Supporting Carers in the Workplace
This toolkit provides the knowledge and practical advice your business needs to support informal carers in the workplace. It includes best practice support for carers from Aviva, a template ‘carer passport’ and other resources. More and more employees are informally caring for elderly parents and family members – and the number is increasing. Supporting and retaining carers in the workplace is increasingly important for UK business.
Recommendations for supporting carers in the workplace for HR and diversity practitioners
- Collating data and insight
- Getting senior people on board
- Setting goals that can be measured
- Raising awareness
- Empowering line managers
- Supporting carers
- Monitoring activity
Recommendations for supporting carers in the workplace for line managers
- Become an inclusive leader
- Work on developing a ‘speak up’ culture within your team
- Use and promote tools and guides
- Normalise flexible working in your team
- Empower carers
What is the Carer passport?
The Carer Passport supports discussions between carers and line managers/HR on the support needed to balance work with caring. It aims to maximise the potential of each employee and remove any barriers to inclusion and progression at work.
Carers record who was involved in the conversation, when it happened and the agreed outcomes. A review would normally take place every six months, but it can be more frequent if the carer’s circumstances change. The document should be kept confidential once completed and can be stored by the carer themselves. More Carer Passport resources can be found on the Government sponsored Carers Passports website