Which Life Events Are Employers Still Overlooking and How Can They Better Support Them?

Many employers now recognise that major life events can affect employees’ wellbeing, finances and ability to stay in work.

Support for parenthood, bereavement, fertility treatment and menopause is becoming more common. Childcare, in particular, is already a recognised workplace benefit: CIPD research found that 53% of UK employers offer childcare vouchers, 23% provide paid time off for emergency childcare, and 5% offer subsidised childcare through on-site crèches. Adult care remains far less visible: Carers UK found that only 17% of UK employees said their workplace had clear policies to support carers, and only 12% said paid care leave was available, despite one in seven UK workers juggling paid work with unpaid care.

These moments may not always be recognised as “life events”, but they can be just as disruptive. At KareHero, we see how quickly adult care responsibilities can affect employees’ time, finances and emotional wellbeing, and how important it is that employers make support visible before people reach crisis point.

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1. Rethink what counts as a life event

A life event is not always a birth, death or diagnosis. It can also be the moment a parent can no longer live safely at home, a disabled child turns 18 and moves into adult services, or a hospital discharge suddenly leaves a family responsible for arranging care.

Employers should review whether existing policies reflect these realities. Do they cover adult caregiving, eldercare, serious illness in the family, disability transitions, hospital discharge, legal planning or care funding?

If not, employees may be facing major disruption without knowing where to turn.

2. Use language employees recognise

Many employees do not identify as carers straight away. They may simply think they are helping out, stepping in or dealing with family issues.

Because adult care is still not openly discussed in many workplaces, people often stay silent until the pressure is already affecting work.

Benefits communications should therefore use everyday examples. Instead of only referring to “carers”, employers should talk about supporting an ageing parent, arranging care, attending appointments, helping a loved one after illness, managing power of attorney or looking into care funding.

This makes it easier for employees to recognise themselves in the support available.

3. Map support to the care journey

Employees often do not become carers overnight. Caring responsibilities usually build gradually, starting with uncertainty or concern before becoming more complex and time-consuming.

Through KareHero, employees can access free, confidential support early on, from reassurance and guidance to practical help with hospital discharge, care assessments, funding, legal arrangements and sourcing care.

Employers need pathways that reflect this journey, with support that is visible early, easy to access and able to escalate as care needs grow.

4. Offer practical help, not just signposting

Wellbeing support is important, but caregiving challenges are often practical, financial and administrative.

One KareHero case involved a family preparing their autistic teenager for adulthood and independent living. KareHero helped secure £31,200 in local-authority funding, £25,776 in PIP, Universal Credit and ESA benefits, and supported the move into assisted living.

In another case, KareHero identified £61,200 in potential funding for a parent with advanced dementia and limited mobility.

Employees often need help solving the problem, not simply talking about it.

5. Recognise the household impact

Life events rarely affect one person in isolation. They ripple across households, relationships, finances and routines.

This is especially true of caregiving, where the employee may not be receiving care, but may be coordinating decisions, funding and support.

As Stephanie Leung, founder of KareHero, says: “In 2023, the UK workforce reached a tipping point. It was the first time in history that the UK workforce would look after more adult dependants than child dependants.”

If reward and benefits strategies are meant to support real lives, they need to reflect families as well as individuals.

Some of the life events employers still overlook are the ones employees are finding hardest to carry alone.

KareHero is a free, confidential service supporting employees at every stage of the adult care journey, from early planning through to full-time caring. Through personalised, one-to-one expert support, we help colleagues navigate everything from funding care and developing care plans to managing hospital discharges and legal planning.

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This article was originally written by KareHero for REBA.