Usdaw calls for the legal right to carers leave to be extended to workers in Northern Ireland

Delegates at the Annual Delegate Meeting (ADM) of retail trade union Usdaw have this week backed a call for a statutory right to unpaid carers leave, as introduced in the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 for Great Britain, to be extended to workers in Northern Ireland.

Addressing delegates in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary said:

While the right to carer’s leave is severely limited by the fact that it is unpaid, there can be no doubt that it is an important step in the right direction. The right gives carers the ability to request five days off in every 12 months. However, a right to request can quickly become no right at all, with management simply able to reject any requests made, making the requests for time off, effectively pointless.

Without an effective right to take time off, members who are carers run out of options quite quickly. They may have exhausted or been refused annual leave, found it impossible to arrange cover to take advantage of any shift swap arrangement and been pressured to go into work as the needs of the business trump whatever is going on for them at home.

Workers in Northern Ireland should enjoy the same employment rights and protections as members elsewhere in the UK. Usdaw has made the case for carers in Northern Ireland to be given the same right to unpaid leave, as carers in England, Wales and Scotland already enjoy. This was a significant part of our response to Northern Ireland Assembly’s Consultation on the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill and something we will be continuing to raise in discussions.