Thinking of leaving work?

If you are thinking of leaving work, consider whether or not you really want to, and if not, what may help you stay in work.

First think about the things you would be giving up, and whether you really want to lose them.

• Will you manage with less money?
• Do you want to give up the independence and social contact you have through your work?
• Will you lose valuable skills if you leave?
• How would leaving work affect your future pension entitlement?

Then think about ways around the problem, could you

• Make a request for flexible working?
• Take a career break?
• Ask for extra help from social services
• Buy in care?

Talk to your employer

Remember that employers value skilled, experienced and committed members of staff and are keen to keep them. Your employer may be able to help in ways you have not considered. Talk to them about your situation, directly or through your HR/personnel officer or union or staff association representative.

Ask for help with caring

Social services are the department in your local council responsible for providing support for old/disabled people and their families and carers. Carers have a right to an assessment which looks at the help you need to manage your caring role. more...

Find out about buying in private care

If you are not able to get help from social services, or are given direct payments (instead of services) to make your own care arrangements, you may be able to buy in care services yourself. To get the help you need, you can either use an agency or recruit the help yourself.

Using an agency
Although using an agency is usually more expensive than recruiting care yourself, it has the advantages of taking care of the paperwork; dealing with an employee's National Insurance and tax; checking references; and providing a back-up if an employee is ill or unsatisfactory.

Social services should be able to tell you about care agencies in your area, or check the listings in your phone directory.

Recruiting help yourself
If you decide to recruit help directly you should be aware of the responsibilities this gives you as an employer. For example, you will need to chack out your employee's references carefully; pay statutory sick pay if an employee is ill; pay towards your employee's National Insurance contributions, sort out your employee's income tax; and take out insurance to cover any accidents an employee might have in your home.

You may also be liable to pay compensation if you dismiss an employee unfairly or make them redundant. For more information about buying in care services, go to www.ncil.org.uk (National Centre for Independent Living)

Find out about your entitlements

You can ask social services (if they have a welfare rights team), a local advice agency or Carers UK's CarersLine (0808 808 7777) for a benefits check. This will tell you which benefits you will be able to claim and what your income would be if you were to give up work or reduce the hours you work, and could help you to prepare for a change in your financial circumstances.

The right to choose

Remember that making alternative care arrangements so that you can work can create conflict and/or cause feelings of guilt. What you decide must be right for you as well as others - you have the right to choose, and that means to choose to give up work as well as to stay.

If you do decide to leave work, make sure you check all your options before you resign, for example can you take a career break, voluntary redundancy or early retirement?