The Care Act 2014 came into effect in April 2015 and brought together and replaced much of the previous legislation relating to adult social care, including support for carers and people who need care.

The Care Act sets out:

• how local authorities should carry out carer’s assessments and needs assessments for people who require care and support
• how local authorities should decide whether someone is eligible for care and support
• how local authorities can charge for residential and community care
• when and how carers may be charged for support
• the responsibilities and duties of local authorities in providing care and support.

The Act recognises the important role of unpaid carers and gives carers rights to have their needs considered alongside those of the person they care for.

Under the Care Act 2014, you have the right to request a carer’s assessment if you provide unpaid care and appear to have needs for support.

The assessment looks at how your caring role affects your everyday life and whether you may be eligible for support. If you meet the national eligibility criteria, your local authority may have a duty to provide or arrange support to meet your eligible needs.

The person you care for can also request a needs assessment if they appear to have needs for care and support. This assessment looks at their individual circumstances and what support they may need.

Your local authority may arrange for another organisation, such as a charity or private care provider, to carry out the assessment on its behalf.

If you are an employee who provides or arranges care for someone with a long-term care need, you may be entitled to take carer’s leave.

This can include caring for someone who has:

• Behavioural/Emotional issues
• Cognitive/Learning difficulties
• Hearing Loss
• Visual impairment
• Memory loss
• Mental Health problems
• Mobility issues
• Physical disability

The person you care for could be a family member, partner, friend or anyone else who depends on you for care.

Your right to take carer’s leave starts from your first day of employment. It is available to both full-time and part-time employees.

The Carer’s Leave Act introduced a new right for employees who provide or arrange care for someone with a long-term care need to take time away from work.

The law does not specify exactly what types of care are included. This means carer’s leave can cover a wide range of caring responsibilities, depending on your individual circumstances.

This could include things such as:

• Accompanying someone to medical or other health appointments
• Providing personal care or practical support
• Arranging appointments or visits with health professionals
• Organising care and support for the future.

Carer’s leave is designed to give you greater flexibility to manage your caring responsibilities alongside your work.

The simple answer is no. Your employer cannot ask you to provide proof that you are an unpaid carer. If you wish to disclose more information about your caring role, that is down to personal preference.

You can take carer’s leave in half or full days, up to and including a block of a whole week of leave at once. You can take up to one week of carer’s leave a year (ie within a 12 month period).  

This leave is intended for planned and foreseen caring commitments. If the situation is urgent, employees have the legal right to take a reasonable amount of time off work to deal with an emergency involving someone who relies on them for help (as a dependant). Information about time off for emergencies is here: Taking time off when needed | Carers UK 

You should also confirm to your employer: 

• that you are requesting carer’s leave (to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need) and 
• the specific days (or half days) you require for the leave. Your notice does not have to be in writing, but you will need to provide this information to your employer.

Your employer cannot refuse your request for carer’s leave, but they may be able to postpone it in certain circumstances.

Your employer can only postpone your leave if they reasonably believe that allowing you to take the leave at the requested time would cause undue disruption to their business.

If your employer needs to postpone your leave, they must:

• still allow you to take the same amount of carer’s leave
• discuss the change with you and agree a new date for your leave, which must be within one month of the original date you requested
• give you written notice explaining why your leave has been postponed and confirming the new date you can take it.

Your employer must give you this written notice within seven days of your original request, and it must be provided before your requested leave was due to start if you gave less than seven days’ notice.