Employee benefits provider Unum UK has enhanced its carer’s leave by giving all staff with caring responsibilities up to 5 days paid leave a year.
This will be available to Unum’s 850 plus staff, regardless to how long they have worked at the company. Days can be taken flexily, individually or as half days, helping employee manage both their employment and caring responsibilities and maintain a better work/ life balance. This enhancement is on top of the firm’s existing benefits benefits package.
This comes as research published by Carers UK last year showed that:
- 75 per cent of carers in employment said they worry about juggling work and care
- 30 per cent say their mental health was bad or very bad
- 29 per cent say they felt lonely often or always
- 27 per cent say they were struggling to make ends meet.
To help address the issues the government introduced a Carer’s Leave Bill to Parliament last June. It is due to come into force laster this year.
Unum said that while it was offering this benefits to its own employees at present, as a benefits provider it was well placed to support other employers looking to provide more flexible benefits packages to staff.
Unum UK HR director Jane Hulme says: “The challenges and worries of caring lead to around 600 people leaving the UK workforce every day as they can no longer maintain the balance between their job and caring responsibilities.
“It’s vital that employers do as much as they can to either provide the support carers need both professionally and personally — or at least signpost towards it — helping more people to remain at work.
“As the Carer’s Leave Act comes into force later this year, we’re proud to introduce this proactive approach, supporting the caregivers in our workforce with a combination of paid leave and flexible working options. This is all alongside our wider benefits package, which includes an Employee Assistance Programme with a 24/7 helpline offering a wide range of support, including support for childcare and eldercare.”