Kinship Carers Leave

Kinship Carers Leave Will Provide 52 Weeks Of Leave To Eligible Employees

Kinship Carers Leave is an arrangement where a child is raised by a friend, relative or extended family member other than a parent. The Bill sets out that the Secretary of State must make regulations entitling an employee to be absent from work on leave if the employee satisfies the specified conditions in the regulations as to an eligible kinship care arrangement with a child.

An employee will be entitled to Kinship Carers Leave only if the eligible kinship arrangement is intended to last at least one year and until the child being cared for is 18 years old. Where only one employee is entitled to Kinship Carers Leave, they should be entitled to at least 52 weeks’ leave; I interpret that to mean if two adults are sharing the care of the child then they are entitled to 52 weeks of leave between them (as if they had opted into the Shared Parental Leave system).

An eligible “kinship care arrangement” is described as a special guardianship, a special kinship child arrangement, a private fostering arrangement, or a private family arrangement.

There is currently no reference to pay, which would suggest the leave will be unpaid. In which case take up is likely to be low.

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