How to support employees with caring responsibilities

Combining work with caring responsibilities can be stressful. Employees who feel supported by their employers will typically have better mental health and be more engaged and productive whilst at work.

Research shows that working carers can face obstacles to career development and to working full-time, with some experiencing burnout or leaving the workforce to better manage their caring responsibilities. Surveys have also found that 1 in 10 working mothers had resigned due to a lack of flexible support, while others had reduced their working hours, declined promotions, or taken lower-paid roles to secure the flexibility they needed.

Supporting carers can help your business retain skilled workers, reduce unplanned absences, and boost revenue while saving on recruitment costs.

There are several types of caring responsibilities that each present their own challenges. Your workforce might include parents and unpaid carers for elderly relatives or those with disabilities. Some staff may have overlapping responsibilities, caring for both children and elderly parents. Around 76% of 'sandwich carers' are also employed or self-employed, and their ability to work is impacted by the amount of care they must provide.

Let's consider some of the challenges each of these groups faces.

Working parents

The needs of employees with children shift as their families grow. Those with pre-school-age children must find suitable childcare to cover their working hours, either from a family member, a nursery, or a childminder. As children start school, they may need wraparound care and holiday clubs. Finding suitable care in the right location can be challenging. Childcare fees can also be expensive, especially in families with more than one child.

Elderly relatives

Some working carers look after elderly parents or other relatives. Their relatives' care needs can vary widely depending on their health, mobility, and ability to live independently. Some people need support to stay in their own home, while others require residential care. Health conditions such as heart disease, arthritis or dementia can all affect an older person's independence.

There are a variety of support services and home adaptations available, and finding the right combination can be complex. Professional advice can help working carers navigate the process.

Relatives with disabilities

Disabilities can affect people of any age and create a wide range of support needs depending on the nature of the disability. A disability can affect mobility, communication, or require accessibility adjustments or attendance at medical appointments to monitor and manage their health needs.

Listening to your employees helps you understand their caring responsibilities. It's also a good idea to create policies that provide flexible support while setting boundaries in line with business needs.

Your employee benefits package can provide valuable support to staff with caring responsibilities. How you support carers can vary depending on their circumstances, so being open to discussing their needs is wise. Here are some of the main ways of supporting carers.

Flexible working

Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working allow staff to adjust their working hours, location, or both to help them manage their caring responsibilities. For example, a parent might start work later to come in after the school run, while other working carers might work from home two days per week to prepare lunch for their elderly parents.

Employees have a legal right to request flexible working, and employers must have a clear business reason for refusing the request.

Help with childcare costs

The Workplace Nursery Scheme lets employers pay a monthly fee to a nominated nursery. Employees then pay the fees via salary sacrifice, meaning they pay less tax. Always get professional advice to ensure you meet the scheme requirements. You could also set up a workplace nursery so staff can drop their kids off when arriving at work. You can pay working parents an allowance to cover childcare costs, but this will be taxable.

Health insurance

Providing your employees with health insurance as part of your employee benefits package gives them access to a wide range of medical treatment and other services. Consulting with a broker gives you tailored advice based on your needs and those of your staff, and helps you understand how your health insurance can support employees with caring responsibilities.

How can health insurance support working carers?

Virtual GP services

Balancing caring responsibilities with work can make it challenging for employees to make GP appointments during office hours. Most health insurers offer a 24/7 GP service with online video appointments and telephone calls, so your staff can arrange appointments that suit their schedules.

It supports them in looking after their health needs as well as those of their families.

Quick access to treatment

An absence from work can be stressful for employees and challenging for employers to manage. If a relative is dependent on them for care, it only makes matters worse. Health insurance provides quick access to private medical treatment, which can support a faster recovery and less time away.

Telephone helplines

Every health insurer provides telephone helplines where members can seek general health guidance and advice on further treatment or other sources of support. Some are general health helplines staffed by nurses, while others offer specialist support from midwives, pharmacists, counsellors, among others. Bupa has a family mental health helpline which parents can use to ask questions about their children's mental health. Carers can also use these services to ask questions about their relatives' health.

Mental health support

Every health insurance policy includes access to 8-10 counselling or other talking therapy sessions as part of its core coverage. These sessions can help employees with their mental well-being and manage the stress associated with their caring responsibilities. If you want to provide additional support, you can extend your coverage by paying an additional premium. This gives your staff access to more counselling sessions and other treatment types, such as in-patient or out-patient treatment with a psychiatrist or psychologist.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

An EAP provides counselling and can be a useful addition to the sessions available via your health insurance, offering the same benefits for carers. In addition, most EAPs offer telephone helplines that provide guidance on legal and financial matters. These can be useful to carers who find navigating the care system challenging or who struggle to understand their own or their loved ones' statutory rights.

The helplines don't provide tailored legal or financial advice. Still, they can signpost callers to other services, such as carers charities, which provide support with finding the right care or accessing benefits.

Support services and resources

Insurers provide a range of support services and resources. Most have member discount programmes that can help your employees save money, which could be useful if they need to pay for childcare or other services. Resources include articles on various health and well-being topics.

Some insurers offer support services providing guidance on elder care and dementia, so it's worth shopping around to see what's available.

Including support for carers in your employee benefits requires an investment of time, money, or both. However, you can support employees in other ways.

Statutory rights for carers

Employees are entitled to time off (paid or unpaid) to care for a dependant in an emergency, for example, if they're ill, injured, or if their usual care arrangements are disrupted.

The Carer's Leave Act also gives carers the right to take one week of unpaid leave per year to provide or arrange care for a dependant who needs long-term support. It's a good idea to take professional advice to ensure you understand your obligations and manage them appropriately. You can also support employees by providing information to help them understand their rights.

Links to information about care services and support

Providing your team with links to resources, information, and additional support can empower them to find the right services for their needs. Ofsted publishes inspection reports for nurseries and childcare providers, while the Care Quality Commission inspects residential care homes and home care providers.

Tax-free childcare lets parents pay into a Government childcare account, which is then topped up according to their tax band, saving them money on childcare fees. You could also share links to guidance on carers' allowance, as well as to carers' charities such as Age UK and Carers UK.

Creating clear policies

Creating defined policies in place helps you balance business needs with carers' needs. Clear policies also provide certainty for carers and help them understand their rights. You can combine internal policies with links to the third-party resources we previously mentioned to provide further information.

Management support

Ensuring managers receive training to support their employees helps create a supportive workplace where staff feel confident discussing their caring responsibilities and requesting flexible working or other adjustments. Train your managers to have supportive conversations and schedule regular check-ins to see if employees' needs have changed or if they need any additional support.

Supporting staff with caring commitments requires a multi-layered approach with a range of support services and access to resources. Including health insurance in your employee benefits package can provide quick access to treatment, useful resources and support services. At Globacare, we provide tailored advice to help our clients find the right policy for their needs. Contact us for a comparison quote.