REWARD
“Employers need to raise awareness about caring and carers in their workplace, among both staff and managers”
l 40% of all carers had given up work completely 3 . Our polling research also shows that as many as 2.6 million people in the UK have given up work to care, equivalent to 600 people a day 4 in recent years.
Promoting health and wellbeing support to carers For example, counselling and mental health provisions, employee assistance programme schemes, etc. This should be offered to employees throughout their entire caring journey. Connecting and engaging carers Offering peer support through a staff network / group and a ‘go to’ person with experience of caring who’s happy to talk to others. Championing support at all levels of the organisation And especially through senior leaders talking about their caring experience and encouraging take-up of support. Signposting carers to relevant sources of help for caring For example, to a local carers organisation or national organisation like Carers UK 8 . Good practice along these lines from Employers for Carers members has formed the basis of our employer benchmarking scheme Carer Confident 9 , which provides a practical framework for implementing support in the workplace. n Links corner 1 Juggling work and unpaid care a growing issue: https://ow.ly/JyKz50VltZI 2 State of Caring Survey : https://ow.ly/ zYvF50Vlubw 3 State of Caring 2024: the impact of unpaid caring on employment: https:// ow.ly/3T4050VluqF 4 Research: More than 600 people quit work to look after older and disabled relatives every day: https://ow.ly/ froK50VluBI 5 Employers for Carers: https:// ow.ly/4wwX50VluJO 6 Taking the next step for working carers: introducing a new right to paid carer’s leave: https://ow.ly/1Bn250VluMi 7 Supporting working carers: https:// ow.ly/npI950VluOs 8 Carers UK: https://ow.ly/yAOL50VluRe 9 Carer Confident: https:// ow.ly/7gA750Vlv2p.
through a self-service human resources system or an online form.
What are the impacts on employers?
Asking carers about their support needs Including what type of help they would like in the workplace or need the most. Using a clear definition of caring / carers Placing this definition in workplace policies to encourage take-up of support. For example, carers particularly value flexible working and leave to help them manage emergency and planned caring situations. Introducing a carer policy (or charter or guidance) To outline all the support available in one place. Educating managers Ensuring managers are well equipped to recognise and support carers in their team. For example, including caring in manager training and creating a line manager toolkit with guidance on what to do if an employee identifies as a carer. What practical support can help? Here are some additional examples of direct, practical support, which forward- looking organisations, including Employers for Carers members, are offering to carers in their workplaces: Offering paid carer’s leave For emergency and planned caring situations. Evidence from employers shows this supports retention and recruitment, as well as staff wellbeing. Including carers clearly within flexible working policies Promoting and enabling flexibilities for carers and offering them reasonable adjustments. . Introducing a workplace carer passport Used to facilitate employee-manager conversations and provide a record of support which can be carried into an employee’s future roles, without having to repeat the same information.
Adverse impacts on carer health and wellbeing don’t just affect individual employees and their families, but also their employers, in terms of workplace productivity and loss of talent and skills. For example, Centrica, a founder member of Carers UK’s business forum Employers for Carers 5 , calculated the financial saving they made by supporting their employees with a flexible carer policy and peer support. They made an estimated saving of £1.8 million a year by avoiding unplanned absences and presenteeism (working while unwell or not fully performing) due to caring responsibilities. There were also further cumulative savings of £1.3 million through increased retention by supporting employees to stay in work while caring. Centrica has estimated that UK companies could save up to £4.8 billion a year in unplanned absences and a further £3.4 billion in improved employee retention by adopting workplace policies to support those with caring responsibilities 6 . How can employers support carer wellbeing? Employers have a key role to play in supporting employees with caring responsibilities. Recent research has shown that workplaces which recognise and support carers can have a positive impact on carer health, as well as helping to retain staff 7 . The first thing to note is that it takes two years on average for someone to identify themselves as a carer. As a result, carers often don’t come forward for support in the workplace and miss out on vital help. Employers need to raise awareness about caring and carers in their workplace, among both staff and managers. Here are some steps Employers for Carers member organisations have taken to address this: Encouraging employees to identify as carers By asking questions about caring in staff surveys and / or enabling self-declaration
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 110 | May 2025
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