The Government has confirmed that it is committed to introducing a new statutory right to 1 weeks unpaid carers leave per annum, despite its absence from the Queen's Speech.
Carers Leave
In September 2021, the Government the announced that working carers will have a new statutory day 1 right to 1 week’s unpaid carers leave. As we reported at the time, it was proposed that this could be used flexibly, with an employee entitled to take from as little as half a day at a time, or to take the whole week at once.
It was anticipated that the legislation to introduced the new statutory right to 1 week’s unpaid carers leave would form part of a new Employment Bill, and that the Employment Bill would be included in the 2022 Queen's Speech. However, ultimately no new Employment Bill was announced in the Queen's Speech, and nor was the proposed new statutory right to 1 week’s unpaid carers leave.
The absence of the Employment Bill from the Queen's Speech prompted the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Frances O’Grady, to state: "No employment bill means vital rights that ministers had promised – like default flexible working, fair tips and protection from pregnancy discrimination – risk being ditched for good. And it means no action on the scourge of insecure work and ending exploitative practices like zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire."
O’Grady added: "After the P&O scandal, dragging our outdated labour laws into the 21st century has never been more urgent. But by shelving the employment bill, ministers have sent a signal that they are happy for rogue employers to ride roughshod over workers’ rights."
Government Says It Remains Committed
The absence of any proposed legislation to introduce the proposed new statutory right to 1 week’s unpaid carers leave in the Queen's Speech prompted the Conservative MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage, who launched the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Carers (which she Chairs) in February 2022, to ask the minister for small business, consumers and labour markets, Paul Scully, what the timetable was as regards carers leave.
Dinenage asked: "Informal carers across the country will have been dismayed to hear that legislation to introduce the right to unpaid carer’s leave was not in the Queen’s Speech. It was a 2019 manifesto commitment and is a key pillar of the Government’s adult social care reforms. Will my hon. Friend please let me know when that will be addressed?"
The Minister confirmed that the Government remained committed to introducing the proposed new right to unpaid carers leave. He stated: "It remains a commitment of the Government to support unpaid carers, who do an amazing job in supporting their families and, importantly, supporting the economy and other areas of social care through their work and their commitment to their families. We remain committed to unpaid carer’s leave and indeed will introduce it when parliamentary time allows."
Reaction
The chief executive of Carers UK, Helen Walker, stated that the absence of any legislation as regards carers leave from the Queen's Speech was a "missed opportunity". She said: "This is such a missed opportunity to value carers and to ensure that they had the support to continue to juggle work and care."
Walker added: "Employers from Carers UK’s employer-led forum, Employers for Carers, have found positive business benefits from introducing Carer’s Leave. With severe social care shortages and pressures on the NHS, families simply can’t do it all. Many are at breaking point. This is precisely the time when Government really should be investing in carers and their families as well as employers by bringing in the right to up to one week’s unpaid Carer’s Leave and a day one right to request flexible working."
