Employers - Are you carer aware?
With more than 1 in 7 employees having a caring role outside of work, it is very likely that someone within your workforce is looking after someone.
Carers are employees who are responsible for the care and support of relatives or friends who are older, disabled or seriously ill who are unable to care for themselves. These responsibilities are likely to have an impact on their working lives.
Balancing work with a caring role can be very difficult. Being a carer is like having a whole other job - on top of an employee’s regular job and on top of their other family commitments, hobbies or interests. Working carers are often ‘sandwich carers’ – those caring for children and for elderly parents. There is often a sense of isolation felt by an employee with a caring role as they struggle to ‘keep up’ with colleagues who do not have caring responsibilities and might lack understanding of what challenges a caring role brings with it. Caring can be unpredictable and hard to fit around a paid job. Many carers have to consider reducing their hours, or even giving up work in order to be there for the person they are providing care to.
For employers, the replacement of employees is costly – losing fully trained members of staff and finding the right people can be difficult. The ideal outcome would be for employers to retain an experienced worker, saving on recruitment and training costs and for the worker to remain in the job role they are in and continue with their professional development. Recent research by Carers UK shows that 1 in 3 carers not currently working would work if the right support was available. Many of these carers will have valuable skills and experience which could benefit your organisation.
Research shows that supporting staff to effectively juggle their home and work life, and continue in employment, holds valuable benefits for the business, including:
· Improved staff retention
· Reduced absence
· Increased productivity
· Reduced recruitment costs
· Improved people management
· Reduced stress
· Improved morale
· Attraction of new talent
Given the aging population, it is widely recognised that the number of carers within the working population is increasing year on year. There are Statutory Rights that carers have as employees which you as an employer need to be aware of.
What can i do to support carers?
Things to consider if you are an employer:
· A visible commitment to recognise and support staff with caring responsibilities by covering caring in relevant policies and provisions.
· Proactive promotion of caring issues and workplace policies to support carers to ensure that staff with caring responsibilities identify themselves as carers and come forward for support
· A Programme of support for carer health and wellbeing in the workplace.
· Accessible public information in the workplace on how and where working carers can get practical help with caring.
· Development of a Carers support network – providing vital emotional and practical support to employees.
· Implementation of a Carers passport which stays with an individual’s profile and means they don’t need to re-identify themselves as a carer if they change roles or managers.
· Encouraging regular and ongoing 1:1 conversations between carers and their managers, including using tools such as Carers Passports
· Regular reviews with carers and former carers to explore and agree any adjustments needed to enable them to work
· Signposting employees to external sources of information on care and support.
· Providing information, education and training to managers about caring issues and the health and wellbeing support needs that carers may have.