Your rights at work while caring for someone with cancer
Your legal rights as a working carer
Booklets and resources
Flexible working
If you are a carer, flexible working could help make it easier for you to keep working while caring for someone. Carers have a legal right to request flexible working. Right now, this right only applies if you:
- are an employee
- have worked for your employer for at least 26 continuous weeks before your request.
This law is currently in the process of being changed.
Flexible working arrangements could include:
- working from home
- flexible start or finish times
- compressed working hours – this means working your normal number of hours but over fewer days
- annualised working hours – this means working your normal number of hours per month or year, in a flexible way
- job-sharing
- working part-time
- flexible annual leave to fit in with alternative care arrangements.
Formal flexible working request
To make a formal flexible working request:
- You need to make your request in writing. You should date the request and state it is being made under the statutory flexible working provisions. Write the change you are asking for and what date you would like this to start. You should also explain any impacts you think this could have on your employer and how these can be addressed.
- You can only make a certain number of requests in a 12-month period – it can be helpful to confirm this when making the request so you know how many you can make.
- Your employer must consider your request in a fair way.
- Your employer must make a decision within a certain time.
- If your employer agrees, this will permanently change the terms and conditions in your employment contract, unless you agree otherwise.
- If your employer does not agree, they must write to you and explain why. You may be able to appeal this decision or complain to an employment tribunal or industrial tribunal. This is an independent body that makes decisions in legal disputes between employees and employers.
If your employer has a process for flexible working requests, you should follow it. They may have a specific flexible working request form you can use.
The following organisations have more information about your right to request flexible working and making a request:
- The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).
- The Labour Relations Agency (LRA) in Northern Ireland.
- Carers UK.
Informal flexible working request
You can also make an informal request for flexible working arrangements. This means it is not requested under flexible working legislation. This could be useful if you want to make a temporary or small change to the way you work now, and need the change to happen quickly. It may also be helpful if you want to try out a change before making it permanent.
Your employer does not legally have to consider or agree to an informal request for flexible working.
If your employer refuses your request
You do not have a right to flexible working. You only have a right to ask for it. An employer can refuse a request for flexible working if it is not in the best interests of the business. This might be because it would be too expensive or could affect the performance of the business.
You may be allowed to appeal. However, you are not legally entitled to appeal, so this will depend on your employer’s policy. Call the Macmillan Support Line or free on Macmillan Support Line free on 0808 808 00 00 to speak to our Work Support team.
Time off in an emergency
As a carer, you also have the legal right to take a reasonable amount of time off work to deal with an emergency that involves the person you care for.
An emergency might include:
- an unexpected change or problem with care arrangements
- the person you care for becoming ill, giving birth, being injured, being assaulted or having an accident
- you needing to make care arrangements when your dependant is ill or injured – this could mean arranging for a temporary carer, but not taking extra time off to care for the dependant yourself
- the death of a dependant
- you having to deal with an unexpected incident that involves your child during school hours.
You do not need to have been in your job for a certain amount of time before you can take time off in an emergency. But how much time off you can have depends on the situation. Your employer may consider what has happened, and decide how close your relationship is to the dependant and whether someone else could help instead.
To use this type of time off, you must tell your employer about the emergency as soon as possible. If you can, tell them when you expect to return to work. The time off is likely to be unpaid, but this depends on your employer’s policies.
We have more information about being a carer.
How carers are protected from discrimination
If you experience discrimination at work as a carer you can contact the Macmillan Support Line for free on 0808 808 00 00 to speak to our Work Support team. There are also organisations that can give you advice on your employment rights. Contact Advice NI or Citizens Advice for more information.
If you are a carer, there are laws that protect you from being discriminated against at work because of your association with a Disabled person. If someone has had cancer, the law considers this a disability. Being discriminated against because of your association with a Disabled person is called associative discrimination.
- If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, the Equality Act 2010 protects you.
- If you live in Northern Ireland, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 protects you.
Carers may be protected against associative discrimination in situations where they have experienced 1 or more of these types of discrimination:
-
Direct disability discrimination
This is when you are treated less favourably than somebody else whose circumstances are similar to yours because you are associated with someone who has a disability. If someone has or has had cancer, the law considers this as a disability.
-
Harassment
This is when you are treated in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, insulted or intimidated, and this behaviour is related to your association with the person with cancer. This might include written or spoken comments, or jokes.
-
Victimisation
This is when you are treated badly because you have done, or intend to do, something that is protected by law. This is called a protected act. Protected acts include:
- making a complaint about discrimination or harassment under the Equality Act or the Disability Discrimination Act
- helping someone else make a complaint about discrimination or harassment.
-
Indirect disability discrimination
Indirect disability discrimination is when a rule, policy or practice appears to treat all employees the same, but it actually puts some people at a disadvantage. For example, it is indirect disability discrimination if you have worked from home and then your employer makes a rule that everyone has to work from the office. As a carer this may put you at a disadvantage as you may not be able to do your caring duties anymore.
Protection from these types of discrimination may be different in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. If you are not sure if you are protected, contact the Macmillan Support Line for free on 0808 808 00 00 to speak to our Work Support team.
Related pages
If you feel your employer is not being reasonable
If you feel your employer is not behaving in a reasonable and fair way, and you have not been able to resolve the problem in a way that you are happy with, you may want to think about making a formal complaint. This is sometimes called a formal grievance.
If you feel your employer is being unreasonable and has not dealt with your grievance fairly, you may be able to complain to an employment tribunal or industrial tribunal. This is an independent body that makes decisions in legal disputes between employees and employers.
It is a good idea to contact your union representative if you have one, or contact:
- Acas if you live in England, Scotland or Wales
- the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) if you live in Northern Ireland.
We have more information about resolving problems at work.
About our information
-
References
Below is a sample of the sources used in our work and cancer information. If you would like more information about the sources we use, please contact us at cancerinformationteam@macmillan.org.uk
Citizens Advice www.citizensadvice.org.uk (accessed May 2022).
GOV.UK www.gov.uk (accessed May 2022).
NI Direct www.nidirect.gov.uk (accessed May 2022).
-
Reviewers
This information has been written, revised and edited by Macmillan Cancer Support’s Cancer Information Development team. It has been approved by Michelle Rouse Griffiths, Professional Development and Knowledge Lead, Macmillan Cancer Support.
Our cancer information has been awarded the PIF TICK. Created by the Patient Information Forum, this quality mark shows we meet PIF’s 10 criteria for trustworthy health information.
The language we use
We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.
We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:
- use plain English
- explain medical words
- use short sentences
- use illustrations to explain text
- structure the information clearly
- make sure important points are clear.
We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.
You can read more about how we produce our information here.
Date reviewed
Our cancer information meets the PIF TICK quality mark.
This means it is easy to use, up-to-date and based on the latest evidence. Learn more about how we produce our information.