According to Employers for Carers, the term "working carers" refers to employees who have caring responsibilities which have an impact on their working lives. Working carers have responsibility for the care and support of relatives or friends who are older, disabled, seriously physically or mentally ill and unable to care for themselves. For this purpose, the term does not include professional carers or those whose caring responsibilities relate to children who do not have a long-term illness or disability.

The level of responsibility, tasks undertaken and time commitments for working carers vary depending on their specific circumstances. Often the caring duties change over time in terms of location and time commitment, depending on the health of the person they are caring for.

The most recent census data indicates there are 5.7 million unpaid carers across the UK, which represents around 9% of the population. However, a Carers UK 2022 research report estimated that the number of unpaid carers could be as high as 10.6 million. The same research also found that 75% of carers in employment worry about the juggle between work and care.

What is Carers Week?

Carers Week is an annual campaign which seeks to raise awareness of caring, as well as highlighting the challenges faced by unpaid carers. It also seeks to recognise their contributions to families and communities across the UK. The theme of Carers Week 2023 is "recognising and supporting carers in the community". It is hoped that employers will take the opportunity to raise awareness of caring and recognise unpaid carers amongst their employees.

What can employers do?

Supporting working carers is often considered to be a sign of a responsible employer. Such a business may also benefit from having a workplace environment and culture in which its employees' physical and mental wellbeing is looked after. Research suggests that workplace culture directly correlates to the quality of work produced. Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows that, when they feel supported, working carers "are less likely to find it difficult to concentrate at work and are less likely to be considering reducing their hours or quitting their jobs". Additionally, customers and clients say they appreciate working with businesses with strong reputations for promoting a supportive and inclusive workplace. 

The Carers Week campaign website provides a helpful list of ways in which employers can support carers in their workplaces (link). These include:

• taking the opportunity to connect working carers with both internal and external sources of support;
• implementing and actively promoting flexible working policies;
• introducing paid carers' leave to avoid situations where carers need to use their annual leave for caring emergencies;
• establishing and/or encouraging the setting-up of a carers' staff network to connect carers; and
• joining the Employer for Carers forum, which is a group of organisations committed to supporting working carers, supported by Carers UK. In Scotland, there is also Carer Positive, an initiative funded by the Scottish Government, which supports employers by raising awareness of challenges facing working carers. 

The Carers Week campaign website also notes the crucial role of managers in supporting staff who need to balance caring responsibilities with their work. They have a responsibility to promote a carer-friendly workplace. One way in which this can be achieved is by providing an open and safe environment in which working carers are able to discuss their caring responsibilities. 

The Carer's Leave Act 2023

In June 2022, the Carer's Leave Bill 2022-23 (the Bill) was introduced as a Private Member's Bill. This was in response to calls from charities and the November 2017 Work and Pensions Select Committee inquiry into employment support for carers. Proposals for legislation relating to unpaid carers' leave had also been included in the 2017 and 2019 Conservative general election manifestos. A previous, similar Bill did not receive a second reading.

The Bill has now received Royal Assent to become the Carer's Act 2023. It will allow the Secretary of State to create Regulations that will provide employees with a day-one right to at least one week per year where they can "…be absent from work on leave under this section in order to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need". This leave would be unpaid and would be applicable to employees who are caring for a spouse, civil partner, child, parent or other dependant who needs care due to a disability, old age or any illness or injury which is likely to require at least three months of care.

It is worth noting that UK employers are already obliged to provide a reasonable amount of unpaid leave for sudden or unexpected emergencies involving a dependant. 

Helen Walker (chief executive of Carers UK) said: "Employers who provide carer's leave are better able to retain staff and more carers could see staying in work as a viable option, bringing both short- and long-term financial benefits."

There is no timescale yet for the Act's implementation, but it is likely to be in the next year or two. There is nothing to prevent businesses from leading the way by offering a week's unpaid leave each year for carers now or providing carers' leave periods as a paid entitlement.

If you have any questions about the points raised in this article, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of the Dentons team.