For employers

Millions of people combine paid work with their caring responsibilities and the pandemic has made juggling work and care more visible to employers.

Carers should be able to work in an environment that supports them and recognises their role as a carer. This can be achieved through formal policies and procedures, as well as supportive informal arrangements, with the help and understanding of colleagues and managers.

With many working carers having to take on additional caring responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vital that working carers are supported to balance work and care.

Employers

This Carers Week, we are asking employers to raise awareness of caring and to recognise any unpaid carers in their workforce. There are some simple steps that employers can take to reduce carers’ feelings of isolation and ensure that people are able to balance work with their caring responsibilities:

Use Carers Week to connect working carers to support available in the workplace and externally. Just talking about caring can help.
Introduce and promote flexible working policies.
Introduce paid carer's leave so that carers are not forced to take annual leave for caring emergencies
Set up or encourage staff to set up a carers' staff network to connect carers to each other.
Join the Employers for Carers  forum and raise awareness of caring throughout your organisation. Visit Employers for Carers website or for employers in Scotland visit Carer Positive

Managers

You have a vital role in helping your staff juggle work alongside their caring responsibilities and helping promote a carer friendly workplace. For example, you can make it easy for your employees to talk to you about their caring role.

Good practice

Employers have a vital role in supporting carer equality, and lots of organisations are passionate about supporting employees to balance work and care. Our headline sponsor TSB, shared some of the ways they support colleagues with caring responsibilities:

TSB Bank plc. is a retail bank, serving customers through digital channels, over the phone and in branches across the UK, with over 5,000 employees.

As an Employers for Carers active member, and a Carer Confident Ambassador, TSB is committed to supporting employees with caring responsibilities. TSB recognises that flexibility and understanding are essential to help employees balance work and care and that anyone with caring responsibilities is an asset – with their own life skills and work experience.

In June 2020, TSB introduced a Carer’s Policy, giving employees with caring responsibilities access to 70 hours of paid Carer’s Leave each year and a Carer’s Passport – so carers need only tell their manager once throughout their TSB career about their situation.

Carers at TSB describe the policy as a ‘4th emergency service’, which allows them the flexibility they need to support short or longer-term caring needs. A TSB colleague added: “Having the passport in place meant I could easily share what my caring responsibilities with my team, and TSB’s Carers Leave Policy has enabled me to work flexibly. I can take full or part days, so I’ve been able to work when I can – sometimes for a sense of normality – but I’m also able to take a step back when I need to be at the hospital.”

On average, employees took four days of paid leave in the last twelve months, with more than 9,600 hours used since the launch of the policy.

TSB’s broad package of support not only attracts but also retains caring colleagues, with carers in the company more likely to have longer service than non-carers: “TSB’s Carers Policy meant I could take the time I needed whilst my son was in hospital – an amazing weight off my shoulders.”

Caring About Equality

Carers want to see:

“Increased rights at work – caring conversations normalized, more in work support and recognition.”

Reference:

* Carers UK, 2019, Juggling work and unpaid care