Why Your Benefits Package Stops Working for Employees Over 50

Caring for a parent or family member is becoming the norm rather than the exception. But sick pay, income protection and wellbeing support were all built for the employee who is unwell, not the employee who is well at work, but holding a family crisis together.

By the time you're 50, you have a 50% chance of either being a carer or being cared for (Carers UK).

The UK workforce is getting older, and for the first time in history, employees now look after more adult dependents than child dependents - a shift that's only accelerating as the population ages and the birth rate falls.

That means the largest segment of your workforce over the next 15 years will be over 40 and, increasingly, moving into a caring role at the same time they're expected to be performing at their peak. 

It's the group that includes your most senior people, your longest-serving people, and the people you can least afford to lose.

The problem is that the benefits meant to catch them all do the same thing. Sick pay, income protection, wellbeing support, they replace income when someone can't work. But an employee arranging care for a parent with dementia usually can work. What they can't do is find a care home, work out what it costs, or navigate a funding assessment during their lunch break.

Employees are left exposed in exactly the window they need support the most -  the weeks after a crisis, before any formal cover kicks in.

This isn't going unnoticed at a policy level. It's a similar pattern to menopause a few years ago: the government recognised the gap, then legislated. Now it's carers' turn.

This month, the government set out its first cross-government plan for unpaid carers, built around three ideas: spotting carers earlier, pointing them towards the right support, and helping them stay in work or education rather than falling out of it. 

From Spring 2027, all businesses with over 250 employees will have to show their work in support of unpaid carers.

This is a massive milestone for carers as Westminster now recognises this as an economic issue. Nearly 3 million people are already trying to hold down a job alongside caring for someone and, of course, there is a knock-on cost to the economy. This includes reduced hours, delayed returns to work and people leaving jobs altogether. For the economy, that’s a loss of tens of billions each year. 

Of course, none of that changes just because a policy has been published. Employers who wait for Spring 2027 to act will simply be catching up on a cost they've already absorbed.

Where the real gap sits

The real gap isn't insurance cover, but rather the practical support employees need before a claim is even relevant: navigating a local authority assessment, working out what care is needed and what it costs, financial planning, sorting Power of Attorney, and having someone to call after a significant event, when there is no care plan in place.

This sits underneath sick pay and income protection, the stage in which someone's trying to hold down a job while sorting care for a parent, often with no idea where to start. Left unsupported, it's this stage, not the illness itself, that drives sick days, the productivity dip, and the resignation.

What employers can do now

Ahead of the 2027 requirement, employers don't need to wait for legislation to start closing the gap:

• Review absence and sick pay policies through the lens of caregiving, not just personal illness. For example, waiting periods that assume a short recovery window don't fit a caring crisis.
• Give managers a clear, consistent way to recognise and respond when an employee becomes a carer, rather than leaving it to informal goodwill.
• Provide practical, one-to-one support that helps employees make care decisions quickly, reducing the time they spend distracted, stressed or absent while trying to solve it themselves.
• Contact KareHero - the UK's first fully comprehensive adult care support service. Give your employees a dedicated Care Expert to help them navigate the UK system with clarity and support. 

About KareHero

KareHero is the UK's first and only fully-comprehensive adult caregiver support service, helping businesses offer legal, financial and care support as an employee benefit. KareHero already supports over 1.2 million families and has helped secure more than £12.3 million in care funding for the people it works with. Get proactive about carer support, today. 

This article was originally written by KareHero for REBA.