By Nic Paton.

Need to know:

• The pandemic has highlighted the pressures on working carers, and the value of offering workplace support.
• Paid or unpaid care leave, flexible working or flexitime and having access to private time or space to make calls are among the benefits working carers value the most.
• Flexibility is key, as is ensuring support is regularly reviewed and that employers take the lead from, and speak regularly to, working carers themselves.

The experience of living, and working, through a pandemic has led to an acceleration in the support offered by employers to working carers, the Carers UK study, Supporting working carers in Covid-19: Recovery and return published in November 2021, highlighted.

The number of carers’ networks within workplaces had almost doubled in a year, up from 44% to 73%, six out of 10 employers (63%) were now offering flexible working and flexible leave arrangements, the research with Centrica concluded, and a similar percentage (62%) were offering additional leave arrangements, from 42% previously.

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