Care for your career

Juggling the demands of caring with the responsibilities of a paid job is a tough call. People often feel pulled in two directions and as many as 1 in 5 people with significant caring responsibilities end up giving up work.

Those who fall out of work pay a heavy price – facing financial hardship and missing out on their own pension. So it pays to think carefully before giving up your job and explore all the options for support.

Support

Over half of all carers are in some sort of paid work. As a working carer, you are likely to need a range of support at different times - from access to a telephone to check on the person you care for, to leave arrangements to deal with someone coming out of hospital.

Telling work about your caring role is not always an easy step and you might feel it depends on whether your employer is likely to be supportive. Find out by asking your colleagues, personnel officer or union representative. There may be existing support that you are not aware of, or you may find that your employer is open to exploring ways to support you.

Rights

Colleagues can be very supportive, and it may help simply to discuss your situation with someone you can trust at work. You might even find that other colleagues also care, and that together you are more able to talk to your employer about ways in which you could be supported.

You also have certain legal rights as a carer in the workplace including the right to request flexible working, time of in emergencies and parental leave.