Supporting working parents and carers

With the government’s announcement that people can only leave home for work if they can't work from home coming alongside the 'new normal' of school closures and the need for children to be sent home to isolate, those with caring responsibilities are feeling the strain.

We all know that people don’t just leave their personal lives at the door when they come into work, and the ongoing impact of the pandemic has thrown that into sharper focus than ever before. With many employees juggling work with childcare responsibilities or caring for elderly relatives – those who may not have previously even considered themselves as carers are likely viewing their responsibilities in a whole new light.

Most employers have long had flexible working arrangements in place, especially since the start of the pandemic. Employers should speak with parents and carers, to be aware of how they can support them and to agree changes to working hours that give a reasonable working pattern to help affected employees balance their wellbeing and caring responsibilities. This could include extending flexible working to include evening or weekend working hours, for example.

So what are the practical things businesses can do to continue to support their working parents and carers?

Identify employees with caring responsibilities

It sounds like a simple step – but it’s not as straightforward as you think! Alongside parents, there will be those who are caring for frail or elderly relatives, who may not see themselves as family carers. According to charity Caring Together, it normally takes two years for people to recognise themselves as being a carer. In order to help identify those with caring responsibilities, firms will need to raise awareness of the definition to help people identify. Those who are regularly cooking, cleaning, shopping, transporting or assisting with paperwork could be juggling two households’ worth of life admin; awareness of these situations enables employers to offer the flexibility needed to strike the balance between home and work.

Put proactive measures in place around childcare

For businesses who have been surveying staff, top concerns flagged have included childcare and putting their own families at risk.

Employees have a legal right to time off work to care for their child because of an unexpected event or emergency (such as school closures). But this is intended for short-term use and is statutorily unpaid, although many employers offer pay for this time via specific workplace policies. Employers can also enable parents to take annual or unpaid leave to care for children.

Employers can furlough staff who cannot work due to caring responsibilities resulting from COVID-19, which includes childcare. Both employees and their employer must agree before a parent can be put on full or part-time furlough. Employers can claim 80% of an employee’s usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month, and must pay the associated NICS and pension contributions. For more information see the CBI’s Coronavirus Job Retention Factsheet.

Here are some of the actions other firms have taken to support staff around childcare:

• A measure introduced by many firms is to encourage flexible working/changes to hours for those with caring responsibilities where possible
• One manufacturing firm is also matching holidays if people have had to use their leave for childcare
• Lots of businesses are encouraging staff to take leave, hopefully helping to restore some balance; lots of people were reluctant to take leave at the start of the crisis, so employers are worried about burnout as people juggle multiple responsibilities and increased workloads in some instances.

Foster a culture that welcomes working families

We’ve spoken to so many businesses who have supported home working, introduced flexible hours, reduced workloads, run company socials where the whole family is invited, and ensured their staff know it’s OK to duck out of meetings or even bring their kids along – because we’re all in the same boat. Actions like this are incredibly important, because it helps to foster a culture where working families – be they parents or carers – know they will not be judged for requesting the flexibility they need to get their balance right.

In fact, supporting a culture that enables flexible working is just as important as having the right policies in place. For example, if employees have non-working days or reduced hours, or even staggered start and finish times, the organisation culturally has to adapt to ensure that working patterns/deadlines accommodate that change; otherwise, employees could be inadvertently penalised for working flexibly.

Have open discussions about mental health

Open forums where parents and carers can discuss the mental health impact of lockdowns – both on them but also on their dependents – is another action businesses of any size can take to support their working families. Using employee networks is a great way to support this, as having employee-led discussions can encourage more people to open up and discuss their challenges. These discussions provide important spaces for colleagues to understand that they’re not alone, and to share their own coping tips and advice with colleagues. It can also be a great way for your business to get honest insights into the challenge your employees are facing. Here are some ideas of ways you can start conversations about mental health:

• Ask employees who feel comfortable to do so, to share their mental health experiences via staff newsletters or forums
• Arrange virtual or hybrid coffee mornings, where people can come together to talk about a specific topic – for example, balancing work and childcare
• Encourage teams to create mental health action plans together
• Conduct a mental health survey and share the results – starting a discussion on what you do well and sourcing employees’ ideas on how to overcome challenges
• Lead from the top – with senior executives sharing their own experiences or commitments to mental health, to set the tone and build a culture of openness.

Actively communicate places where working families can access support

There are so many sources of information and support out there for working families – and having somewhere that signposts the different services available is a great place to start.