Support for employers
If you are an employer and want to develop your approach to carers or understand more about your responsibilities towards carers there is support for you. Supporting carers can have a huge amount of benefit to a workplace, reduce sickness, prevent staff turnover and promote the general wellbeing of staff.
Our top tips for supporting carers in the workplace:
- Survey your workforce, find out who is caring and what the impact is on them
- Use our free Carer Aware training to increase managers and employees awareness of caring - it's free and easy to access and can form part of training processes
- Use Carer passports to help understand employees needs and make reasonable adjustments
- Create a carers support network
- Hold a caring in the workplace event - Carers Week (June) / Carers Rights Day (November) is a good opportunity to do this and you can get free resources to do so
- Talk about caring in the workplace
- Make sure you have carer-related work policies and a really consistent approach to supporting carers.
Working Carers support
The Carers Trust Heart of England offers support to Employers who want to understand more about how they can develop their approach to carers. They can be contacted on 024 7663 2972. We have developed a toolkit with templates of surveys, policies and access to training, which we welcome all employers to use. Bespoke sessions can also be offered to support workplaces who want to improve their approach to supporting their caring workforce.
The Carer Friendly Employer Programme
Carers Trust Heart of England have developed a Carer Friendly Employer Programme which is an accreditation for employers to sign up and commit to building a positive and inclusive workplace for all staff who are, or who will become carers.
To find out more about the program please contact them on 02476 632972 or email.
Thrive at Work - Workplace Wellbeing Award
You may also be interested in undertaking the Thrive at Work Workplace Wellbeing Award. This award helps employers develop their approach to all areas of wellbeing in the workplace including carers. Throughout the year we will be facilitating carer in the workplace events for employers.