A call has come for employers across Scotland to become Carer Positive to help people gain and stay in employment amid concerns over half of carers being unable to afford use their entitlement to unpaid leave.

The Carers Scotland ‘Barriers to Employment and Employability’ conference, held in Edinburgh a year since the Carers’ Leave Act created the right to five days unpaid leave for caring responsibilities.

While welcomed as a vital ‘stepping stone’, conference attendees heard from Carers Scotland that research revealed half of working carers cannot afford to take the unpaid leave.

Recognising that unpaid carers provide the equivalent of £15.9bn in health and care costs, the charity is calling for a move towards paid carers leave and for greater awareness and flexibility from employers.

The Carer Positive scheme encourages employers to create a supportive working environment for carers, providing guidance and support and recognising those organisations supporting carers they employ.

Director of Carers Scotland Richard Meade said the charity would love to see organisations achieving Carer Positive accreditation as a “condition of public funding”:

“It’s perhaps a conversation about how that fits into those Fair Work principles and making it very clear to organisations that they need to be Carer Positive.

“This spans from employer recognition and the crucial role line managers play in supporting carers to work-from-home support.

“We’ve got over 290 employers who are Carer Positive covering around half a million employees. I think there’s nearly 2 million employees in Scotland – so we’ve made a good start with nearly 25% under Carer Positive organisations.

“How do we get to 100% and make sure that everyone’s thinking Carer Positive?”

The conference heard that a lack of awareness of carers’ rights and often inflexible workplace structures is preventing many unpaid carers from balancing work and caring responsibilities.

Mr Meade said that with the rising cost-of-living and 28% of unpaid carers in Scotland living in poverty, support for carers to work is more important than ever.

Beyond this, he emphasised the positive impact that employment can have on carers mental health – addressing isolation and loneliness:

“It takes on average around two years for someone to realise and identify themselves as a carer – with huge implications for accessing support services.

“Our health and care system is under increasing strain. As a result, more care is being delivered at home, putting increasing pressure on unpaid carers to deliver more, often conflicting with employment.

“Employment matters – employment can find carers with a vital income, purpose, social connection.

“Yet too many find themselves in that position of having to reduce the hours, take lower paid roles or leave work altogether.

“It’s not just money. Work helps carers have that sense of self outside that caring role and supports their mental health, impacting positively on isolation and socialisation,” Mr Meade explained. 

He told the conference unpaid carers deserve a lot better as the “backbone on which the health and care system stands”, sustainable employment opportunities are an economic and social “necessity”.

Small shifts make a big difference

The ‘Barriers to Employment and Employability’ conference also heard from unpaid carers themselves about the impact of carers’ networks and workplace changes, with one sharing how simply being recognised and offered organisational support “changed my whole being”.

Attendees heard that offering flexible working hours and the ability to workforce home, providing a space to talk with other carers and a place for advice and information is vital.

Another carer, who leads the carers’ network in her workplace, said an easy but profound “change that we could achieve was becoming Carer Positive”and “shouting about the support” that is there.

This includes raising awareness among managers and training them in support, signposting to social security entitlements, and establishing carers’ café and other opportunities to bring people together.

The speaker added:

“Those smaller shifts and gestures are leading to a cultural change that ultimately makes workplaces a space where people want to come – because we look after them.

“I’ve seen managers seek advice about how best to help carers in their teams, I’ve seen carers connect with each other, realising that they’re not alone because we’ve opened that space up for them.

“People feel safe, seen and valued and this is only the beginning.”

Read more: The health benefits of being able to work; Fixing social care funding must be council “priority”; ALLIANCE: Action needed from Scotland’s leaders; Chronic illnesses may double depression risk Government ‘lacks urgency’ on care reforms; Watchdog criticises homelessness health service cuts; Care management ‘on its knees’; ‘Unprecedented’ crisis in community health and care; “Relentless focus” on health inequalities

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