Carers are employees with significant caring responsibilities that have a substantial impact on their working lives.
An employee may have been a carer for many years already when they join your organisation. They can also become a carer suddenly when a loved one becomes ill. Caring can be difficult to manage alongside a job, especially where the demands are unpredictable or may grow over time.
You are very likely to have carers in your organisation. In the UK nearly one in eight workers are carers. Unfortunately one in five carers go on to leave work as a result of their caring responsibilities.
This can be a big loss of talent, expertise and experience. Helping staff who are carers to cope with both roles makes good business sense, as well as being good employment practice.
Carers have legal rights which can be different in different parts of the UK. The law sets out basic entitlements but many employers go further. There are also practical adjustments an employer can make such as flexible working. Peer support and mental health support can also be very helpful for working carers
A carer is defined as someone who helps or looks after a family member or friend who needs care and support as a result of old age, physical illness, disability, mental health problems or addiction.
Carers rights at work
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Employees who are carers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have certain rights at work.
This includes:
The right to request flexible working after an employee has worked for the same employer for 26 weeks (6 months)
All employees have the right to take a ‘reasonable’ amount of time off work to deal with an emergency or unexpected event that involves a dependant.
Employees are protected from direct discrimination or harassment under the under the Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales and under the Human Rights Act and Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act.
If an employee has worked for the same employer for 12 months and is responsible for a child under the age of 18 they are entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child. This must be taken before the child’s 18th birthday.
For further employee rights information visit Carers UK.
Talking about caring
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Carers don’t have to tell the organisation about their caring role but a sign of a compassionate employer is that they feel confident to do so. This can involve conversations that seem difficult or uncomfortable at first, but they don’t need to be.
Some topics for managers or HR teams to cover may include:
Adjustments that would help the employee balance work and their caring responsibilities, for example, flexible working.
Going over any relevant policies together such as a carers policy, compassionate leave or flexible working policy.
Discussing carers leave, particularly which type of leave will be paid.
What, if anything, they would like to be shared with their team or relevant colleagues. Always ensure you have permission from the employee before sharing details of their caring role or the person they care for.
Creating a plan for if the employee needs to take leave suddenly, including delegating their workload and how key contacts will be informed.
Practical and emotional support needs. Ensure the employee has any key information such as EAP helpline numbers or a takeaway document. Visit our Carers Signposting section for more information.
Practical support
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There are a range of ways in which an employer can practically support an employee who is balancing work and caring. This includes making reasonable adjustments, offering flexible working and signposting to support such as financial support and a carers assessment.
The law gives employees the right to ask for flexible working once they have been employed for 26 weeks. The legal right is to make such a request once a year but as a carer’s responsibilities can change, sometimes unexpectedly, your organisation may want to allow more frequent requests.
The member of staff and their manager may want to:
Try out a plan and see how well it works
Review it and agree any changes needed
Have this conversation on an ongoing basis
A carer may need occasional leave for emergencies, for example if care arrangements break down unexpectedly which means they may not be able to give notice.
Your organisation can treat this as part of their annual leave or it may have a more flexible approach, such as a policy of offering paid emergency leave for a given number of days per year.
There may be occasions when a carer needs to spend several days at a time away from work. Some employers offer unpaid leave to allow for this. If this might affect the person’s eventual pension, you could allow for them to carry on making pension contributions for the time they are unpaid.
If the person being cared for gets worse, or is about to die, they may need to spend time in hospital or in a hospice. This may change the carer’s practical role if they have been looking after someone at home, but they will still need time to play their part.
For example, they may need to join in meetings with the professional staff looking after a dying person, and they may want to spend as much time as they can with that person.
When someone has only a short time to live, every day can be precious. As a compassionate employer, you may want to consider a policy allowing paid leave for carers so that they can be with their loved ones in their last months.
Depending on how big your organisation is, how it is structured and what the carer’s job is, there are all sorts of variations on flexible working that you may be able to offer:
flexi-time – employees may be required to work within set times but outside of these 'core hours' have some flexibility in how they work their hours
home working or teleworking – teleworking is where employees spend part or all of their working week away from the workplace and homeworking is just one of the types of teleworking
job sharing – usually two employees share the work normally done by one person
part-time working – employees might work shorter days or fewer days in a week
term-time working – employees don’t work during school holidays and either take paid or unpaid leave or their salary is calculated pro-rata over the whole year
shift-swapping or self-rostering – employees agree shifts among themselves and negotiate with colleagues when they need time off, with the process being overseen by managers
staggered hours – employees have various starting and finishing times meaning that goods and services are available outside traditional working hours
compressed hours – employees work their total hours over fewer working days, for example a 10 day fortnight is compressed into a nine day fortnight
annualised hours – employees’ hours are calculated over a whole year and then split into ‘fixed shifts’ and ‘reserve shifts’ which can be agreed on a more flexible basis.
If someone is spending 35 hours or more a week on caring they may be eligible to claim carers’ allowance.
There is a cap on how much they can earn and still qualify. If an employee is having to reduce their hours, HR could signpost them to explore this option.
A person caring for someone who is disabled, ill or elderly is entitled to a carer’s assessment by their local council or trust.
If the council decides that the carer has eligible needs, the council have a legal obligation to meet these needs if the carer wants them to. Some councils and trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland charge for carers’ support.
If they do, then they carry out a financial assessment to decide what, if any, contribution they charge. Carers in Scotland are not charged for support provided by the council.
Services can be provided directly to the carer, or to the person they are looking after, or a combination of both.
Peer support
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Peer support can be important for working carers. It allows them to receive support from others in similar situations as well as practical advice and suggestions.
You may want to consider creating a staff network for carers depending on the demand and needs of your employees. This is usually a staff-led network with HR input.
For support and tips on creating a Carers Network refer to this document.
There are external support groups and networks around the UK for carers. There may be specific groups for specific types of carers, for example, those caring for someone with a mental health condition.
Local carers groups can support working carers by providing peer support and practical advice. There are carers events and training that employees may find helpful. This includes falls prevention, stroke awareness, dementia awareness and more.
To find local support option for your employees you can use the following search directories:
Having regular conversations with the carers in your organisation is important. This will help you to understand their support needs and any required changes to your processes or policies.
Ask employees how often they would like to speak and check in to see how they are, especially if they are on carers leave. This will help ease them back into the workplace once they return. It is also helpful to check on their manager regularly, as supporting a carer in the team can often be stressful for them too.
If you have an EAP, employees can call the helpline to receive emotional support. Ensure carers have the number handy and signpost to the support information.
There are resources and organisations dedicated to supporting carers in the UK. The Carers Signposting section can help you understand what emotional support is available, including helplines and instant chats options.
It’s important to remember that an employee may care for someone whose health goes up and down as a result of their diagnosis. They may have had a while to come to terms with their loved one’s diagnosis but it can still be just as devastating when they die.
If someone has been suffering from an incurable illness, such as dementia or cancer, their family may begin the grieving process long before the person actually dies. They will need the same sort of consideration and support as they go through this pre-bereavement period as they will later on when the person has died. For guidance on how to support bereaved employees see the dedicated section here.
Further reading
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HR professionals and other support services in your organisation may find the following resources helpful for further reading:
