Understanding carers

There are millions of people who combine being a carer with having a job. Many people don't talk about their caring responsibilities so you might be surprised to learn that a colleague, employee or even your boss looks after someone who is ill, frail or disabled.

Carers comprise 10% of the population and with an ageing population more people start caring for elderly relatives each year. Currently more than 1.5 million carers are in full-time employment and nearly 700,000 carers are in part-time employment. If you're an employer, this makes it vital for you to develop a workplace strategy to assist working carers.

How to support carers at work

One of the ways you can support carers where you work is by making them aware of their right to work flexibly and to seriously consider flexible working. Flexible working is not just about part-time working, it can include:

• flexible starting and finishing times or time in lieu arrangements
• compressed working hours
• annualised working hours
• job sharing or part-time employment
• working from home
• flexible holidays to fit in with alternative care arrangements
• purchased leave

If your organisation has a staff handbook that explains your policy for supporting carers, direct carers to read it so they can find out about the procedure for asking for flexible working. You can get advice on developing a carers’ policy from Business Link.

You could also, let carers who work in your organisation know about the Your rights at work page on Carers Direct.

Acknowledging carers in your workforce will also help understanding between staff. If you actively support carers, it is more likely that staff who are not carers will support and understand their colleagues’ needs too. If you are aware that there are carers in your workplace, you could consider setting up a staff carers' group for mutual support.

Benefits for organisations

Supporting carers at work benefits your organisation through better staff retention and morale. Research shows that if carers are supported with flexible working and are able to take emergency leave related to their caring role, you will find less absenteeism and more commitment to work when they are there and more loyalty in the long term.

Developing a carers support strategy in your organisation will need some careful consideration. Employers for Carers can help you make plans to retain staff who are carers. The service has developed ways to help employers to see where their organisation is in providing support for carers in their workforce and to help them develop this further.