Problems faced by carers include:

• tiredness - coping with little or broken sleep
  
• stress and anxiety - juggling the demands of caring with work
  
• low self-esteem - feeling they're being regarded as uncommitted due to not working longer hours
  
• isolation - not being able to attend social events
  
• hurt - having to face insensitive remarks from colleagues and managers

(These points are from Redressing the Balance (150 kb) - a report by Carers UK.




The employers role:

A growing number of employers have handbooks that include 'carer-friendly' policies. If yours doesn't, there are resources available to help develop them.

Employers are finding many ways of accommodating their employee's home commitments. These include:

• time off for emergencies
  
• flexible working hours
  
• working from home
  
• part-time hours
  
• career breaks
  
• job share

Enlightened employers are also changing the work culture so that colleagues understand the issues that carers within the workforce are facing.

Has your caring come to an end? Considering going back to work?

 

The idea of going back to work after a long break can seem very daunting indeed, but there are many sources of advice and support to help you consider your next steps. Here are some tips for getting started:

• Contact your local carers centre for advice and support. They will know of local training opportunities for instance, or may even provide training themselves.
• Talk to an advisor at your local Job Centre, who can tell you about the Government's New Deal initiative. 
• Check out the items on this Employment and Training page for advice on training, including financial assistance.

 

New Right to Request Flexible Working for Carers of Adults

  The Work and Families Act offers carers the right to request flexible working to help them manage their work and caring responsibilities.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling has said:

Over 2.65m carers will have the right to request flexible working for the first time. It will make a real difference to those who give so much. It takes the number of people with this right to more than six million since it was first introduced in 2003 for parents of young and disabled children.

Those rights are being worked through closely with business, who increasingly realise flexible working makes sense for them. Flexible working for carers is right for business, right for families and is at the centre of the modern work-life balance economy

The new legislation also introduces the right to a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with any emergency involving a dependant.

For the purposes of the Act, the definition of carer will be an employee who is or expects to be caring for an adult who:

is married to, or the partner or civil partner of the employee; or

is a near relative of the employee; or

falls into neither category but lives at the same address as the employee.

The definition of a relative includes parents, parents-in-law, adult child, adopted adult child, siblings (including those who are in-laws), uncles, aunts or grandparents and step-relatives.

Carers UK has produced a new Employee Guide to Work and Caring (352 kb) , explaining what this means for working carers. Take a look at the Carers UK website for more information too.

Check out the Directgov website for more information
 

Training Opportunities

If you are thinking of changing your line of work, retraining, or going back to work after a period of caring, these links may prove useful.

One of the problems many carers face when it comes to retaining, is paying for course costs. The Department for Education and Skills has a leaflet with lots of useful advice: Download the Money to Learn booklet.

Check out our new Carers Opportunities Fund for grants of up to £400 for course fees and related costs. 

City and Guilds has developed online learning opportunities for carers. Learning for Living is an online learning programme accompanied by a QCA accredited qualification. It's designed to meet carers’ and recent former carers' needs for training in personal development and confidence building.

The programme builds on the wealth of experience informal carers have gained, developing the knowledge and skills to help make informed choices about living and working; and to take up opportunities in further education and training, work and leisure.

For more information, contact City and Guilds via phone on 020 7294 2428 or email City & Guilds.

Learn Direct has developed lots of online courses, and has a network of over 2000 centres, offering help with your learning needs. Advisers at Learn Direct have information on over 600,000 course across the UK. For more details, visit the Learn Direct website.