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Three Million People in the UK Juggle Caring and Paid Employment Responsibilities
05/05/2008
In today’s complex world, achieving work-life balance has become an increasing priority for many of us. Employees are often required to balance multiple responsibilities inside and outside the workplace. Employers need to retain a flexible and multi-skilled workforce to be productive. The world of work has been changing and organisations must be willing to change with it in order to remain competitive.
From 6 April last year, a new law gave carers of adults the right to request flexible working from their employers. A right to request flexible working was first introduced in 2003 for parents of children under six years of age (or under 18 for a disabled child). It is not an absolute right to work flexibly but does require employers to consider requests seriously.
This proved a great success for parents with 47 per cent of new mothers working flexibly after the legislation came in compared to 17 per cent in 2002. In addition the number of new fathers working flexibly has tripled (Carers UK). The legislation introduced last year builds on this success by extending similar rights to employees who care for, or expect to care for, adults.
Consider the business case for embracing flexible working for carers; currently, more than three million people – one in seven of the workforce - juggle the responsibilities of caring and paid employment. This can be extremely stressful and it is perhaps not surprising that in the past one in five carers would have given up work to care full-time. It is likely that many of these employees would have been your most valuable staff – the 40+ year olds at the peak of their careers. By recognising the special needs of carers, you can hold on to your experienced staff and avoid the costs of recruitment and training. Other benefits can also include higher staff morale, improved future recruitment, improved company image, greater productivity and lower absenteeism.
As a manager, you can take simple and effective action to help carers fulfil their caring duties and as a result retain the services of valued employees. Flexible working practices can really help a carer cope with work and caring commitments. Having a flexible benefits package enabling employees to select the most useful benefits for their individual circumstances, such as disability/healthcare insurance and care vouchers, can be a helpful initiative. Emergency leave is important to carers, who can be called home at short notice when care arrangements break down. Other useful leave arrangements include compassionate leave, or a system of planned leave, for example, to provide nursing care following discharge from hospital. Paid leave for emergency or planned caring can cut staff turnover, absence and employment costs. The evidence from employers themselves shows that it is rarely abused and increases people’s loyalty and commitment.
Managers play a key role in operating any carer-friendly policies. The new law was designed to support carers in employment but creating such a supportive environment within the workplace requires the endorsement of all levels of management. Openly communicate and publish policies on your intranet or in staff handbooks. Consider offering further workplace support through the provision of an employee assistance programme and/or by facilitating an in-house carer networking group. Try new methods and remember that creating a truly flexible working environment is less about enforcing rules and more about instilling values and principles.
This increasing flexibility in working patterns represents a significant cultural change which can take time to become established. You may be struggling to adapt to these changing times and finding it difficult to accommodate workers’ requests; or you may already have established a flexible work environment and be looking to extend the availability of flexible working arrangements to your staff (of particular relevance in light of the Government announcement to further extend the right to request to parents of older children in the future). Some enlightened organisations are starting to lead the way and reaping the benefits: three quarters of BT’s 100,000 strong workforce now work flexibly and flexible working options are open to all their staff, provided it is possible operationally. Organisations like BT that have introduced flexible working for carers have judged them a success. The message is – it makes business sense to care for carers.
Pam Whyteleaf, Head of LifeManagement(tm) Services
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