Working Carers
Knowing your Rights in work:
Click HERE for new resources for working Carers from the Job Centre
Your rights in work come from two sources:
- The law gives you ‘statutory rights’ which everyone has.
- Your contract of employment gives you ‘contractual rights’ which can be more generous than statutory rights.
- The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 came into force on 6 April 2024, providing all carers in employment with a new statutory right to take five days of unpaid leave from work each year to fulfil their caring responsibilities.
The following link will give you guidance about your statutory rights as a working carer. However, it’s always worth checking your contract of employment, staff handbook, HR policies or letter of appointment to see if you have any contractual rights on top of your statutory rights. Information about your general rights: see the GOV.UK website.
Did you know?.. As a Working Carer You can still access support for Carer Breaks, Benefits advice and much more from your Carer Support Coordinator.
If you have not yet signed up for support click here, you can even sign up for Information Only and still receive a Carers Discount Card.
For more information about your rights and guidence around being a Working Carer, download our Working Carers Employee Guide
Returning to work: A good start is to think about what job you might want by identifying your skills and interests.
Focus on yourself, clarify your goals and planning ahead. CarersUK have a Learning for Living course available for Carers which helps you to show and make use of the skills learned from your caring role.
If you are, or have recently been, an unpaid carer, Open University Carers’ Scholarship could allow you to study an OU qualification for free. click here for more information
For Care Academy Courses click here
You can always speak to your Carer Support Coordinator for advice, if you don’t know their number then just call: 0300 005 1213