Supporting carers in the workplace

XpertHR investigates what support is available for employees with caring responsibilities, a group that can often be overlooked in the workplace.

Employees who care for dependants often form a silent minority, facing little understanding or awareness from line managers of the caring demands being placed upon them. At the same time, it is not always appropriate to treat carers as one homogenous group - often their caring circumstances can vary considerably, as can the impact on their work-life balance.

Nonetheless, figures show (on the Carers UK website) that the number of people in the workplace who have caring responsibilities - most likely for an older relative - is already significant and set to rise year-on-year as more people live and work for longer.

Employees who have care responsibilities often face a number of difficult issues - physical, financial and emotional - and employers need to be aware of their obligations towards those individuals who are juggling work and care commitments. This article explores some of these issues and provides advice from external specialist carers organisations on the best kind of practical support that employers can develop.

An accompanying feature on Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust examines the award-winning provision that one public sector organisation has introduced to support carers at work, including a dedicated carers guide, flexible working and signposting to external sources of expert advice.

Number of carers set to rise

The most recent census (2001) is now out of date but still revealed some interesting statistics about working carers, as highlighted in the joint guide Working while caring for someone with cancer:

 
 
Elder care will soon be an issue that employers cannot ignore.
Ben Black,
director,
My Family Care
 
• the vast majority (80%) of carers are of working age;
• it is thought as many as three million carers already combine work and care;
• carers make up more than 12% of the UK workforce;
• every year, more than two million people become carers, some overnight, some more gradually - so there are many new carers in the workforce every day; and
• three people in five (60%) will become carers at some point in their lives.

A 2010 survey of 2,000 employees by the CIPD found that workers are as likely to have caring responsibilities for a partner, relative or friend as they are for children. Focus on caring (external website) found that one-third (34%) of employees had some form of caring responsibility, with little difference between the sexes.

The findings from the CIPD survey add weight to the perspective outlined in an Acas paper (PDF format, 1.29MB) (external website) that elder care will replace childcare as the major work-life issue by 2010 and that the next generation will be expected to spend more years caring for ageing parents than their own children. The Acas paper points out that if people are juggling work and caring responsibilities - often for children as well as elderly parents - they are likely to suffer from higher levels of stress at work and will need more access to flexible or part-time working.

According to Ben Black, director of My Family Care (external website), one of the compelling reasons why employers need to act on this issue is that the proportion of employees with caring responsibilities is set to increase year on year. As he explains: "Currently, there may be around 10% of the workforce with caring responsibilities and so it may be possible to view the issue with low priority. But this percentage is rising by around 1% to 2% annually given demographic trends, and so elder care will soon be an issue that employers cannot ignore."

Katherine Wilson, Employers for Carers manager, Carers UK (external website) agrees: "With the number of carers in the UK set to rise from six million to nine million over the next 30 years, the proportion of carers in the workforce is likely to increase significantly. As pension ages rise and our loved ones live longer, but not necessarily in full health, more and more of us will be combining working and caring, and for longer."

Definition of a carer

The definition of a carer is important as rights and entitlements depend on this. The Work and Families Act 2006 defines a carer as someone who cares for:

• an adult who they are married to, or who is their partner or civil partner;
• someone who is a near relative (including parent, parent-in-law, child, siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents and step-relatives); and
• someone who does not fall into the above two categories but who lives at the same address as the carer.

To qualify as a carer to apply for a more flexible pattern of work, an employee must be the carer for an adult aged 18 or above who is the employee's spouse, civil partner or live-in partner, a relative or someone living at the same address as the employee.

According to the evidence base for the Government's strategy document Next steps for carer's strategy (PDF format, 362K) (on the Department of Heath website), prepared by Employers for Carers, 90% of working carers are aged 30 or above - employees in their prime employment years. The peak age of caring is between 45 and 64, when many employees will have gained valuable skills and experience. One woman in four, and nearly one man in five, in their fifties are carers. Research published by the Department for Work and Pensions and Carers UK shows that as many as one million people give up or cut back work in order to care, which is a real loss for employers as well as families.

Business case for having a carers policy

There is a strong business case for supporting carers in the workplace, according to Liz Morris of Working Families (external website): "The impact of not having a carers policy and a supportive culture around employees' caring responsibilities can be damaging to the individual and organisation. If carers feel tired and stressed the result can be reduced performance, productivity and creativity. On the positive side, if a strong caring framework is in place the result can be better health and wellbeing of carers and increased loyalty and engagement, with more employees prepared to make a discretionary effort for the organisation."

