Five ways to make sure your wellbeing strategy is inclusive in its support of carers
Juggling caring responsibilities with working can be emotionally and physically challenging, and this can be exacerbated by having low financial wellbeing.
Across the UK, 2.3 million adults reported having to give-up work to care for someone at some point in their lives and almost three million have reduced their working hours (Carers UK). Carers might also be more inclined to take a lower paid role or pass up a promotion, not to mention having lower productivity arising from additional stress and worry.
Here are five practical things that employers can do to support their employees who are also carers:
1. Flexible working is key
The ability to start or finish early; to work part-time or job share; to work from home some or all the time; or varying hours from day-to-day or week-to-week, will form an essential foundation of support for caring workers. Clearly not all roles will lend themselves to any or all of these approaches, but many will and such considerations should form a key part of individual employee evaluations.
2. Create a fair leave policy
As well as providing sufficient paid holiday, offering employees the ability to buy a set number of additional days leave is often valued by carers, who may need to provide more intensive caring support from time-to-time, perhaps related to the medical treatment of the person they are caring for.
3. Check your Employee Assistance Programme
Many employers offer access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to provide their workforce with information, advice and emotional support. However, there is a big difference between the quality and depth of what different providers offer. Make sure your EAP provider understands the specific needs of working carers.
4. Enable an open culture
Creating an environment that encourages the sharing of experiences – stories of caring and how to balance this with work – helps to reduce feelings of isolation or alienation. It also creates empathy from staff who don’t have caring responsibilities. This can easily be integrated into your mental wellbeing communications and activities.
5. High impact financial support
Offering clear signposting to personal financial guidance on budgeting and debt management – such as provided by the Money & Pensions Service or Citizens Advice Bureau – can help carers navigate financial pressures and challenges that might arise. Combining this with access to a range of salary linked financial products such as low-cost loans, savings accounts, the ability to take an advance of earned salary and personal insurance cover, can make a world of difference.
With an ageing population it’s inevitable that more of the workforce will take on caring responsibilities. Against a backdrop of increasing competition for the best staff, progressive employers will ensure that they do all that they can to support those colleagues who need and want to balance work with their caring role.
Interested in finding out more about financial wellbeing? Download The Employer’s Guide to Financial Wellbeing 2019-20.
This article is provided by Salary Finance.
In partnership with Salary Finance Inc
We understand the impact finances have on our health, our happiness, our home life & our work life.
