Our Operations Manager was part of a ‘fireside’ discussion, talking about the support that CRCC offers unpaid, informal carers through carers leave and the CRCC carers passport. Nearly half of our staff are carers through the care and support they provide for family members or friends, so ensuring they are supported in their role is a priority for CRCC.

The Care Act 2014 defines ‘carer’ as ‘an adult who provides or intends to provide care for another adult’. CRCC recognises that working alongside a caring role can be extremely difficult and can have a detrimental impact on a person’s wellbeing and ability to stay in work. Informal carers have statutory rights, which are laid out in law. Carers have the right to request flexible working, the right to time off in emergencies, protection from discrimination and the right to parental leave.

In addition to the statutory rights, employers might also include contractual rights for carers in their policies and procedures. Introducing flexibilities may help employers to reduce sickness absences, retain staff, reduce absence and increase productivity.

The Working Carers Passport is a live record of flexibilities agreed upon between the worker and their line manager. It details any impact or issue that can arise due to working alongside managing a caring role. It considers how this might disadvantage an individual and what changes and flexibilities would reduce or remove the impact felt. The purpose of the passport is to:

• ensure everyone has a clear record of the agreed flexibilities

• reduce the need to re-assess flexibilities as a result of changes to a worker’s job or line manager

• act as a useful template for conversations about current and future flexibilities.

What is an appropriate flexibility varies for each individual. They could include; location flexibility (e.g. attending meetings virtually rather than physically), leave flexibility (e.g. caring role being taken into account when leave is being requested, or the ability to carry leave over if it has not been taken due to the impact of a caring role), schedule flexibility (e.g. the ability to change starting and finishing times when needed or allowing compressed or staggered hours will remove or reduce the impact felt on the individual as a result of working alongside managing a caring role in a range of areas) – the employer should talk with the person and not make assumptions.

CRCC is keen to support other organisations to implement a carers passport in their workplace. Please get in touch if this something you would like to find out more about.