Employers struggle with absence levels among carers, CIPD reports

Nick Elvin

More than one in three employers report that absence levels have increased because their staff are struggling to cope with their caring responsibilities outside of work, figures from the CIPD reveal.

But, according to the professional body for HR and people development, only one in six organisations have policies in place to help achieve a better balance between their home and working lives.

The annual CIPD/Simplyhealth Absence Management survey shows that among those employers who do put policies in place, flexible working arrangements are by far the most common type of support offered (68%), followed by compassionate leave (53%) and (paid or unpaid) carers’ leave (48%).

Two-fifths (42%) offer access to counselling services and three in ten offer career breaks and sabbaticals. One in six organisations offer access to financial services (17%) or options to purchase additional annual leave days (15%).

However, in addition to those employers who have organisation-wide policies or guidelines in place, another two fifths report that they do offer support to individuals on an ad hoc basis.

The CIPD is now calling on more businesses to adopt a formal policy to support workers, and ultimately benefit business. Dr Jill Miller, CIPD research adviser, said: “Supporting those with caring responsibilities to balance their work and home lives, and therefore retaining our talent, is a key issue.

“Recent UKCES research has predicted that there will be four generations working side-by-side by 2030. With this 4G UK workforce, employers are having to manage an increasingly diverse range of employee needs. We’re seeing intergenerational issues coming to the fore; and in particular, a rise in the number of people with caring responsibilities.

“And this is an issue that is set to increase for the growing ‘sandwich generation’. As people have children later, and are looking after parents in the ageing baby boomer generation, they find themselves caring for both their children and their older relatives.

“It’s therefore absolutely vital that employers have strong wellbeing policies in place, and communicate the benefits of flexible working to their employees, who all have the right to request to work flexibly under new legislation. But most importantly, line managers need to receive adequate training on how to have constructive discussions with their staff about the various benefits available to them.

“Flexible working can improve engagement and productivity within the workforce. With this in mind, hopefully in the future more workers will be able to handle the demands of caring.”