Carers UK – a supporter of Harry’s Pledge – is committed to helping housing organisations become carer-friendly employers.
In health and social care, including social housing, one in five employees are juggling their job with caring for a seriously ill, older or disabled family member of friend.
Many of these will be aged between 45 and 64, the peak age for caring, and among your most skilled and experienced staff.
They’ll be spread across all roles and grades and may not disclose or even recognise themselves as carers, making it difficult to identify them or reach them with support. They may work on the frontline delivering your care and support services, while trying to keep the person they care for safe and well, juggling two critical roles in the COVID-19 crisis. They may work in the back office or in maintenance, or be part of your senior management team, and all may have very different support needs.
Whatever their situation, they need a supportive employer. COVID-19 has highlighted the pressure on carers, with Carers UK research finding more people caring and providing more support, with 71 percent reporting stress and 70 percent a negative impact on their physical and mental health.
But a supportive employer can make all the difference. Carers UK’s employer forum Employers for Carers (EfC) can help housing organisations develop workplace policies and practices that support working carers and promote a carer-friendly workplace culture.
Through its EFC Digital platform it delivers tools to HR teams and line managers which they can use flexibly to support carers in their organisation, helping them to juggle both paid work and care.
In addition, its Digital Resource for Carers platform can deliver much-needed support for individual working carers in any place, at any time and on any device, giving them access to a wide range of resources to help them build resilience in combining work and care. It can also be offered to housing residents and their families who may be carers.
Employers for Carers member organisations also get the benefit of individual account management, diagnostic and training sessions and the opportunity to network with other employers.
The cost of Employers for Carers Plus membership is normally £5,500 per annum for employers with over 1,000 employees and £4,000 for employers with fewer than 1,000 employees. Carers UK would like to offer all housing organisations signing up to Harry’s Pledge a discount on annual membership as below:
Employers with over 1,000 employees: £4,000 per year
Employers with fewer than 1,000 employees: £3,000 per year
Contact: client.services@carersuk.org to find out more.
We look forward to working with you to build carer-friendly workplaces and services!