ASTI - Ireland's main second level teachers union

Carer’s Leave is temporary unpaid leave from work to personally provide full-time care and attention for a person who is medically certified as being in need of such care and was introduced upon the enactment of the Carer’s Leave Act, 2001. 

To be eligible for Carer's Leave a teacher must have worked for a period of one continuous year with the school / VEC.  This condition may be waived only in exceptional circumstances and subject to the educational and welfare needs of the pupils.  Where a teacher has been appointed for a fixed term contract and the employment would have terminated on the expiry of that fixed term had s/he not been on Carer's Leave the period of Carer's Leave shall not extend beyond the day on which the fixed term expires.

Prior to the commencement of Carer's Leave, the Board of Management / VEC must be provided with a copy of the decision of a deciding officer of the Department of Social and Family Affairs.  This decision must be that the relevant person has been medically certified as being in need of full-time care and attention.

At no time will two people be allowed to take Carer’s Leave for the purpose of providing full-time care and attention for the same relevant person.

RELEVANT PERSON

The person for whom the Carer's Leave is being applied, referred to as the "relevant person", must first be deemed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs to be in need of full-time care and attention.  The teacher must first make an application on the prescribed Department of Social and Family Affairs forms (CARB1) which can be obtained from the Carer's Benefit Section of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, Government Buildings, Ballinalee Road, Longford, Co Longford (Tel: 043-45211 or 01-8748444).

According to Department of Social Community and Family Affairs regulations, full-time care and attention means that a person being cared for must be so disabled as to require

• continuous supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with his/her normal personal needs, eg. help to walk and get about, eat or drink, bathe, dress, etc; 

or

• continuous supervision in order to avoid danger to him / herself.

PERIOD OF LEAVE AVAILABLE

The maximum period of Carer's Leave allowable to care for one "relevant person" is 104 weeks of unpaid leave. The minimum statutory entitlement that may be taken in one period is 13 weeks.  Teachers shall have the option of either taking Carer's Leave as one continuous period of 104 weeks or one or more periods, the total duration of which amounts to not more than 104 weeks.  Applications for Carer's Leave for periods of less than the statutory 13 weeks will be considered on their merit and approved where possible, having regard to the capacity of the school to meet the educational and welfare needs of the pupils and the number of periods of Carer's Leave already taken by the teacher in the school year. 

For the purpose of Carer’s Leave, a week is defined as a period of seven days, i.e. a teacher who takes 13 weeks of Carer's Leave will be removed from the payroll for 91 days.

Note 1 :     Where Carer's Leave is not taken in one continuous period of 104 weeks there must be a gap of at least 6 weeks between the periods taken. 

Note 2 :     If a teacher wishes to avail of Carer's Leave for another person a period of 6 months must elapse from the date of termination of the leave in respect of the previous Carer's Leave even if the teacher has not taken the maximum period of 104 weeks for the other person.   This provision does not apply where the two persons to be cared for reside together.

ANNUAL LEAVE / PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

The first thirteen weeks of Carer's Leave in respect of any one care recipient will qualify for public holiday entitlements.   The right to annual leave is restricted to the period comprising the first 13 weeks only of the Carer's Leave entitlement in respect of any one relevant person. Accordingly, a deduction of 6 days pay will be made during the summer period in respect of each 28 days of absence on Carer's Leave in excess of the initial thirteen week period.  See Appendix A of Department Circular PPT17/03 for further details. 

NOTIFICATION TO BOARD OF MANAGEMENT / VEC

A teacher seeking carer’s Leave should notify his/her Board of Management / VEC at least six weeks prior to the proposed commencement date of the Carer’s Leave.  The standard application form, available from the school Principal, the Department of Education and Science or the VEC, must be filled in and submitted stating that an application has been submitted to the Department of Social and Family Affairs seeking a decision that the person to be cared for requires full-time care and attention.  When the decision of the deciding officer (or appeals officer) of the Department of Social and Family Affairs has been received a copy of this decision must be given to the Board of Management / VEC immediately.

Once the period of absence has been agreed this cannot be amended without the agreement of all parties concerned.  A Board of Management /VEC may postpone Carer’s Leave if the leave is likely to significantly disrupt the operation of the school but the postponement must be to an agreed date. 

TERMINATION OF CARER’S LEAVE

Carer’s Leave will end on the date specified on the confirmation document, or where the person being cared for ceases to require full-time care and attention or when the person being cared for dies during the period of Carer’s Leave. 

In the case of the death of the person being cared for the teacher can return to school on the date specified in the confirmation document or a date which occurs six weeks after the date of death, whichever is the earlier. 

Carer’s Leave may also be terminated if the Department of Social and Family affairs makes a decision that:

• the person in respect of whom the teacher proposed to take or has taken Carer’s Leave was not or is no longer a relevant person;
• the teacher does not satisfy the conditions for providing full-time care and attention; or
• the teacher is engaging in or has engaged in employment or self-employment other than as allowed, i.e. working more than the 10 hours allowed per week.

Notification of the termination of Carer’s Leave will come from the Board of Management / VEC.

WORKING WHILE ON CARER’S LEAVE

While on Carer’s Leave a teacher may engage in employment or training / education outside of teaching provided the hours of employment do not exceed 15 hours per week and the net earnings do not exceed €332.50 per week. 

CARER’S ALLOWANCE AND CARER’S BENEFIT

Employees who have left the workplace and who are looking after certain people in need of full-time care may qualify for either Carer’s Benefit or Carer’s Allowance.Carer's Benefit is a payment for insured people who have recently left the workforce and are looking after certain people in need of full-time care and attention. You can get Carer's Benefit for a total of 2 years for each person you are caring for. You can claim it for a continuous period of 2 years or in separate periods adding up to 2 years. If you provide care to more than one person, you may be entitled to an extra 50% of your personal payment.  To apply, complete the relevant application form, CARB 1, which can be obtained from the Carer's Benefit Section, Social Welfare Services Office, Government Buildings, Ballinalee Road, Longford, telephone: Longford (043) 45211, ext 48787 or Dublin (01) 704 3000, ext 48787.  You should apply for Carer's Benefit 10 weeks before you intend to leave employment so that the Department of Social and Family affairs have enough time to check if you qualify and deal with your claim.Carer's Allowance is a payment for carer's who look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention.  There is a means test for payment of Carer’s Allowance  You can apply for Carer's Allowance by completing the relevant application form,CR 1, which can be obtained from the Carer's Benefit Section, Social Welfare Services Office, Government Buildings, Ballinalee Road, Longford, telephone: Longford (043) 45211, ext 48787 or Dublin (01) 704 3000, ext 48787.

If you need any help completing the application forms, contact your local Social Welfare Office or Carer's Allowance Section.

For further information about both Carer’s Benefit and Care’s Allowance see the Department of Social and Family Affairs website at www.welfare.ie

The following is the full text of the Department of Education and Science circular.  Please note that Carer’s Leave was extended from 65 weeks to 104 weeks on 24th March, 2006 and the Department of Education and Science have not yet issued a revised circular.  All details contained in the circular, apart from this one, are correct.