Achi news desk-
The charity said its past research had found around 600 people a day were giving up work so they could care because of a lack of flexibility and support.
Under the Carer’s Leave Act, which comes into effect on Saturday, workers who are carers can take up to one week’s unpaid leave every 12 months – which equates to five days for most people.
Employees are entitled to such leave to provide or arrange care for a dependent – not necessarily a family member – who has a physical or mental illness or injury which means they will need care for more than three months , has a disability, or needs care. due to old age.
Wendy Chamberlain, who introduced the Bill to Parliament in 2022, described the new right as “vital progress in improving carers’ employment rights” and something that will give people more flexibility to balance work and care.
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The Liberal Democrat MP said: “Caring or being cared for is something that almost everyone will experience at some point in their life.
“The work that unpaid carers do is so essential and yet is so under appreciated. This hard work should be better recognized which is a key reason why I led the Carers Leave Act through Parliament.”
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said: “The Carer’s Leave Act coming into force is a huge step forward for millions of carers, recognizing the vital importance of their caring role and empowering them to ask for help in the workplace – in the form of unpaid Carer’s Leave – knowing that they have a legal right to this.”
He said that “too many skilled and valued workers leave employment due to the stress of balancing work and unpaid care” but now the Act means that every employer in the country must “recognise carers in the workplace”.
She said that workers can be “confident in talking about their caring role – kick-starting a vital conversation about the support they need to stay in work, which is important not just for carers, but for employers and the economy too “.
Business minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “The role of carer effectively means that some have to work two jobs with the stress of juggling work with looking after a disabled or elderly relative.
“These new laws will enable a better balance between caring responsibilities and work commitments, support people to stay in employment and build on the UK’s flexible and dynamic labor market.”
Meanwhile, polls have suggested that only around one in 10 unpaid carers surveyed across England feel they have a “good understanding” of the Act.
Of the 1,000 unpaid carers, just over half (56%) said they believed the current Government’s support for unpaid carers was “ineffective”, and 65% of those surveyed said they would “likely” to change their vote to a party that would bring in more measures to support their needs.
The poll, commissioned by GoodOaks Homecare, “does not make cheerful and optimistic reading, with findings that will make politicians of all parties uneasy”, said Conservative MP Damian Green in his role as chair of the Parliamentary Group All Party (APPG). ) on social care for adults.
In a foreword to a report accompanying the vote, he highlighted conclusions that carers “are not happy with the level of Carer’s Allowance, and want the right to some leave leave”, as well as “more support for their own health and well-being. , which are too often sacrificed for the benefit of those who need the care”.
A February poll, for the company’s You Are Not Alone campaign, found that 62% of unpaid carers said they had felt “stressed”, while unpaid carers were more than twice as likely as members of the public from having said they feel lonely. .
The campaign’s founder, Ben Ashton, said the findings “shed light on the enormous challenges facing those who dedicate their lives to caring for others, often at great personal cost” and should “be is a wake up call to the leaders of our nation”.
He added: “The Carer’s Leave Act is a step forward, but our research highlights a significant gap in awareness and support.”
Under the Act, a week means the length of time someone normally works over seven days, so if someone works a five day week they can take five days of carer’s leave either at the same time, as individual days or half days throughout the year.
Carers NI said carers in Northern Ireland are being “left behind”.
Craig Harrison, public affairs manager at the organisation, said: “Being without a government at Stormont for two years has meant that local carers are now being left behind and missing out on a vital new employment right coming into force in Britain Big.”
