Carers' leave
If you’re a carer you can apply for paid time off if there’s an emergency affecting the person you look after, and unpaid time off in less urgent situations.
Paid or unpaid?
The amount of leave you can take will depend on your terms and conditions. The information on below is for staff employed on Buckinghamshire Council Terms and Conditions.
If you are on AVDC, BCC, C&SB, or WDC terms and conditions, your entitlement may be different. For more information click the links below:
- Aylesbury Vale District Council
- Buckinghamshire County Council
- Chiltern and South Bucks
- Wycombe District Council
You can get paid carers’ leave if there’s a domestic emergency affecting your dependant and you absolutely need to be there. On each occasion there’s normally a maximum of two days’ paid leave, up to a total of five days over a year. The five days of paid carers' leave is taken from the same five day entitlement as paid compassionate leave.
You can also take unpaid leave if things are less serious, up to five days over a year. You can take up to 13 weeks’ unpaid leave while working at the council.
If you work part time, you’re allowed a pro rata amount of carers’ leave.
Temporarily changing your hours
You can ask for a temporary change in your working arrangements to make it easier to care for someone. This can be for up to four weeks and could include:
- Flexi-time
- Compressed hours
- Staggered hours
Applying for carers’ leave
You’ll need to have worked for the council continuously for 26 weeks to apply for unpaid carers’ leave or to temporarily change your hours. Once you’ve made your request, your manager will either approve it or arrange a meeting to discuss it.
Your manager’s decision will depend on the impact on the business, but if there’s no valid business reason to say no, your request should be approved.