Employment Rights for Informal and Unpaid Carers

The House of Commons Library has published a research briefing on the employment rights and support available to informal and unpaid carers.

The research briefing uses a Department of Health and Social Care description of an informal and unpaid carer as "someone who provides unpaid help to a friend or family member needing support, perhaps due to illness, older age, disability, a mental health condition or an addiction", as long as they are not employed to do so. It provides a useful summary of the employment rights of such carers, together with the policy background to the various rights.

The research briefing refers to the following employment rights available to informal and unpaid carers:

• Statutory right to one week of unpaid carer's leave per year.

• Statutory right to request flexible working.

• Statutory right to reasonable time off for dependants.

• Statutory right to unpaid parental leave.

• Discrimination by association (in particular, due to their association with a person with the protected characteristic of age or disability).

In terms of employment support for informal and unpaid carers, the research briefing refers to the government's November 2024 White Paper, Get Britain Working, which identified that too many people are excluded from the labour market due to caring responsibilities. The White Paper contained initiatives to support more people into work, including those with caring responsibilities. In this respect, the research briefing notes that the government has said that the support available to parents and carers will be expanded, with an increase in both government-funded childcare entitlement and the number of childcare places.

The government has also launched the Job Help Campaign site which is aimed at carers. Additionally, the government has said that it will allow local areas in England to shape the support offered to people who are economically inactive, such as those who are unable to work due to their caring responsibilities, by producing local Get Britain Working plans.

Source: House of Commons Library: Informal carers' employment rights and support (13 June 2025)

If you would like to know how you can support informal carers in your organisation, please contact our team on 01342 347063 or email us via hello@starfordlegalhr.com