Could paid carer’s leave be on the horizon?

Recent Department for Work and Pensions statistics show that the cost to the economy of unpaid carers being out of employment has reached £37 billion a year.

So, it is not surprising that research undertaken by Carers UK in October 2025 found that an estimated 600 people a day leave the workforce every year to provide unpaid care, while others delay returning to work or reduce their hours to accommodate essential care needs for a dependant.

As part of their “Make Work Pay” plan, the Department for Business and Trade have launched a new consultation on rights for unpaid carers and parents of seriously ill children.

The consultation

The consultation seeks views on whether the current entitlements for unpaid carers and parents of seriously ill children are adequate and whether greater support is needed to allow carers to stay in the workplace for longer.

The consultation focuses on three key areas:

Does the existing legislation adequately support unpaid carers in the workplace?
Are additional employment rights needed to help carers balance work and caring responsibilities?
What types of support would be most mutually beneficial for carers, employers and parents of seriously ill children?

Current position

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 introduced a day-one right for employees to take up to five days (pro rata) of unpaid carer’s leave per year, to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. The leave can be used flexibly as half days, full days or a whole week.

This is in addition to a range of other statutory entitlements and protections, including:

Protection from discrimination (and discrimination by association)
The right to emergency leave for dependants
The right to request flexible working to accommodate caring responsibilities

Where the dependant is a child, employees are also entitled to:

Neonatal care leave
Parental leave

Additional employment rights

The consultation invites views on a number of aspects, including:

Increasing the five day entitlement to between six and 10 days, with other duration suggestions invited.
The introduction of a “right to return” after a longer period of unpaid leave, which could operate in a similar way to maternity leave to provide job security for carers.
The introduction of a short period of paid carer’s leave, with views requested on what duration and at what rate the leave should be paid.
Employers’ experiences of what information helps them understand carers’ needs, how easy the information is able to obtain, and what information might be helpful for employers and employees to enable constructive conversations about the support required.

Hugh’s Law

The consultation also proposes the introduction of a one-off period of paid leave for the parents and primary caregivers of seriously ill children, referred to in the consultation as “Hugh’s Law” following the campaign by the family of Hugh Menai-Davis. The consultation seeks feedback on the duration of a period of paid leave, the rate of payment, and eligibility criteria.

How to take part in the consultation

For employers, participation in the consultation offers an opportunity to influence the development of workplace rights and to share experiences of supporting employees with caring responsibilities.

Participation is invited via the Government website here.

Views are especially welcome from those with lived experience of caring responsibilities, supporting unpaid carers in the workplace, and/or those with expertise in unpaid care.

Outcome

The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 1 September 2026. The final report outlining the findings of the consultation is expected to be published late 2026-2027.