Carer Friendly Employer
Whether you want to develop your workplace support for Carers, embed the changes you have made or celebrate the work you are already doing, the Carer Friendly Employer Commitment Mark can help.
What is the Carer Friendly Employer Commitment?
As Carer Friendly Employers, we are committed to:
- Raising awareness of the caring role
- Supporting the Carers in our workforce
- Communicating the support available for Carers
- Empowering Carers to access support
- Engaging with others to make our communities Carer Friendly
What is the Carer Friendly Employer Commitment Mark?
It is a public validation of your organisation’s support for the Carers in your workforce. The mark is awarded to organisations that uphold the Carer Friendly Employer Commitments.
We help you to meet achieve the Commitment Mark through one-to-one support and a wide range of easy-to-use resources.
With the right support, your staff will be happier, healthier and better able to balance their work and caring commitments.
Five Steps to Becoming a Carer Friendly Employer
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Step 1
Sign the Carer Commitment, a public declaration of your support for working Carers. Fee £350
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Step 2
Receive your Carer Friendly Employer Membership and use the Carer Friendly Employer Checklist. If you meet all the commitments – go straight to step 4.
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Step 3
Access your member benefits, including one-to-one support and a range of easy-to-use resources to help you meet the Carer Friendly Employer commitments, whatever the size of your organisation.
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Step 4
Complete the Commitment Mark application form, to evidence how you meet each Commitment.
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Step 5
Once approved, receive your Carer Friendly Commitment Mark award and Welcome Pack. Publicise your achievement using the Carer Friendly Employer branding. Experience the business benefits of being a Carer Friendly Employer.
The Business Case
for Supporting Carers
Unpaid, or family, Carers make up 1 in 7 workers in the UK. Currently, 1 in 6 working Carers give up work or reduce their hours due to their caring role, and many others affected by poor wellbeing and stress. With many working Carers aged 45 – 64 years old, these are likely to be your most senior and skilled staff.
Due to population grow and ageing, by 2030 the number of Carers is expected to double. Working Carers will become a larger proportion of the workforce and workplaces will need to develop better support to manage the impact and retain their staff. Estimates suggest that the pandemic created a further 4.5 million Carers across the UK.
Businesses who develop good practice to support their current workforce will see real benefits now and will lay the foundation for a stable future.
Can you afford not to support your staff who are Carers?
Carer Friendly
Employer Benefits:
- Improved retention of staff
- Reduced absenteeism
- Increased staff productivity
- Competitive advantage in recruitment
- Assists you to meet and evidence your other CSR goals
- Reputational benefits
- Potential to engage with new customers who are Carers
- Opportunity to WIN a Carer Friendly Business Award
- B2B opportunities via the Carer Friendly Employer Network
Why working Carers need support:
- 7 in 10 working carers (71%) have felt lonely or isolated in the workplace as a result of their caring responsibilities.
- Over four out of ten (43%) working carers felt that colleagues and managers did not understand the impact of caring and 38% had not felt comfortable talking about their caring responsibilities at work; and
- Nearly a quarter (23%) of carers received no support from their employer
- 38% of all Carers reported that they had given up work to care and 18% had reduced their working hours. 0.5 million Carers have given up work over the past two years as a result of their caring role.
What’s included in the Carer Employer Commitment Mark?
- You are assigned a point of contact who will welcome you to the Carer Friendly Community
- Straight-forward toolkits, template materials and online support to help you achieve your Commitment Mark
- Carer Review Panel to assess your evidence
- Carer Aware Training Package
- Welcome Pack containing Carer Friendly Commitment Mark window stickers and social media banners to celebrate and promote your support for Carers
- Access to the Carer Friendly Employer Network
- Free advertising and promotion in our Carer Friendly Employers Directory
- Annual networking and learning events
- Carer Friendly stand at corporate events (for employers with 10+ Carer staff)
- Opportunity to purchase discounted Carer wellbeing packages
Carer Friendly FAQ’s
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What’s the difference between a Carer Friendly Community / Organisation and a Carer Friendly Employer?
Carer Friendly Organisation/ Business:
Any UK organisation can join the Carer Friendly Communities scheme for FREE. Carer Friendly organisations recognise the caring role and value the huge contribution that Carers make to their families and communities.While there is no fee to join the Carer Friendly Community, organisations are asked to commit to offering a small discount or benefit to Carers on presentation of a Carer Friendly ID Card. Together, these small acts of recognition make a big difference for Carers in their daily lives and help create a Carer Friendly Community. Carer Friendly Communities is focused on the wider/ external community.
The Carer Friendly Commitment Mark for Employers
The Carer Friendly Commitment Mark for Employers helps employers to improve, or evidence, the support they offer to the Carers in their workforce. With the right support, your staff will be happier, healthier and better able to balance their work and caring commitments.Employers pay a fee to access the Carer Aware toolkit of easy-to-use resources to help them meet their Carer Aware commitments and achieve their commitment mark. Carer Aware is focused on the internal / staff community.
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What does the fee pay for?
More information coming soon
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What if my application to the Commitment Mark is rejected?
More information coming soon
Are you a local care provider or Commissioner of Carer Support Services?
Get in touch to find out how we can work together. Whether you want to make your area Carer Friendly, wish to block purchase the Carer Friendly ID card for registered Carers or run annual Carer Friendly Business Awards – let’s talk about how we can create communities that make life better for unpaid Carers.
