Renfrewshire Council

What Carer's Leave is

Carer's leave is up to 5 days paid leave (pro-rata) for staff with caring responsibilities. You don't have to take all your carers leave at once. You can request carers leave in full days or half days or hours and use it when you need it. You'll need approval from your line manager.   

When you can request Carer's Leave

If you're the primary carer for someone, you may need paid carer's leave to:

• provide support at appointments for the person that you are caring for
• temporarily assist with the care of a relative/partner/friend
• manage an unexpected breakdown of care arrangements
• manage the transition to or from a care home
• provide support when caring for a terminally ill relative or partner
• manage the hospitalisation of a relative or partner
• provide 'Me Time' (respite) to support an employee's emotional or physical health
• attend training to help you support the person(s) that you are caring for.

This is not a complete list. You should discuss your care needs with your manager first or HR and OD if you need more advice. You can contact in HR and OD by emailing Fiona Sinclair at fiona.sinclair@renfrewshire.gov.uk or Ian Whyte at ian.whyte@renfrewshire.gov.uk.

To request Carer's Leave, you need to be registered on the Carers Register at the council. You can then make a request for Carer's Leave. 

The Carers Register

You need to register with the council's Carers Register first, so you can be officially recognised as a working carer and apply for carer's leave if you need it.

To join the register, you need to:

• be the primary carer
• provide evidence of your caring responsibilities and relationship through your GP, other health professional, your local Carers Centre or Social Work department confirmation.

Print out the  Carers Register Confirmation form [85KB] , fill it in and get your health professional to sign or stamp it.

If you can't get your GP or Carers Centre to complete the form for you, ask them to provide a letter or email that you can can attach to your registration form.

You need to complete the carer's registration form on Business World. Read  How to submit a Carers Leave Registration form in Business World [528KB] .

We'll let you know when you've been added to the Carers Register. 

Apply for carer's leave

When you are on the carer's register, you can apply for carer's leave. 

Complete the Care's Leave Request form on Business World and this will go to your manager for consideration. Read  How to submit a Carers Leave Request form in Business World [445KB] .

Try to give as much notice to your manager as you can, so they can fairly consider your request and make any other necessary adjustments for the time you are off, such as arranging cover or allocating your work to another colleague. 

You will receive an alert to let you know if your manager has approved your leave request. If they decline your request for carer's leave, the form will come back to you with a business reason for their decision. The manager's decision is final.

Manager's process for carer's leave requests

Taking your carer's leave

If you've had your request for carer's leave approved, you can take the 5 days (pro rata) at once or use it when you need it.

You'll need to complete the application form each time you want to use your carer's leave.  

If you're sharing caring responsibilities with someone else at the council, such as a spouse, partner, family member or friend, only one request for carer's leave can be approved. However, it is possible for both carers to share the week of carer's leave between them.