![University of 911吃瓜](/v8media/global/images/UOE-green.svg")
Carer's Leave
The University is committed to supporting staff who maintain responsibilities as a carer alongside their job. We aim to work with our employees to facilitate a good work/life balance. The University recognises that many staff will have caring responsibilities at some stage in their lives and continuing to work while caring can help the physical and mental wellbeing of employees and provide them with social interaction outside of their caring role.
- are a spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the employee,
- live in the same household as the employee, otherwise than by reason of being the employee鈥檚 boarder, employee, lodger or tenant, or
- reasonably rely on the employee to provide or arrange care, and
- have an illness or injury (whether physical or mental) that requires, or is likely to require, care for more than three months,
- have a disability for the purposes of the ,
- require care for a reason connected with their old age.
- Providing personal support e.g. interviewing and inducting a new third-party Carer for a dependant
- Providing practical support e.g. meeting a contractor/maintenance to talk through needs at a dependant's home
- Helping with official or financial matters e.g. completing paperwork for applications of allowances due to a dependant鈥檚 苍别别诲蝉鈥�
- Providing personal and/or medical care e.g. attending a medical appointment with a dependent at their doctor鈥檚 surgery or hospital
- Making arrangements such as dealing with social services or the voluntary sector, moving someone into a care home, making home adjustments or adaptations.鈥�
- be an employee of the University of 911吃瓜 when they make the application
- make the application after 6th April 2024
- meet the notice requirements set out below
- have a dependant with a long-term care need (see definitions above)
- want to be absent from work to provide or arrange care for that dependant
- not have exceeded the entitlement on previous occasions
- be providing or arranging the care on an unpaid basis
Employees will be paid for
- up to 5 days*University Carer’s leave per 12 month rolling period (pro rata) OR
- up to 5 days*University Emergency leave per rolling 12 month period (pro rata) OR
- a combination of both types of leave up to 5 days* per 12 month rolling period (pro rata).
Please be aware that if you have used all of your paid entitlement then any further leave booked will be unpaid.
Examples of how University Carer’s leave and University Emergency leave may be paid can be found in the examples tab below.
- Declare that they are entitled to take c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave under the rules of the regulations
- Specify the days on which the leave is to be taken and the length of leave
- Give notice before the date the leave begins and in the following way
- Twice as many days as those requested in advance of the earliest leave date with a minimum of 3 days' notice given e.g. if 3.65 hours is required then 3 days' notice must be given. If 36.5 hours are required, then two weeks' notice must be given.
- Managers can choose to waive this notice requirement if operational requirements allow.
An employee should apply for C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave via Trent Self Service similar to booking annual leave but ensure that they choose the C补谤别谤鈥檚/Emergency leave reason for leave and then the relevant sub section 鈥� Emergency Leaveor C补谤别谤鈥檚 Leave. They should ensure that that they are applying for leave within the necessary notice requirements as stated under 'Notice requirements'
Managers will receive an automated request via email for the leave and should either accept or postpone the leave. In the event of postponing the leave please follow the process below.
If you wish to change or delete any Carer's leave once requested, then you will need to contact your line manager for them to amend your Trent record as employees do not have authorisation on Trent to make any changes to this type of leave.
The university offers a range of leave options for different circumstances. Emergency leave and C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave have different eligibility criteria and definitions and should be utilised in different scenarios. Depending on whether the employee has previously taken emergency leave or c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave will impact on whether the leave will be paid or unpaid so it is important that employees and managers understand and apply for the correct leave.
Emergency leave is to deal with an emergency, which covers a broad range of circumstances but does not cover pre-planned appointments or caring requirements in the future.
C补谤别谤鈥檚 Leave only applies if the employee is taking time off 鈥渢o give or arrange care鈥� to a dependant with 鈥渁 long term care need鈥� (a long-term care need means a physical or mental illness or injury that means they鈥檙e expected to need care for more than 3 months; a disability (as defined in the Equality Act 2010); care needs because of their old age). The legislation requires notice to be given, so by implication the need must be known in advance.
To illustrate the differences please see the scenario situations below and the leave that could be applied for (this list is not exhaustive):
|
Circumstance |
Time needed |
Leave to be taken: |
|
Completing paperwork for care allowances for a dependant |
Half day |
C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave |
|
Attending a specialist hospital appointment in another city with child who has a long-term illness |
Full day |
C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave |
|
Responding to a telephone call informing the Carer that their dependant has had a fall |
Unknown |
Emergency leave |
|
A 肠丑颈濒诲鈥檚 school or nursery has closed because of the weather |
Remainder of day |
Emergency leave |
|
An employee鈥檚 pipes have burst and there is a flood in their 丑辞尘别.鈥赌� |
unknown |
Domestic emergency leave |
|
A child is unwell and unable to attend school/nursery/肠丑颈濒诲尘颈苍诲别谤鈥赌� |
One day |
Emergency leave |
There are a range of alternative support options for Carers contained within the University鈥檚 policies, in particular:
- a change to their start or finish times, to allow them to visit a disabled relative at key times during the day and provide assistance;
- part time hours for a temporary period to allow for caring responsibilities until e.g. the person cared for has finished a course of treatment or other care arrangements are in place. This period may be reviewed, amended or extended with the agreement of the University.