What drove the establishment of Employers for Carers (EfC) (external website) - an innovative and growing membership forum and service for employers - was not just a desire to "do the right thing" but clear, identifiable bottom-line benefits. As Wilson comments: "Far from compromising business objectives, evidence from EfC shows that supporting carers in the workplace, including through flexible working and special leave arrangements:

• attracts and retains staff (eg Centrica calculated a benefit of £1 million per year from providing carers leave rather than losing staff);
• reduces stress;
• reduces recruitment and training costs;
• increases productivity (eg BT calculated a productivity increase of 21% per year, at least £5 million on bottom line, through introduction of flexible working);
• reduces sick leave;
• improves service delivery;
• produces cost savings;
• improves people management; and
• increases staff morale."

Employers should be mindful of the risk of discrimination by association against employees with care responsibilities. Under the Equality Act 2010, if an employer treats an employee less favourably because of a protected characteristic of someone with whom he or she associates (for example, the age or disability of a dependant), this may amount to unlawful direct discrimination.

"There is a legal imperative on employers to support carers in the workplace," adds Katherine Wilson. "Following the landmark Sharon Coleman case and the introduction of the Equality Act, it is now unlawful to discriminate against carers in the workforce by treating them differently from other workers or by subjecting them to harassment."

Right to request flexible working

There are various employment rights to which employee carers may be entitled. As the XpertHR legal guidance Elder care and employment: overview points out, under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), qualifying employees have the right to request a flexible pattern of work. The applicant must have worked continuously for their employer for at least 26 weeks and only one request may be made in any 12-month period.

For elder care, the right applies to carers who care, or expect to care, for an adult who is a spouse, partner or relative or, if not related, someone who lives with them. The employer is under a statutory obligation to consider the application for flexible working. But the right is only a "right to request" and not an entitlement, and so the employer can reject the request on the basis of one or more of the business reasons set out in the Act.

Carers' needs and employment

Carers in the workplace do not form an homogenous group, and the needs of individual carers can vary. As Liz Morris, joint director of consultancy and training for Working Families (external website) comments: "Caring for children can follow a recognised pattern with distinct phases such as pre-school age, primary and secondary school stages, but caring for someone with an illness or disability or who is older can be highly unpredictable - the provision employers make available therefore needs to take account of this unpredictability and be flexible."

"There are always practical and cost-effective ways to support people who combine careers with care commitments," Black points out. "Although there are many similarities between the support a working parent needs and those that a working carer needs, there are key differences - for people with adult dependants there is no simple template for the issues faced."

My Family Care's "Employer's guide to adult and eldercare" provides a useful perspective on some of the issues involved:

• "unplanned - most of us decide to be parents, but we don't plan to be carers;
• geography - your children live with you, your parents [usually] don't;
• the type of care - care commitments can take various forms and the care needed is never the same;
• planning - planning for the future can be a difficult process. Adult dependants have voices and opinions of their own, meaning decision-making is often a longer and more emotional process; and
• remember - people often don't realise they are carers. It's just a commitment you have that gradually makes your job or career more difficult."

Caring at a distance

Another obstacle that faces some carers is that they may have responsibility for caring for someone who does not live close by. This adds another challenge to the care commitment needed, as it increases the time obligation necessary for fulfilling it.

Employers for Carers (PDF format, 4.35MB) (external website) surveyed 52 employer organisations and 982 individuals who were caring at a distance, two-thirds of whom were female. Only 10% said that caring had no impact on their capacity to work, while one in four had changed their working pattern to care.

The level of support available for carers in the workplace was not generally high:

• flexible working arrangements (43% of respondents);
• a specific policy for carers at work (28%);
• practical support such as an employee assistance programme or support to manage stress (27%);
• an employee support network for carers (25%); and
• flexible leave arrangements (25%).

The support that distance carers (and most types of carers, in most cases) would like to see within the workplace includes:

• better information about what workplace support is available (48% of respondents);
• more publicity about caring issues in the workplace (44%);
• more flexible working arrangements for working hours and patterns (44%);
• information that can be accessed online from home, work or elsewhere (29%); and
• signposting to external sources of support (23%).

Future developments: modern workplaces proposals

In May 2011, the Government published a consultation on modern workplaces (PDF format, 166K) (external website). It proposes an extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees who have worked continuously for 26 weeks.

