Network Journal 2005 Issue 2

Parents and carers – know your rights and help us to improve them

There are around six million carers in the UK today, half of whom juggle their caring commitments with unpaid work. We know that thousands of disabled, elderly and vulnerable people rely on family and friends every day for care and support. Despite this, carers receive very little formal recognition or reward for the enormously important job they carry out.

At the moment carers have only three statutory rights to call upon to help them juggle work with care. They are:

• The right to unpaid emergency time off for dependants.

• The right to request flexible working for parents of disabled children under the age of 18.

• The right to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave for parents of disabled children.

Parents of disabled children have the right to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave

Usually at least 21 days notice of leave has to be given and the leave cannot be taken in blocks of less than one week. Employers can postpone requests for leave for up to six months if they can show it would have a detrimental impact on the running of the business.

Again this is an important right that many parents are unaware of. However, even where parents know about the right they often cannot afford to take it. Recent Government statistics show that the take-up nationally of parental leave is as low as three per cent.

We know that financial pressures often mean that carers don't really have the choices or the options that they need.

What are we campaigning for?

It is too low - You have to be looking after someone for 35 hours a week to get carers' allowance. It is paid at £45.70 a week. At 35 hours a week this works out at £1.30 an hour. ADM policy is to campaign for Carers' Allowance to be paid at the same level as the basic state pension.

Carers get stuck in the benefits trap - Carers in 'remunerative work' (defined as earning more than the lower Earnings Limit - LEL - of £82 per week) cannot claim carers' allowance. We want Government to abolish the remunerative work rule so that carers earning over the LEL get financial help.

The Government should extend Working Tax Credit to carers (and not just parents) working over 16 hours a week on a low income. At the moment tax credits are only available to parents and disabled people working over 16 hours a week. Carers in their own right, with a low income, can only qualify for help with working tax credit when they work for more than 30 hours.

The right to emergency time off for dependants

A dependant can be your spouse, partner, child, parent or someone living with you as part of your family. Others who may not live with you but rely solely on you for help in an emergency may also qualify.

Whilst this right can help carers it is an unpaid right. Very often carers cannot afford to take unpaid time away from work. Furthermore, this right can only be used in an emergency and only for the length of time it takes for carers to deal with the emergency and make alternative care arrangements.

We know from our members that have responded to our supporting parents and carers survey that getting time off to deal with family illness or an emergency is a real problem. Initial findings show that just under two thirds of you said that this was when you most felt under pressure. Take this typical example: "When my husband was seriously ill my floor manager wasn't initially very sympathetic. When I asked if I could go to hospital she said 'But you have only just come on your shift and it's your late night...I've got two other people off sick. He's not going to die is he?"

What are we campaigning for?

Even though this right is unpaid it can help members to cope with family illness or accidents. With this in mind, Usdaw has produced a new leaflet - Your right to time off for family emergencies. This is available via our web site, to view, download and print, or contact your local Usdaw office on 0845 6060640 for a copy.

Ideally, we want carers to have the right to paid time off for family emergencies. Usdaw is making the case to Government and employers on this issue. Paid family leave is one of the bargaining priorities of our current campaign.

Parents of disabled children under the age of 18 have the right to request flexible working

• Have completed 26 weeks service with the same employer at the point you make the application.

• Are the parent of a child under the age of six, or eighteen where your child is disabled.

• Make the application to enable you to care for your child.

If you are eligible then you have the right to ask for a change to:

• The hours you work.

• The times of day or night you work.

Again, while this right is very important it only applies to carers that are parents of disabled children under 18.

Carers of elderly parents, disabled partners or grown up disabled children can't access the right. Although there is nothing to stop all carers asking for changes to their working hours, their employer doesn't have to take their requests seriously.

Again we know from our survey that getting working hours that fit around caring responsibilities really puts carers under pressure. Like this one:

"As an older employee (56) I have had responsibility for taking care of elderly parents. This puts me under just as much pressure as say a young mum, but I do find that looking after 'the old' is an invisible pressure - people just expect you to be able to cope."

What are we campaigning for?

For this reason we are pressing Government to extend the right to request flexible working to all carers, not just carers of disabled children. There are many different types of carers and it makes no sense to single one category of carer out as more deserving of support than all the others.

We also want to see carers given the right to ask for a temporary change in their working arrangements. At the moment any change agreed under the Flexible Working Regulations represents a permanent change in someone's contract. Carers are far more likely to need a temporary change in their working hours. For instance, to settle someone into respite care or to nurse someone through a terminal illness.

For more information on the right to request flexible working download a copy of our leaflet - Flexible Working: Your right to have a say in the hours you work.This is available via our web site, to view, download and print, or contact your local Usdaw office on 0845 6060640 for a copy.

• Visit our Supporting Parents and carers campaign section for the latest news and updates.

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