Carer's Rights to an Assessment

Under the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000, Carers aged 16 or over who provide a regular and substantial amount of care for someone aged 18 or over have the right to an assessment of their needs as a Carer.

If you have parental responsibility for a disabled child, your needs as a Carer will be assessed as part of a family needs assessment.

If there is more than one Carer providing regular care in your household, each is entitled to an assessment.

The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 placed a duty on Local Authorities to ensure that all Carers know that they are entitled to an assessment of their needs, and to consider a Carer's outside interests - work, study or leisure - when carrying out an assessment.  It also promotes better joint working between councils and the health service to ensure support for Carers is delivered in a coherent manner.

Carers and Employment

If you are having difficulties at work due to your caring role you should consider having a Carers Assessment, if you are eligible, as this should provide services which will may support you in employment

The right to request flexible working

The Employment Relations Act 1999, amended in 2002, gives all employees the right to emergency leave (unpaid) to deal with any genuine emergency involving someone who depends on them.  The 2002 amendments gave working parents of disabled children under 18 the right to take parental leave (unpaid), up to a maximum of eighteen weeks, which can be taken in one day or multiples of one day, up to a maximum of four weeks a year (for each child).  The Work and Families Act 2006, which came into effect in  April 2007, gave Carers of adult relatives, or an adult who lives at the same address as them, this right to flexible working.

An employer has the right to say no to a request for flexible working, but they must demonstrate clearly why they are refusing.  The employer must respond to a request within 28 days of it being made in writing, and inform the applicant of the outcome within 14 days.  Experience shows that about 80% of requests have been granted to parents over the past couple of years.
 

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A right to time off for emergencies

You have a right to take a 'reasonable' amount of time off work if you have worked for your employer for at least a year and there is an emergency relating to the person you care for.  It is at the employer's discretion whether the leave is paid or unpaid.

Situations where leave might be taken include:

• a disruption or breakdown in care arrangements
• if a dependant falls ill or has been assaulted or in an accident including when the victim is hurt or upset rather than physically injured
• to deal with an incident involving a child during school hours
  to make longer term arrangements for a dependant who is ill or injured
• to deal with the death of a dependant

Flexible Working

Caring for a disabled relative is often unpredictable and care arrangements can be complex, so you will need to talk to your employer about your concerns and commitments.  If you want to work, it is in your employer's best interest to consider making reasonable changes to your work pattern to help you work and continue caring.  Many employers offer help to carers in a variety of ways.  Think about how your employer could best help you and talk to them about your needs.  You and your employer might want to consider the following ideas:

• Compressed working hours - where you work your normal number of hours in a short time, typically fitting five days working time into four days
• Working from home or having flexible starting and finishing times
• Term time or annualised working hours - the amount of hours you are contracted for per month or year are worked in a flexible way
• Job-sharing or part time working
• Flexible holidays to fit in with alternative care arrangements

Special Leave arrangements

Most Carer's know they can get emergency leave (whether paid or unpaid), but there are other leave arrangements that your employer might be able to offer.  These include:

• carer's leave (unpaid)
• compassionate leave
• borrowing/buying leave

Other help from your Employer

Other help from your Employer could include:

• access to a telephone so that you can call the person you are caring for
• a reserved car parking space, to make getting in and out of work quicker and easier
• reasonable notice if overtime or working from home is necessary