Employers for Carers, a new government-backed business group, has been launched to help employers support carers in the workplace.
Membership to the group, which provides employers with practical advice and support on training, legal changes and policies such as flexible working, ranges from £500 to £2,000 a year depending on an organisation’s size.
BT, Unum, Lisatawood, the University of Leeds and PricewaterhouseCoopers are among the employers which have joined the group. Caroline Waters, director of people and policy for BT, and chair of Employers for Carers, said implementing carer-friendly policies, such as home working, had produced savings for BT, equal to £6,000 on infrastructure per home-working employee, with increased productivity and reduced turnover rates.
While home working is an ideal flexible benefit for some, not all carers want to work from home. The companionship and change of scene that coming into a workplace afford can give many carers a respite from arduous responsibilities. What most carers will need, however, is some flexibility in working hours to better balance their home and work commitments.