A dental nurse asks for carer's leave: one week a year from day one, the notice rule and why the practice cannot refuse, worked

The nurse stops you at the end of a list and asks whether she can have Thursday off to take her mother to a hospital appointment, and she thinks there will be more of them. It is not sick leave and it is not holiday. Since April 2024 there has been a separate right, and the practice has little choice about granting it.

What GOV.UK says

The GOV.UK page on carer's leave sets out the following.

• Who. An employee who gives or arranges care for a dependant with a physical or mental illness or injury expected to need care for more than 3 months, or with a disability, or with care needs due to old age. The dependant need not be a relative: anyone who relies on the employee for care counts.
• From when. The first day of work.
• How much. Up to one week every 12 months. A week is the hours the employee usually works over 7 days, so three days a week gives three days. It is one week in total even when more than one person is cared for.
• How taken. A whole week at once, or single days or half days.
• Notice. At least 3 days for a day or a half day. For more than one day, at least twice the length of the leave, so 2 days needs 4 days' notice. Notice is counted in full days. It does not have to be in writing.
• Evidence. The page says employees do not need to give evidence of the dependant's care needs.
• Can the practice refuse? No. Employers cannot refuse a request. They may ask the employee to take it at another time only if the absence would cause serious disruption, and then must agree a new date within one month of the requested date and give the reason and the new date in writing within 7 days of the request, and before the requested start date.
• Rights during leave. Holiday entitlement and the right to return to the same job are protected.
• Irregular hours. Add up the hours worked in the previous 12 months and divide by 52; if under a year in the job, divide by the weeks worked.

The page does not say whether the leave is paid. Its heading says unpaid, and I have treated it as unpaid, but I did not read the legislation or any pay guidance, so check before telling a nurse that nothing is owed.

The sums

The size of the week. A nurse on five 7.5-hour days works 37.5 hours, so her week of carer's leave is 37.5 hours (5 days). A nurse on three 7.5-hour days has 22.5 hours (3 days). A nurse with irregular hours who worked 780 hours in the last 12 months has 780 / 52 = 15 hours.

The notice. Take a request made on 11 January 2027.

I counted by calendar date, adding the days to the date of the request. GOV.UK says notice is counted in full days but not how a weekend is treated, so confirm that before relying on the exact day.

The cover. If the practice covers the hours with temporary staff, the cost for one full week is:

The rates are examples, not GOV.UK figures, and they ignore the wages not paid to the nurse while she is away. The point is that the most the practice can be asked to cover in a year is one week of that person's hours.

The delay rule. Suppose she asks on 11 January 2027 for leave starting 1 February 2027, and a locum cannot be found for that week. The practice may move it only for serious disruption, must say why in writing within 7 days (by 18 January 2027) and before 1 February, and must offer a date no later than one month after 1 February, which is 1 March 2027.

A practical order of work

1. Log the request the day it is made, even if it was spoken, with the date and the days asked for.
2. Work out her week in hours from her contract.
3. Check the notice against the table above.
4. Say yes in writing. If you think the absence would cause serious disruption, write the reason and the new date inside 7 days.

Related guides: part-time holiday entitlement and bank holidays, a nurse's request to work four days and staff sick pay in 2026-27.

What I did not read

I did not read the Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 or the Employment Rights Act sections behind them, the Acas guidance, or anything on how a dependant is defined at the edges, the treatment of pension or pay during leave, or what happens if a nurse changes jobs part-way through the 12 months. I did not check how the 12 months is measured. I have not checked for changes since 20 October 2026.

Overlyft builds AI staff who join your practice team and keep a log of carer's leave requests, work out each person's week in hours, check the notice against the dates asked for, and draft the reply and the cover options, ready for the practice manager to approve before anything is sent.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the GOV.UK page for your own case.