Support for working carers

Summary:

A new statutory right to unpaid carer’s leave is welcome, but far more needs to be done to support the health and wellbeing of working carers.

Draft regulations setting out the rules by which employees can access their new statutory right to carer’s leave have been published (this issue p.14). Made under the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, the regulations will entitle employees to take up to one week’s unpaid leave a year to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. Given that 4.9 million people in the UK, of whom 50% are in work, have unpaid caring responsibilities¹ this is a welcome, if small, step.

Unpaid care is consistently associated with poorer mental health in the caregiver². Working carers report feeling lonely and isolated at work, and say that colleagues and managers do not understand the impact of their caring responsibilities³…

Dr John Ballard is editor of Occupational Health [at Work]

Author: Ballard J

Tags stress wellbeing

Occupational Health at Work February/March 2024 (vol. 20/5) pp03

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