weeks unpaid carer's leave in to the new Employment Bill, which is expected to be introduced later this year.
Whilst campaigners have been calling for paid carer's leave, the move towards a statutory right to carer's leave represents a step in the right direction. Indeed, Carers UK call the measure, "a vital step in helping both business and families providing care to disabled, older and ill relatives and friends to continue working. Whilst Carers UK recognises that the proposal will deliver positive benefits, we believe this would be even more effective if the leave was paid. We also believe that Government should commit to staged increases to 10 days paid leave, with a longer period of unpaid leave of up to six months."
It is a sad reality that without legislation, there would be unlikely to be any progress in improving the position of working carers. The news that 71% of working mothers who requested furlough for childcare reasons following the closure of schools during the third national lockdown, have been denied that furlough, is testament to that. In response to the news, the TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, stated: "Just like in the first lockdown, mums are shouldering the majority of childcare... It’s neither possible nor sustainable for them to work as normal......The UK’s parental leave system is one of the worst in Europe. It's time for the government to give all parents the right to work flexibly, plus at least ten days’ paid carer's leave each year."