Applications for leave and amended working patterns noted above will be considered in accordance with the terms of the relevant policies. Whilst every effort will be made to accommodate Carers needs, this will be the subject of discussion and cannot be guaranteed.
This policy should be read alongside the following policies:
- Emergency leave
- Flexible working
- Teaching restrictions
- Compassionate leave
- Career break
- Code of Practice on Managing Absence
- Parental Leave
- Purchase of additional leave
- Unpaid leave
The below scenarios outline when C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave may or may not be paid. Paid C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave is directly linked to Emergency Leave and so managers need to ensure that the correct leave is being applied for. The maximum amount of pay for both types of leave combinedis 5 days鈥�* pro rata. This list of examples is not exhaustive.
These examples make the assumption that no emergency or c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave has been taken in the preceding twelve months.
Example 1
A full-time employee applies for:
- five days鈥�* c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in April to support an elderly parent post operation.
- one day鈥檚* emergency leave in December as the employee鈥�s child鈥�sschool shuts for the day due to a frozen pipe.
|
|
Paid leave allowance taken |
Unpaid leave |
|
Five days* carer鈥�s leave in April |
Five days paid leave |
|
|
One day* emergency leave in Dec |
Paid leave has been exhausted |
One day鈥檚 unpaid emergency leave |
Example 2
A full-time employee applies for:
- one day's* c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in February to attend a hospital appointment with their elderly parent.
- one day's* emergency leave in March as their 肠丑颈濒诲鈥檚 childminder is ill.
- one day鈥檚* emergency leave in October as their parent has a fall, and the employee is requested to go to hospital with them.
- four days鈥� leave* at the end of October as the elderly parent has a planned operation as a result of their fall, to look after them post operation.
|
|
Paid Leave Allowance taken |
Unpaid leave |
|
One day鈥檚* c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in February |
One day鈥檚 paid c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave |
|
|
One day鈥檚* emergency leave in March |
One day鈥檚 paid emergency leave |
|
|
One day鈥檚* emergency leavein October |
One day鈥檚 paid emergency leave |
|
|
Four day鈥檚* c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in October |
Two days鈥� paid c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave (as maximum paid leave for both forms of leave is 5 days in total) |
Two days鈥� unpaid c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave (no additional C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave would be approved in the next rolling 12 months as this allowance has been exhausted (max 5 days). Emergency leave does not have a cap but has to be reasonable so unpaid Emergency leave could potentially still be applied for. |
Example 3
An employee who has a child with a disability requests:
- 4 days鈥�* C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave to support the child during planned treatment in March.
- 4 days鈥�* C补谤别谤鈥檚 leaveinSeptemberas the child needs additional planned treatment.
|
|
Paid leave allowance taken |
Unpaid leave |
|
Four days鈥�* C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in March |
Four days鈥� paid c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave |
|
|
Four days鈥�* C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in September |
One days paid c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave (as maximum paid leave for both forms of leave is 5 days in total) |
Statutory right to C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave is five days in total so employee can only request one of these days in September as C补谤别谤鈥檚 leave (paid or unpaid). The other days would need to be taken as paid annual leave or another leave type (with the approval of their line manager). |
Example 4
An employee works three days鈥� a week (0.6 of full time). They request:
- one day* of emergency leave in February.
- Half a day鈥檚* emergency leave in June due to sickness of their child.
- Half a day鈥�s* c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in October to take their elderly parent to a hospital appointment.
The employee is entitled to 3 days鈥� paid leave in total (the equivalent of 21.9hrs). As a part time employee, it is easier for the entitlement to calculated in hours. The employee works 7.3hrs, three days a week.
|
|
Paid leave allowance taken |
Unpaid leave |
|
7.3 hours emergency leave in February |
7.3hrs paid emergency leave |
|
|
Half a day鈥檚 leave (3.65hrs) emergency leave in June |
3.65hrs paid emergency leave |
|
|
Half a day鈥檚 leave (3.65hrs) c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave in October |
3.65hrs paid c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave |
|
The employee has an allowance of 7.3hrs paid leave (emergency or c补谤别谤鈥檚) for the rolling12 month period and then between 1.5-2.5days鈥� (10.95hrs-18.25hrs) statutory unpaid c补谤别谤鈥檚 leave depending on how the last of the 7.3hrs of paid leave has been taken.