Supporting employees with caring responsibilities

A new dedicated helpline, HERE, has been set up by charity Guideposts and employee benefits providers PES to support people living with conditions such as dementia, their carers (who may be employees) and the professionals who look after them. One in seven employees in any workforce will be caring for someone who is ill, frail or who has a disability, a figure which is predicted to rise to as many as one in three in the next five years. The new service estimates that caring responsibilities can have a dramatic impact on business; for example, the cost of an unsupported working carer can be as high as £10,000 for an organisation in lost time and productivity. Small- and medium-sized enterprises can offer the HERE helpline as an additional benefit.

Ian Rummels, director of PES said:

‘Caring about the health and wellbeing of your employees is a worthwhile and rewarding thing for an employer to do. As well as the important legal duties there are real commercial advantages to having a workforce that functions flexibly, happily and healthily.’

For more information on how to offer HERE to your employees as part of a benefits package visit: www.pesconsulting.co.uk