Employees have been entitled to carer’s leave since April 2024. The right provides up to five days’ unpaid leave in any rolling 12-month period to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. In its Plan to Make Work Pay, the government committed to reviewing that right and considering the case for introducing paid leave.

The government does not indicate a preferred policy option in the new consultation and is at pains to point out that responses will be considered before the government decides “whether to take any further action”. It remains to be seen if the proposals will progress further.

Rights and support for unpaid carers

The first part of the consultation focuses on awareness of existing rights and support available to unpaid carers. It asks what additional guidance or information would help carers understand and use their workplace rights, and whether tailored guidance is needed for carers facing particularly challenging situations.

The consultation also seeks views on whether to:

• Widen the purpose of carer’s leave beyond that of needing to provide or arrange care for a dependant to include allowing carers themselves to rest and recuperate;
• Extend the length of carer’s leave beyond the current one-week entitlement; and
• Introduce paid carer’s leave, including what would be an appropriate rate of pay. The consultation notes, by way of comparison, that statutory parental pay is £194.32 per week and statutory sick pay is £123.35 per week.

Respondents are also asked for views on a potential new “right to return” from what the consultation terms, “a longer period of unpaid leave”. The consultation does ask what extended period of leave length would be appropriate for a right to return to be attached with options ranging from less than a month to 12 months.  The consultation suggests a right to return could operate in a similar way to other family leave rights but gives limited detail on how it would work in practice. It asks how long any extended period of leave should last and whether the right should apply to all unpaid carers, or only to specific groups such as those providing end-of-life care or parents of seriously ill children.

As a reminder, existing family leave entitlements generally distinguish between the employee’s right to return to the same job and, in some cases, the right to return to a suitable alternative role. For example, an employee taking only 26 weeks of maternity leave (known as ordinary maternity leave) would be entitled to return to the same job. Leave that is longer than 26 weeks (known as additional maternity leave) still provides a right to return to the same job, but where there is a reason that this is not reasonably practicable, it becomes a right to return to a suitable and appropriate alternative role.

The consultation provides little detail on how any new right would operate in practice. Depending on its final design, employers may need to consider how any new protection would fit within the existing framework of family-related leave rights, particularly in situations involving organisational change or restructuring where. However, the consultation does recognise that this may need to be a relatively targeted right, potentially focused on specific groups such as those providing end-of-life care or parents of seriously ill children rather than a broad entitlement applying to all carers. If this approach becomes the government’s preference, this may limit the operational impact for many employers.

Parents of seriously ill children

Following significant campaigning by It’s Never You, the consultation also considers a possible new paid leave entitlement for parents of seriously ill children. This would be known as Hugh’s Law, in memory of Hugh Menai-Davis who was just six when he died from cancer. His parents began campaigning for statutory financial support for parents in their situation after needing to spend substantial periods of time in hospital at their son’s bedside.

Although at this stage, there is no firm legislative proposal, instead the consultation seeks views on the proposal itself, how “serious illness” should be defined, and the length and pay rate of any leave entitlement.

Next steps

The consultation closes on 1 September 2026, after which a government response is expected.

Given the current economic and political climate, and the scale of employment law reform already being taken forward through the Employment Rights Act, it remains unclear whether these proposals will proceed — especially in light of the government’s recent acknowledgement that it has already asked a lot of businesses.

You can read and respond to the consultation here.