Health and wellbeing benefits are becoming more sought after than ever before by employees.
They want to feel seen, heard and included, which is why equitable health and wellbeing strategies are essential to enable teams to be happy and productive at work.
In the UK, over the past 50 years, there has been a number of laws, acts and regulations incorporated to benefit the UK workforce, to enable employees to balance the realities of professional and personal life.
In 1975, the Employment Protection Act introduced the UK's first maternity leave legislation - and in 1993 was extended to all working women. Similarly, in 2003, new Government legislation enables fathers to take two weeks paid paternity leave. And in 2016, some companies adopted "pawternity" leave, which allowed pet owners to take unpaid time off for their furry companions.
Women's health has become more of a focal point in recent years, with employers becoming more empathetic and attuned to the needs of women going through menopause - a life change which impacts 25 million women globally each year.
2024 marks the year that a huge demographic of male and female workers finally received the assistance they needed from employers across the UK - and those people, are working caregivers.
Why support for carers matters
Our population is ageing, which means each and every one of us face a greater likelihood of becoming a carer for an adult loved one in our lifetime.
10.6 million people in the UK are carers today, who look after their children, elderly parents or relatives or even a neighbour.
But did you know that there are more people looking after a loved one over the age of 65 than a child under the age of 15?
Each year:
- About 2.1 million people become new caregivers every year
- £8.2bn is lost in productivity from people who leave the workforce or go part-time because of caring needs
- 600 people quit every day due to caregiver burnout, and a lot of them go part time
- Women are 4x more likely to go part-time or quit their job as soon as they become a caregiver for an adult in their family
- 2.6 million people are financially worse off, some have quit or some have gone part-time
By prioritising support benefits and policies for working carers, companies will see this talent thrive in the workforce, while also enabling them to manage the care of a loved one.
What can employers do to help carers?
Over the years, there was often a stigma surrounding the realities of what it truly means to be an adult carer - but things are changing for the better.
Carers Rights Day is one such day that is inciting positive change for carers. This special day falls on November 23rd each year, with Carers Rights Day empowering carers with information and support.
More and more companies are celebrating Carers Rights Day, creating spaces to talk about what it means to be an adult carer. Celebrating Carers Rights Day is something all companies can get involved with, to give visibility to carers and offer support.
2024 has proven to be the year of the carer in the UK, with the Carers Leave Act and the Flexible Working Act both coming into effect. And it is because of these two new laws, every employer has to formally understand who is a carer in their workplace.
At a minimum, employers will now need to let employees take a week of unpaid leave on top of their annual leave - however, a lot of employers have implemented it as paid leave.
It is now an employer’s duty to ensure carers rights are protected. Here are a few things employers can do:
1) Get to know your carers in the workplace
Although it may seem simple enough to find out how many carers you have in your organisation, this isn’t always the case. This is because many carers don’t realise they are cares - as many believe they are ‘just being a good partner/son/daughter/sibling’ etc.
Phoenix Group is one such organisation putting the carers in their network at the forefront; they achieved this by implementing a ‘carers passport’.
But what does a carers passport entail? As soon as an employee joins a company, they are run through a series of scenarios to help identify whether they are a carer.
The results are then made available to managers so that they are aware, from an employee’s first day, that they may go through challenges and hurdles - both professionally and personally - as a result of being a carer.
Did you know that 50% of eligible funding in the UK isn’t applied for? In fact, many employees often quit their jobs without realising they could have received funding to help care for a loved one.
Carers’ need to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for themselves, and they also need to ensure the person they care for has a Care Needs Assessment undertaken too. Employers can therefore help ensure working carers get the financial assistance they are entitled to.
2) Focus on retaining your existing talent in the workforce
Our population is ageing, which means each year, there are fewer young people coming into the workforce. Employers therefore inevitably fight competitors to attract fresh university talent - with a high proportion of an organisation’s marketing budget likely being used to attract young talent.
Over the last 10 years, workers aged over 50 accounted for the majority of employment growth in the world’s richest nations - people with carer needs, and these individuals continue to look for employers that care.
The Phoenix Group undertook a study in 2022, which interviewed 6,000 employees, of which 30% said they would choose an employer who recognised the needs of adult caregivers over those that don’t.
3) Help employees with real & practical solutions
Employers need to engage with solutions that offer practical support to employees in need of help.
KareHero helps employees through the entirety of their caregiving journey through our fully comprehensive Care Concierge solution.
If your employee would like to speak with an expert, they can call a dedicated care expert at KareHero to receive support for them and their family, including:
- Providing support through hospital admissions & discharge events
- Reviewing and accessing care-funding
- Creating a comprehensive care plan
- Carrying out a full care search for care homes and care at home
- Accessing discounts to respite and care home fees
If businesses can retain the talent of their caregiving employees, they will likely improve their DEI statistics, as today, 60% of carers are women - and there is currently real pressure on women staying in the workforce while looking after lots of other caring duties outside of work.
Supporting carers in your workforce is good for business. Employers therefore need to create inclusive working environments to enable carers, and all groups within their organisation to thrive in a world where work-life balance and emotional intelligence is more important than ever.