Supporting employees who are carers

Many employees balance their work with caring for a family member, friend or neighbour.

By understanding the challenges carers may face and creating a supportive workplace, employers can help staff stay in work, improve wellbeing and retain valuable skills and experience.

If you employ an unpaid carer, there are many ways you can support your employee.

Why supporting carers matters

There are various studies that show that carers add value to the economy and it’s estimated equivalent is £162billion per year in England and Wales and according to Carers UK and the Centre for Care Research, over 1.9million people in paid employment became unpaid carers every year between 2010 and 2020 95,300 each day).

Carers UK also polled people in the UK and found that:

• 1 in 7 people are juggling work and caring
• 2million people have reduced their working hours to care
• 2.6million people have given up work to care.

Carers often find they feel obliged to reduce their hours or leave their paid roles altogether to care full-time for their loved ones if the support is not available for them to continue working.

It is estimated by Centrica that UK companies could save up to £4.8billion a year in unplanned employee absences and a further 3.4billion in staff retention by adopting flexible working policies to support people with caring responsibilities.

Understanding your responsibilites as an employer

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023

The Carer's Leave Act has opened up many more possibilities for carers who are employed. These changes came into effect on the 6 April 2024.

The Carer's Leave Act covers employees in England, Wales and Scotland. The act states:

• employees are entitled to one week’s unpaid leave per year if providing or arranging care for someone with a long-term care need.
• "Long term needs" is defined in the act as:
  • anyone with a condition that meets the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010
  • illness or injury (physical or mental) that requires or is likely to require care for more than three months
  • old age.
• leave can be taken flexibly (in half or full days) for planned and foreseen caring commitments.
• it is available from the first day of employment.

It provides the same employment protections to employees as other forms of family-related leave, including protection from dismissal.

Visit GOV.UK to learn more about the Carer's Leave Act.

Creating a carer-friendly workplace

Many employees balance work alongside caring for a family member, partner, friend or neighbour. By creating a carer-friendly workplace, employers can help staff remain in work while managing their caring responsibilities.

Supporting carers can help organisations retain valuable skills and experience, improve employee wellbeing and create a more inclusive workplace culture.

A carer-friendly workplace may include:

• flexible working arrangements where possible
• clear policies and guidance for carers
• managers who understand caring responsibilities
• regular conversations about support needs
• signposting to internal and external sources of support
• promoting carers' leave and other workplace rights
• creating an environment where employees feel comfortable discussing their caring role.

Many carers do not identify themselves as carers and may not realise support is available. Raising awareness within your organisation can help employees access support earlier and feel more confident discussing their circumstances.

Even small changes can make a difference. Flexible working hours, paid or unpaid carers' leave, wellbeing support and understanding from managers can help employees balance work and caring responsibilities more effectively.

Resources for employers

Here are some other useful resources for your business when supporting carers:

• Visit GOV.UK to find out who is eligible for unpaid carers leave
• Read Mending the Gap's (a Kent charity) report We Care You Care - Working Carers Report 2021 to 2022 which highlights the issues carers face, as well as opportunities to support carers at work.
• Visit The Health and Safety Executive website to read The Working Times Regulations report. The report breaks down how by giving employees notice for changing their working hours it can help carers to plan ahead so that they can continue to carry out their duties at work in the best way possible.
• Visit Carers Week website to read No Choice But To Care report for information on the impact of caring and what help unpaid carers need from the national government.
• Download our Someone's Listening leaflets for businesses (PDF, 892.7 KB) and for carers (PDF, 596.3 KB) to display or share in your workplace.