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Piece 4 · Support Services

Three Rights Every Working Carer Should Know

You're allowed to ask for help. Here's exactly what you're entitled to, and exactly what to say.

If you're reading this on a break, before a shift, or after the kids are in bed — you're one of roughly 3 million carers in the UK who are also holding down paid work. This isn't the edge case. It's the mainstream, and since April 2024 the law gives you more to work with than it used to.

Three separate rights sit below, in the order most people reach for them. Each one comes with a line you can actually say out loud.

~3mCarers in the UK also in paid employment
38%Of employed carers work part-time, vs 29% of non-carers
2.6mHave given up work altogether to care

Are you a "working carer"?

If you're supporting a partner, parent, child, friend, or neighbour who needs help because of illness, disability, or age — and you're also in paid work, whether that's full-time, part-time, zero-hours, or self-employed — this applies to you. You don't need to think of yourself as a "carer" in any formal sense. If you're doing the caring and doing the job, these rights are already yours.

Your three rights

Easy to blur together — here's the difference, and what to say for each.

1

Statutory Carer's Leave

Your planned week off, unpaid

  • Up to 1 week a year, unpaid. Part-time? You get a pro-rated version — work 3 days a week, you get 3 days.
  • Take it your way — all at once, or as single days or half-days spread through the year.
  • Day-one right. No minimum time in the job needed — it's yours from your first day.
  • No need to explain or prove anything about who you're caring for.
  • Notice: 3 days' notice for a day off; double the length requested for anything longer.
  • Your employer can ask you to move the date if it would seriously disrupt the business — but they can't refuse it outright, and must confirm any new date in writing within 7 days.
Say this

"I need to take Carer's Leave — [X days] on [date]. I'll confirm in writing if that's easier for your records."

Doesn't have to be in writing — you can ask verbally, and you don't need to prove anything. But it's worth sending a quick follow-up text or email anyway, just so there's a record of what you asked for and when. If your employer later delays your leave, they're legally required to confirm the new date in writing — your own note is what you'd check that against.

2

Flexible working

Asking for a different shape to your week

  • Request a different pattern — fewer hours, a different start time, working from home on certain days.
  • Day-one right to ask — from your first day in any job.
  • Up to 2 requests a year. Your employer must reply within 2 months, and has to talk to you before saying no — not just refuse on paper.
  • This is a right to ask, not a right to automatically get it — but a specific request is much harder to wave away than a vague one.
Say this

"I'd like to request a change to my hours — [what you want] — because of a caring responsibility."

3

Emergency time off

Something's happened and you need to leave now

  • Separate from your week above — using it doesn't eat into your Carer's Leave allowance.
  • No advance notice needed. Tell your employer as soon as you reasonably can, even if that's after you've already had to go.
  • Covers dealing with the immediate emergency — a fall, a care arrangement collapsing, getting someone seen urgently — not an ongoing absence.
Say this

"There's an emergency with [name], I need to go. I'll update you when I know more."

If it goes wrong

Refused outright, or treated badly for asking? That's outside what this guide can advise on directly. ACAS gives free, independent guidance on exactly this kind of workplace dispute — the right first call before anything more formal.

Visit ACAS →

Sources

This guide is provided by CarersInfo and is not a substitute for legal advice. Rights described here reflect the law in England, Wales and Scotland as of August 2026 and may change — for advice specific to your situation, contact ACAS or Citizens Advice.