Unpaid leave for medical care

Unpaid leave for medical care was introduced on 3 July 2023.

It gives you 5 days unpaid leave if you need to take time off work to deal with serious medical care for a child or other relevant person like a family member. The leave is available to both parents and carers – see ‘Who can apply?’ below.

You don’t have to give your employer notice to take the leave in emergency circumstances. You should give notice if it’s possible to.

The law covering leave for medical care is the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.

Unpaid leave for medical care is different to force majeure leave, which is paid leave for an urgent family crisis.

You have a right to 5 days leave for medical care in any 12 consecutive months. This is the statutory entitlement (that means the legal minimum).

You don’t need to take the leave all at once. It can be taken as single or multiple days.

Leave for less than a day

The leave cannot be taken in periods of less than one day.

If you take a half day’s leave, for example, it is still counted as one day.

You can apply for the leave to care or support your:

• Child (including an adopted child)
• Spouse or civil partner
• Cohabitant
• Parent or grandparent
• Brother or sister
• Housemate (any other person to those listed above who lives in the same house as you)

The person must need significant care or support for a serious medical reason.

You do not need any minimum service with your employer to take this leave.

The sick person must need significant care or support for a serious medical reason.

Serious medical reason is not defined in the Act.

Your employer can request relevant evidence of the medical need for the leave.

Relevant evidence is either:

• A medical certificate signed by a doctor
• Other evidence the employer may reasonably require

The medical cert does not need to state the nature of the medical condition. It only needs to be a statement of fact that the person is, or was, in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason.

You don’t have to give your employer notice to take the leave in emergency circumstances.

You should give notice if it’s possible to.

You must give confirmation to your employer in writing that you want to apply for (or have already taken) the leave. You should do this as soon as reasonably practical. You must also sign this confirmation.

Your signed confirmation must contain:

• The start date
• Length of the leave
• A statement of fact (explaining why you are entitled to the leave).

Your employer must keep the confirmation document and give you a written acknowledgment that they received the confirmation.

What information do I need to give?

Your employer can request information relating to:

• Your relationship with the person being cared for
• The nature of that care
• Relevant evidence stating that the person named is, or was, in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason

See ‘What serious medical care is covered?’ above for more information about what counts as relevant evidence.

In general, you will be treated as if you are in work during leave for medical care. This means:

• You are entitled to return to work in the job you held immediately before you started the leave
• You don’t count your time on leave as breaking your continuous service
• You must not be dismissed for taking or asking to take the leave
• You must not be victimised for taking or asking to take leave for medical care. Your employer cannot penalise or treat you unfairly by, for example, giving you worse conditions of employment or selecting you for redundancy.

If I take leave for medical care while on probation

Your employer can suspend your probation, training or apprenticeship for the period you are on leave for medical care. The days can be added onto the end of your probation, training or apprenticeship period.

If you have a complaint or dispute with your employer over leave for medical care, you should raise it with your employer first.

If you cannot resolve the issue directly with your employer, you can make a formal complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

How to make a complaint to the WRC

If you have a dispute with your employer about leave for medical care, or face unfair dismissal over your right to the leave, you can make a complaint to the WRC online.

You should make your complaint within 6 months of the dispute taking place. The time limit may be extended for up to a further 6 months, if there was reasonable cause for the delay.

You can get more information from the Workplace Relations Commission's Information and Customer Service.