Quality standard
Quality statement 5: Helping carers stay in work
Quality statement 5: Helping carers stay in work
Rationale
If a carer needs to give up work to care for someone, it can have a detrimental economic, social and psychological impact on them. Employers can help carers to remain in employment and reduce stigma by offering supportive working arrangements. This can, in turn, benefit employers by improving staff retention and satisfaction and creating a more diverse workforce. It can also demonstrate that they are meeting the requirement of the Equality Act 2010 to actively promote a positive culture towards people with caring responsibilities.
Quality measures
Structure
a) Evidence that workplaces have policies, plans and processes in place to support carers.
Data source: Local data collection, for example, a review of the organisation's policies and plans.
b) Evidence that workplaces offer supportive working arrangements for carers.
Data source: Local data collection, for example, employee terms and conditions and employee benefits.
Outcome
a) Proportion of carers in paid work.
Numerator – the number in the denominator who are in paid work.
Denominator – the number of carers.
Data source: Local data collection, for example, survey of carers. NHS Digital's personal social services survey of adult carers in England includes data on employment status for carers who are in contact with local authorities. As some carers will choose not to work, local areas should agree the expected performance in relation to this measure.
b) Proportion of carers in paid work who feel supported by their employer.
Numerator – the number in the denominator who feel supported by their employer.
Denominator – the number of carers in paid work.
Data source: Local data collection, for example, survey of carers. NHS Digital's personal social services survey of adult carers in England includes data on carers in paid employment who feel supported by their employer for carers who are in contact with local authorities.
What the quality statement means for different audiences
Employers have policies and plans in place to support employees who are carers, including offering supportive working arrangements. Employers ensure that managers are aware of how they can help employees to balance caring with work.
Line managers ensure that staff are aware of supportive working arrangements that can help them if they need to balance caring responsibilities with work.
Carers who are in work can use flexible working arrangements and support and advice from their employer to help them balance caring with work.
Source guidance
Supporting adult carers. NICE guideline NG150 (2020), recommendation 1.4.6
Definitions of terms used in this quality statement
Supportive working arrangements
Workplaces should offer flexible working arrangements and other policies and initiatives that support mental wellbeing, such as:
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flexible hours
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fixed hours or shifts
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carers' leave
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permission to use a mobile phone
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technology to allow flexible working
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providing a private space to take personal phone calls
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staff carers' network
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employee assistance programmes.
[NICE's guideline on supporting adult carers, recommendations 1.4.5 and 1.4.6, the rationale and impact section on flexibilities to support employment, and expert opinion]