The Carer’s Leave Act allows employees to take up to 104 weeks unpaid leave so that they can take care of someone who needs full-time care and attention and be assured of their employment when they return. In circumstances where care is provided for one person, and then applied for in respect of another person living at that address, total leave may be up to 208 weeks.
Employees must have at least 12 months continuous service with NCU Training before they can qualify for the right to carer’s leave.
The leave is for personally providing full-time care to a person who is objectively assessed by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection as being in need of full-time care and attention. However, under regulations made by the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, an employee may work for up to 10 hours per week while on carer’s leave.
Subject to certain exceptions, the leave terminates when the employee ceases to personally provide the full-time care and attention to the relevant person. An example of this is where another person/institution takes over the care of the relevant person concerned. An employee is entitled to a maximum of 104 weeks in respect of any one relevant person.
The 104-week entitlement may be taken as a continuous period, or in separate unit periods, the aggregate duration of which does not exceed 104 weeks. The organisation may refuse, on reasonable grounds, given in writing, to permit an employee to take carer’s leave for less than 13 weeks.
Decisions to allow an employee to take Carers Leave rests with the Deciding Officer of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection for any period above 13 weeks, not with NCU Training.