It’s likely that within your organisation some of your employees will also be looking after a family member, relative, friend or neighbour because of an illness, disability, mental ill-health, or an addiction. Taking on a caring role can happen to any one of us and it can happen suddenly and unexpectedly; family member has an accident, or a child is born with a disability. For others, caring responsibilities grow gradually over time – parents become less able to manage on their own or a partner or child’s mental or physical health worsens. Caring can impact on a person’s own physical and mental health and they can often feel very isolated.
It’s important for you to make your staff who have caring responsibilities to feel supported when they are at work. There is lots of small things you can do to help them and to help keep them in work, for example recognition and understanding of their situation, flexibility and information including signposting to practical information and support. You will also attract carers to your organisation by making it a more supportive and inclusive workplace.
Free Digital Resources
There are free digital resources available to help all SMEs in South Tyneside support carers in your organisation. You can access these through South Tyneside Council’s umbrella membership with Carers UK Digital Resources for Carers. To access the resources go to www.efcdigital.org, register for an account and enter the following unique membership code: EFC1952, you can then access the resources as many times as you like and share them with all your employees.
If you would like to raise your profile and reputation as an ‘employer of choice’ for the growing numbers of people looking to work more flexibly including carers and to find out about support for carers in South Tyneside, please get in touch with Jacquelyn Kaid our Strategic Carers Liaison Officer at South Tyneside Council. Contact email: Jacqui.kaid@southtyneside.gov.uk.Tel: 0191 4247581