The aspects of the proposed changes that are likely to affect employers of carers include the statutory process for considering requests being replaced by an obligation to "reasonably" consider requests. Additional requests for flexible working should be allowed within 12 months if the original request was for a period of temporary flexible working. The Government's response to comments submitted on the consultation is due early in 2012.

Emergency time off for dependants

Another legal provision under the ERA 1996 affecting working carers is that all employees, irrespective of their length of service, have the right to request reasonable unpaid time off work to deal with emergencies that involve a dependant.

In the context of elder care, a dependant includes a partner, parent or anyone living in the household as a member of the family (other than as an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder). It also includes anyone who reasonably relies on the employee for help in an emergency, such as an elderly neighbour or friend.

As the XpertHR legal guidance Elder care and employment: overview states, time can be taken off to:

• help when a dependant falls ill, is assaulted or is involved in an accident;
• make longer-term care arrangements for the dependant; or
• deal with an unexpected disruption or breakdown in care arrangements for a dependant.

There is no specified statutory limit to the amount of time off that an employee is entitled to take, but one or two days is considered generally sufficient to make the appropriate arrangements for care. While the circumstances of the particular carer should be looked at on a case-by-case basis, the right to time off is intended to cover genuine emergencies and unforeseen problems as opposed to longer-term care arrangements. However, there is no limit on the number of times that an employee may exercise the right to time off.

Further practical support for carers at work

According to Black, one of the major hurdles that employees who assume caring responsibilities face is where to turn for sound advice on navigating the benefits and dependant care market, which can be difficult. This is echoed by Morris of Working Families.

"Signposting to external sources of expert advice on caring is one way employers can help support carers in the workplace," says Morris. "Encouraging an internal dialogue about caring is also key to developing a supportive culture - employers can do this by having a series of interventions such as the Working Families' 'quickbite webinars' or lunch and learn sessions, for example, that start to engage employees."

Another point Morris makes is that male carers in the workplace may find it more difficult to accept and be recognised for a caring role as it is traditionally seen as the province of women: "From our research, it is clear that having an inclusive approach and the choice to work flexibly can make a big difference to the culture and mindset of men in caring roles. Policies alone are not enough - there needs to be a positive culture that recognises the needs of carers in employment."

Wilson comments: "We know from what carers tell us at Employers for Carers and Carers UK that it is often relatively simple flexibilities and adjustments that can really help to make a difference. Even where employees do not take up all the support available, the fact that they know that it is there if needed can help alleviate anxiety and stress. As well as flexible leave and working arrangements, other support can include:

• workplace support - in-house employee networks, employee assistance programmes, employee health and wellbeing programmes, carers policies;
• simple adjustments - access to a private telephone or car parking close to the workplace to make access in and out of work quicker and easier; and
• raising awareness - either through including caring in existing activities (eg initiatives on health and wellbeing) or running a separate activity (eg during national Carers Week)."

Equipping line managers with the right skills

Caring responsibilities can be a one-off, unexpected event or creep up on someone gradually, Morris says. Some of the work that Working Families does with employers involves providing support and training for line managers and individuals to help them recognise the early warning signs of a poor work-life balance and stress, to help them build their capability and resilience.

As she comments: "Employers can upskill their management population so that they are better equipped to manage employees who have caring responsibilities. As well as understanding the legal rights and policies of carers, the ability to have difficult conversations with team members and provide the right kind of support is crucial as it is line managers who have the day-to-day contact with staff."

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has done a lot of work with managers across the organisation in order to nurture a culture whereby carers' needs are treated with as much priority as working parents. The trust has produced a guide on carers targeted specifically at line managers, recognising that one of the main challenges to implementing practical support for carers is gaining commitment for any initiatives, such as flexible working, from their line managers.

Challenges surrounding the provision of employer support for carers

Many employees do not identify themselves as carers or come forward for support, especially if they are caring at a distance, explains Wilson: "For example, an employee caring for an elderly parent is likely to see themselves just as a son or daughter; likewise, the carer of a disabled child will view themselves as a parent, not as a carer. Even where employees do recognise themselves as carers they may also be reluctant to identify themselves to managers for fear of appearing less committed to their work. This is likely to be particularly true during times of economic downturn when people may be feeling more vulnerable."

"Employers therefore need to have a flexible and understanding mindset about carers, an appreciation of the often complex range of challenges they may be facing and of the potential loss to the workplace if their talents and resilience cannot be retained," Wilson concludes.